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by Perceval 769 days ago
Going through life without having read through at least some of the KJV Bible and Shakespeare would be like watching The Wizard of Oz in black and white – sure, you'd be able to follow the plot, but you'd be missing out on the color experience. Similarly, without having some foundation in those two foundational works of English language, you'd be missing idiom, metaphor, and allegory that you might not even realize is there. Imagine trying to read President Lincoln's speeches without getting his references to scripture. Imagine trying to read Faulkner's Sound and the Fury without getting the titular reference to Shakespeare and the structural reference to the Gospels (the same story told by four different authors).