Anti-Difficulty

...the hallmark of our contemporary culture is an active resistance to difficulty in all its aesthetic manifestations, accompanied by a sense of grievance that conflates it with political elitism. Indeed, it's arguable that tilting at this papery windmill of artistic superiority actively prevents a great many people from confronting the very real economic inequality and political disenfranchisement they're subject to, exactly as being compelled to chant the mantra "choice" drowns out the harsh background Muzak telling them they have none. (Will Self, "The novel is dead (this time it's for real)," Guardian 2014-05-02)

One doesn't take in Proust or Canada on the basis of a single visit. (Donald Barthelme, "Interview with J. D. O'Hara," in Not-Knowing: The Essays and Interviews of Donald Barthelme, p. 285)