Literary folks: can someone please be explaining to me?

Punchy said:
How so? I have never once had a conversation with anybody regarding a classic work of literature, aside from my wife while we were visiting the John Steinbeck museum. I still haven't seen a compelling argument for anybody except lit majors to read this stuff for any reason other than as required reading in high school or college. I mean, aside from the aforementioned dull social gatherings.
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It's a challenging issue, these days, I think, especially at the level of a high-school curriculum.

Literacy rates can vary widely within a classroom and, in some instances, it might well be best to go with whichever approach it is that gets students reading, period. For more advanced classrooms, the sky might be the limit.

But I think that we need to get past the idea that literature, music, art, etc., is merely for leisure, pleasure, entertainment, or what have you.

Better writers than me have articulated this from different angles.

Plato defined tragedy's purpose as the "proper purgation of emotion". Horace argued that the purpose of literature is to "delight and to instruct".

Kafka went with this:

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Calvino wrote this classic short essay, which is well worth reading:

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1986/oct/09/why-read-the-classics/

Roger Ebert on film:

"We all are born with a certain package. We are who we are: where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We're kind of stuck inside that person, and the purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people. And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us."

All of that's valid.

And then there's Peter Brook:

If good theatre depends on a good audience, then every audience has the theatre it deserves. Yet it must be very hard for spectators to be told of an audience's responsibility. How can this be faced in practice? It would be a sad day if people went to the theatre out of duty. Once within a theatre an audience cannot whip itself into being 'better' than it is. In a sense there is nothing a spectator can actually do. And yet there is a contradiction here that cannot be ignored, for everything depends on him.

You know. If all else, you should regard it as your civic duty to engage with challenging art.
 
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@Flamencology - that makes sense, I suppose. That being said, doesn't the art evolve? At what point do the books considered classics from our childhood move on and new books take their place as the standards? I mean, Hemingway may have been groundbreaking for the time, but that isn't the case anymore and then it becomes a historical point.

And for a person such as myself, admittedly lax in detail regarding style and form but still consuming quite a bit of the contemporary written word, where does that place my responsibility? Calling out crappy authors in amazon reviews? (Honestly asking this last bit, thanks for your thought out response).
 
My favorite comment about books will always be this....



"We like to buy books because we like to believe that we are buying the time to read them"....
 
Punchy said:
@Flamencology - that makes sense, I suppose. That being said, doesn't the art evolve? At what point do the books considered classics from our childhood move on and new books take their place as the standards? I mean, Hemingway may have been groundbreaking for the time, but that isn't the case anymore and then it becomes a historical point.

And for a person such as myself, admittedly lax in detail regarding style and form but still consuming quite a bit of the contemporary written word, where does that place my responsibility? Calling out crappy authors in amazon reviews? (Honestly asking this last bit, thanks for your thought out response).
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For your first point: read the Calvino piece I linked above. It's a list, and a short read.

For your second... Your responsibility needn't involve proselytizing. It's simply to be open-minded and open-hearted. Not every book should or will change you, but some will. And those that do will impact the way you think, speak, and behave.
 
I'd also like to say that not all English teachers are well-equipped and/or well-suited to introduce the material that they teach.

This can be counterproductive for students.
 
Bad teachers??? No....say it isn't so.................


I once wrote a composition on the journey of a piece of chewing gum and got an almost perfect score.....From an outside entity......


Yup,some teachers just don't have their heart in what they're doing....Much like most professions I guess...
 
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tompetty said:
Bad teachers??? No....say it isn't so.................

I once wrote a composition on the journey of a piece of chewing gum and got an almost perfect score.....From an outside entity......

Yup,some teachers just don't have their heart in what they're doing....Much like most professions I guess...
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Some writers can make the most mundane topics endlessly fascinating. There's no reason why somone couldn't write a really interesting, entertaining, and well-executed piece on the journey of a piece of chewing gum.

Simon Rich (comedic writer) wrote a cute short story from the perspective of a prophylactic:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/07/30/unprotected

But yeah.
 
Flamencology said:
For your first point: read the Calvino piece I linked above. It's a list, and a short read.

For your second... Your responsibility needn't involve proselytizing. It's simply to be open-minded and open-hearted. Not every book should or will change you, but some will. And those that do will impact the way you think, speak, and behave.
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That was a good read, thank you. I've been lucky, lately, I suppose, in that most of my reading choices have either been serials or filtered through my brother-in-law who has very similar tastes to myself.

I did like the point he made about the books not changing, but our point of view might as we age and experience life.
 
Punchy said:
Who the fuck talks about Moby dick? Your social gatherings must be a hoot. Reading an unpleasant book is as much a waste of time as a vegetarian going on a cattle drive.

Anyway, these classics may have a place in education, but I won't spend more than 20 pages on a book that doesn't hold my interest these days. I've got better things to waste my time on :shrug:
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It's like classical music, bebop, or upscale wine tasting. These things don't fall into your lap. It takes a little effort, and although it's not for everyone, you'd be surprised at the number of people who are glad they made the effort.
 
Punchy said:
How so? I have never once had a conversation with anybody regarding a classic work of literature, aside from my wife while we were visiting the John Steinbeck museum. I still haven't seen a compelling argument for anybody except lit majors to read this stuff for any reason other than as required reading in high school or college. I mean, aside from the aforementioned dull social gatherings.
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You're doing it right now. Classic novels broaden your knowledge of the world, give insight into the human condition, and inspires us to find our own creative voice within our own chosen artistic endeavors. Sometimes it takes a little effort.
 
James Franciscus said:
You're doing it right now. Classic novels broaden your knowledge of the world, give insight into the human condition, and inspires us to find our own creative voice within our own chosen artistic endeavors. Sometimes it takes a little effort.
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Everything takes a little effort. And most novels will expose you to different worldviews and expand your creative horizons. Flamencology got what I was saying, and the link he posted hit the nail on the head for me. Might say something different to you, and that's OK too. :thu:
 
Punchy said:
Everything takes a little effort. And most novels will expose you to different worldviews and expand your creative horizons. Flamencology got what I was saying, and the link he posted hit the nail on the head for me. Might say something different to you, and that's OK too. :thu:
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We both get what you're saying but we disagree with you. I would argue that you reading what you already like takes little effort. Deciding that you're going to get to the bottom of why F. Scott Fitzgerald was such a big deal takes effort and could be possibly rewarding.

I never meant to turn this into a hissy fit. Apologies. I just know that I'm a more well rounded person because I decided to investigate things outside my little universe.
 
Investigating things outside your universe is good; so is making up your own mind about it. Hating it because it is a classic is dumb, but so is liking it solely for that reason.

For me, reading is my relaxation and escape. I am basically working two jobs and work 6 days a week. For the most part, I read stuff that pleases me and takes me into a place of calm and relaxation. I will read more challenging stuff at times, but mostly keep reading as my oasis.
 
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