You make good points...most of them seem to hinge on your awareness that your time is limited, or that the topic is not one you're intensely interested in...

I'm forced to make choices like that, myself...sadly...a chance to grow as a person--who knows what knocks at our door at any given time?

That's fair...we all get to choose what we read...

Some great works are "insiders"...the writers received the award because other writers understood the difficulty of what was being attempted...and appreciated the effort...

Some works are deeply steeped in, and influenced by, literary theory...they're highly technical, even obtuse to the layman, but other writers "get it"...they're often not "popular" for that reason...

And often they have the most to offer...