Great literature is simply charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree. — Ezra Pound. American poet and critic (1885–1972) Language
Language is made out of concrete things. General expressions in non- concrete terms are a laziness, they are talk, not art, not creation. They are the reaction of things on the writer, not a creative act by the writer.
Properly, we should read for power. Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand.