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You're sure about that? A Deathwatch Guard Send a noteboard - 11/12/2011 04:20:26 AM
There's nothing wrong with reading genre books, or eating McDonald's, or wasting your life away playing Xbox. The point is that all the reasons that kids are encouraged to read - learning, expanding their horizons, improving their vocabulary - are missing in this literature, just like McDonald's has virtually none of the nutrients that people need to be healthy and Xbox has no redeeming value in peoples' maturing and development.


Considering how little kids read at all, expecting them to read classics is like expecting them to walk on water or turn water into wine. For most of them, just reading the Harry Potter series should be cause for celebration by their parents and teachers, because even in that bit of light reading they will come across words and ideas they otherwise wouldn't. Most works in the Fantasy genre aren't classics and won't become them, but that doesn't mean they have nothing to teach children. From vocabulary, to grammar, to reading comprehension, all of these things can be improved by reading any sort of book, and the point of genre fiction is to make reading books as easy and enjoyable as possible. It's a way to start reading, to gain a taste for it, and then to move on to other works and genres. Your condescension is the reason why kids beyond elementary school age aren't encouraged to read such books, and it does a lot more harm than good.

As for Xbox, you're right, it certainly doesn't help anyone mature. But there have been numerous times when names and ideas used in video games prompted me to research them online, and find things ranging from mythology, to psychology, to physics. Perhaps these are things I would have discovered anyway at some point in life, or perhaps not. All I know is that video games are responsible for some of the knowledge I possess, and that means they have some value beyond "mere" entertainment.
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Aren't the Tolkien comparisons getting a little...old? - 09/12/2011 09:51:39 PM 3029 Views
The comparison bothers me, but not because Tolkien isn't relevant. - 09/12/2011 10:05:22 PM 1881 Views
I agree with this. - 09/12/2011 10:21:34 PM 1921 Views
Re: I agree with this. - 10/12/2011 07:09:33 PM 1850 Views
Exactly *NM* - 12/12/2011 12:09:19 PM 993 Views
Only when shit works are being compared to him - 09/12/2011 10:22:26 PM 1777 Views
Larry, - 10/12/2011 01:13:18 AM 1795 Views
Snide dismissal that will be passed off as for his own entertainment. - 10/12/2011 04:55:43 AM 1715 Views
We get a lot of that around here. *NM* - 10/12/2011 05:18:01 AM 755 Views
makes me wonder... - 10/12/2011 04:37:33 PM 1699 Views
Re: makes me wonder... - 11/12/2011 03:03:15 AM 1653 Views
Well-deserved condescension. - 11/12/2011 03:54:27 AM 1864 Views
You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 04:20:26 AM 2054 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 05:25:08 AM 1777 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 06:03:02 AM 1651 Views
i think you shouldn't judge a whole world's school programs on your school - 11/12/2011 06:42:30 AM 1684 Views
Yeah, I'm limited in my knowledge, lol - 11/12/2011 08:03:26 AM 1714 Views
My school was...not great. - 11/12/2011 04:02:36 PM 1741 Views
I'm 24. - 11/12/2011 03:49:06 PM 1653 Views
If you're arguing that children should be able to read genre fiction, fine. - 11/12/2011 08:52:27 PM 1581 Views
Well, I suppose it depends on the type of genre being read - 11/12/2011 09:36:16 PM 1814 Views
How often do you hear the challenging writers mentioned at this site? - 12/12/2011 02:03:05 PM 1545 Views
Only when you, me, and a couple others write reviews - 12/12/2011 04:21:14 PM 1960 Views
Oh, it was the same as it always is - 12/12/2011 05:23:56 PM 1633 Views
True - 12/12/2011 06:29:10 PM 1752 Views
One note - 13/12/2011 12:17:48 AM 1760 Views
Perhaps - 13/12/2011 12:49:34 AM 1683 Views
*Sighs* Such is the plight of those shining few intelects... - 23/12/2011 01:15:47 AM 1728 Views
Much of the actual "Classics", that is, Greek and Latin originals, kids would eat up. - 12/12/2011 03:13:03 AM 1558 Views
Try teaching Apuleius in schools... *NM* - 12/12/2011 04:12:49 AM 873 Views
Plato is exciting, brutal and scandalous? - 12/12/2011 09:59:13 PM 1632 Views
You're upfront and honest about it; he isn't. The difference matters to me. *NM* - 11/12/2011 05:18:42 AM 923 Views
Uhh...uh... - 11/12/2011 05:34:23 AM 1666 Views
this is a bit off topic, but out of curiousity... - 11/12/2011 06:28:35 AM 1766 Views
There are no special snowflakes, are there? - 11/12/2011 09:39:21 PM 1579 Views
There are many way of widening one's horizons and broadening one's mind. - 11/12/2011 10:08:24 PM 1332 Views
I said as much in my comment - 11/12/2011 10:20:03 PM 1601 Views
What I don't like- - 12/12/2011 04:28:55 AM 1686 Views
Why don't you name something, then? - 12/12/2011 04:40:29 AM 1643 Views
Sure. - 13/12/2011 07:30:56 AM 1475 Views
Mentioning Ender's Game pretty much shot your argument in the foot. - 13/12/2011 02:02:59 PM 1578 Views
You dismiss the entire video game medium because many games lack value. - 13/12/2011 03:59:11 PM 1727 Views
You're like the McDonald's paid advocate trying to say Big Macs are actually healthy. - 13/12/2011 05:46:37 PM 1540 Views
McDonalds food is inherently unhealthy. - 13/12/2011 06:02:18 PM 1689 Views
For the sake of argument ... - 13/12/2011 04:09:51 PM 1583 Views
Stephenson is not literature, that's for damn sure. - 13/12/2011 05:49:24 PM 1531 Views
Thank you, The Voice of Lews Therin. *NM* - 16/12/2011 05:14:42 AM 935 Views
I'll leave it up to others to define as they wish against their self-conceptions of me - 10/12/2011 10:52:54 AM 1694 Views
that's alright. I really have no desire to stroke your twit-ego. *NM* - 10/12/2011 04:36:56 PM 723 Views
Considering the firestorm I appear to have touched off, that may be best. - 12/12/2011 12:57:49 PM 1672 Views
I know, John - 12/12/2011 04:27:04 PM 1573 Views
Re: I know, John - 12/12/2011 05:06:26 PM 1637 Views
As I've said in the past, I'd be scared if anyone agreed with me anywhere approaching 100% - 12/12/2011 06:33:52 PM 1556 Views
Re: As I've said in the past, I'd be scared if anyone agreed with me anywhere approaching 100% - 12/12/2011 07:13:37 PM 1634 Views
Same guy - 12/12/2011 07:26:13 PM 1698 Views
Ha! Excellent point. *NM* - 11/12/2011 03:44:52 AM 865 Views
I have to agree. - 09/12/2011 10:54:06 PM 1686 Views
They're there for marketing - 10/12/2011 12:20:17 AM 1673 Views
Most of those comparisons are like that anyway - 10/12/2011 05:32:45 PM 1808 Views
Maybe if so much of the genre weren't crap derivative works it wouldn't be so common. *NM* - 11/12/2011 03:44:24 AM 855 Views
To be fair, a lot of it isn't. - 11/12/2011 04:06:07 AM 1608 Views
I suspect that if it really isn't derivative it's not being compared to Tolkien in the first place. - 11/12/2011 04:18:57 AM 1555 Views
That's true. - 11/12/2011 11:08:01 AM 1539 Views
Maybe they mean something else by using his name. - 11/12/2011 03:50:15 AM 1644 Views
When they don't work, yes. - 11/12/2011 03:18:44 PM 1636 Views
The Tolkien fanaticism gets old. And yes, for me it is unreadable. - 11/12/2011 11:37:53 PM 1615 Views
Yes *NM* - 22/12/2011 07:08:38 PM 984 Views

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