Tis the season, and all that, so why not start this little exercise with a holiday classic? The first question I always have when reading a classic – i.e., something they made me read in English lit in high school or college – is whether or not the book is worth reading as a book. I realize, for example, the importance of Hawthorne on American literature, but I would never willingly read another line from him unless my life depended on it. And if I was old enough, I would seriously consider the number of years I had left before committing to wading through his gloomy, miserable, interminable prose.