A cultural divide?

[damigella]

"here encountering the first knot in the smooth skein of her argument." (V. Woolf, Orlando: A Biography)
"the smooth skein of his imagination had encountered the first knot:" (my fic A Member Of The Wedding)

How come quotations from Gone With The Wind, The Muppet Show or The Little Mermaid (Disney, not Andersen) are immediately recognized while a sentence lifted almost verbatim from Virginia Woolf goes unnoticed? 
Maybe I should use precise quotations. Maybe it's a US/UK issue. Feedback appreciated.

Comments

[selkie3.livejournal.com]

Most I believe will be familiar with Gone With The Wind, but more so with the movie than the book format. And even then, mainly to cultural/pop references to the movie rather than actually having seen it.

Personally I haven't seen the Muppet Show, and I've only seen the Disney version of The Little Mermaid a few times. That movie gave me fish nightmares as a child :).

[damigella-314.livejournal.com]

I'm laughing at the fish nightmares. And I feel very old because I never got a chance to see The Little Mermaid as a child.