How about you? When's the last time art broke into your heart?

Much as I like to think of myself as desensitized to the horrors of life, I find I have always been an emotional softie. I cry watching even non-weepie movies, or reading books where the author isn't even tugging hard on the heartstrings. I'm old enough now that it doesn't particularly embarrass me, although I don't flaunt the tears while other moviegoers are dry-eyed. News stories don't affect me much, although I don't go out of my way to wallow in others' misery.

Modern art, especially that requiring little skill on the part of the painter, leaves me cold. Old masters' paintings can touch my feelings, but nowhere near as piercingly as the written word. A movie fiction must necessarily depict much of the plot, while a well-written fiction book allows the reader to create and inhabit the world in a truly personal manner. Life would be very dull without a rich imagination.