There are two opportunities that arise from reading literature from outside of your own culture and time.
One is to have that revelation of "oh, wow, these folks are just like me!"
The other is to have the revelation, "wow, these folks are nothing like me, and here's what they felt was important, beautiful, terrifying, etc"
Both are pretty important, even if the latter doesn't come as naturally. You'll never be completely empathetic to it, but at least you can learn to be sympathetic.
One is to have that revelation of "oh, wow, these folks are just like me!"
The other is to have the revelation, "wow, these folks are nothing like me, and here's what they felt was important, beautiful, terrifying, etc"
Both are pretty important, even if the latter doesn't come as naturally. You'll never be completely empathetic to it, but at least you can learn to be sympathetic.