I understand where you’re coming from and that’s a valid take.

For me it’s the time period and to a degree a resulting language barrier for certain pieces. Dostoyevsky for me, (I know W&P is Tolstoy, bear with me) was understandable but hard to bear with because he wrote like loved ones I have who have serious mental struggles. A lot of Russian culture and literature is similarly toned. Ralph Waldo Emerson came across to me as self-righteous. And Tolkien, though he’s a fantastic author, writes with heavy visual description which I can’t process well due to aphantasia.

Although, I loved Frankenstein and begrudgingly, also Jane Eyre. I also got a kick out of Chaucer. Every few years I’ll re-read Little Women. I also adore learning factual information.

I think most of it comes down to a variation in personal perspective/preference AND whether you’re critically engaging with the material you’re taking in. Hell, the Barbie movie can be thoughtfully critiqued. I’ve known folks who wrote doctorates on specific video games.

I’d argue the “cooking vs. eating” would be more comparable to “reading vs. writing,” though, no? Cooking ends with material output. Maybe “eating and savoring a meal vs. mindlessly downing a bag of chips.”