I think there's a nuance here that you're missing.
Yes -- so much popular "literature" (if it can be called that) written in the last 50 years has been conversational in tone. If I'm looking for a particular answer to a pressing problem, I don't want to read 10 different people's stories about facing the same problem, I want an information-dense 10-pager that I can slowly pore over. If you have the information, please present it up front!
On the other hand, some books are the product of so much prior thought that it takes a lot of discipline to sit with them long enough to understand what they're saying. Anything by the philosopher Josef Pieper, for example.
And other pieces, like TA, are the product of someone discovering or meditating on an idea as they write. I think we ought to read these not as popular fluff, but perhaps to join the author thoughtfully as they process an idea -- which can be rewarding.
Yes -- so much popular "literature" (if it can be called that) written in the last 50 years has been conversational in tone. If I'm looking for a particular answer to a pressing problem, I don't want to read 10 different people's stories about facing the same problem, I want an information-dense 10-pager that I can slowly pore over. If you have the information, please present it up front!
On the other hand, some books are the product of so much prior thought that it takes a lot of discipline to sit with them long enough to understand what they're saying. Anything by the philosopher Josef Pieper, for example.
And other pieces, like TA, are the product of someone discovering or meditating on an idea as they write. I think we ought to read these not as popular fluff, but perhaps to join the author thoughtfully as they process an idea -- which can be rewarding.