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Much of the actual "Classics", that is, Greek and Latin originals, kids would eat up. Dan Send a noteboard - 12/12/2011 03:13:03 AM
I'm thinking mostly of the Illiad, the Odyssey, and most of the Greek tragedies. But even Plato, Lysias, and Suetonius are interesting, and for all the right reasons. They're exciting, brutal, and scandalous.

Part of the problem I've found first hand is the translation. It's too florid, too posh and British, to really hit people. I think Attic Greek could lend itself very well to an Americanized translation with American colloquialism, while losing very little. Also, verse can be difficult, and that is one major hurdle which they really could teach. I'd be ok with a prose rendition of the Illiad, but fuck it, who knows.

The other problem, which I think is the more significant one, is that schools and parents alike would refuse to actually teach material this interesting. That's the crux of the problem. There's no shortage of literature that is exciting and well-written, but the way it is taught, due to layers and layers of puritanism and PC Bullshit, strip it of being interesting. The result is Huckleberry Finn without "nigger". There's no fucking way anyone could seriously teach The Bacchae, for instance.


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 2936 Views
The comparison bothers me, but not because Tolkien isn't relevant. - 09/12/2011 10:05:22 PM 1789 Views
I agree with this. - 09/12/2011 10:21:34 PM 1829 Views
Re: I agree with this. - 10/12/2011 07:09:33 PM 1760 Views
Exactly *NM* - 12/12/2011 12:09:19 PM 892 Views
Only when shit works are being compared to him - 09/12/2011 10:22:26 PM 1684 Views
Larry, - 10/12/2011 01:13:18 AM 1702 Views
Snide dismissal that will be passed off as for his own entertainment. - 10/12/2011 04:55:43 AM 1620 Views
We get a lot of that around here. *NM* - 10/12/2011 05:18:01 AM 677 Views
makes me wonder... - 10/12/2011 04:37:33 PM 1602 Views
Re: makes me wonder... - 11/12/2011 03:03:15 AM 1563 Views
Well-deserved condescension. - 11/12/2011 03:54:27 AM 1753 Views
You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 04:20:26 AM 1965 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 05:25:08 AM 1685 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 06:03:02 AM 1564 Views
i think you shouldn't judge a whole world's school programs on your school - 11/12/2011 06:42:30 AM 1592 Views
Yeah, I'm limited in my knowledge, lol - 11/12/2011 08:03:26 AM 1619 Views
My school was...not great. - 11/12/2011 04:02:36 PM 1645 Views
I'm 24. - 11/12/2011 03:49:06 PM 1560 Views
If you're arguing that children should be able to read genre fiction, fine. - 11/12/2011 08:52:27 PM 1488 Views
Well, I suppose it depends on the type of genre being read - 11/12/2011 09:36:16 PM 1723 Views
How often do you hear the challenging writers mentioned at this site? - 12/12/2011 02:03:05 PM 1452 Views
Only when you, me, and a couple others write reviews - 12/12/2011 04:21:14 PM 1866 Views
Oh, it was the same as it always is - 12/12/2011 05:23:56 PM 1545 Views
True - 12/12/2011 06:29:10 PM 1660 Views
One note - 13/12/2011 12:17:48 AM 1668 Views
Perhaps - 13/12/2011 12:49:34 AM 1592 Views
*Sighs* Such is the plight of those shining few intelects... - 23/12/2011 01:15:47 AM 1638 Views
Much of the actual "Classics", that is, Greek and Latin originals, kids would eat up. - 12/12/2011 03:13:03 AM 1460 Views
Try teaching Apuleius in schools... *NM* - 12/12/2011 04:12:49 AM 795 Views
Plato is exciting, brutal and scandalous? - 12/12/2011 09:59:13 PM 1536 Views
You're upfront and honest about it; he isn't. The difference matters to me. *NM* - 11/12/2011 05:18:42 AM 844 Views
Uhh...uh... - 11/12/2011 05:34:23 AM 1572 Views
this is a bit off topic, but out of curiousity... - 11/12/2011 06:28:35 AM 1675 Views
There are no special snowflakes, are there? - 11/12/2011 09:39:21 PM 1486 Views
There are many way of widening one's horizons and broadening one's mind. - 11/12/2011 10:08:24 PM 1240 Views
I said as much in my comment - 11/12/2011 10:20:03 PM 1516 Views
What I don't like- - 12/12/2011 04:28:55 AM 1595 Views
Why don't you name something, then? - 12/12/2011 04:40:29 AM 1553 Views
Sure. - 13/12/2011 07:30:56 AM 1382 Views
Mentioning Ender's Game pretty much shot your argument in the foot. - 13/12/2011 02:02:59 PM 1487 Views
You dismiss the entire video game medium because many games lack value. - 13/12/2011 03:59:11 PM 1637 Views
You're like the McDonald's paid advocate trying to say Big Macs are actually healthy. - 13/12/2011 05:46:37 PM 1444 Views
McDonalds food is inherently unhealthy. - 13/12/2011 06:02:18 PM 1590 Views
For the sake of argument ... - 13/12/2011 04:09:51 PM 1489 Views
Stephenson is not literature, that's for damn sure. - 13/12/2011 05:49:24 PM 1438 Views
Thank you, The Voice of Lews Therin. *NM* - 16/12/2011 05:14:42 AM 859 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 1603 Views
that's alright. I really have no desire to stroke your twit-ego. *NM* - 10/12/2011 04:36:56 PM 645 Views
Considering the firestorm I appear to have touched off, that may be best. - 12/12/2011 12:57:49 PM 1580 Views
I know, John - 12/12/2011 04:27:04 PM 1479 Views
Re: I know, John - 12/12/2011 05:06:26 PM 1542 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 1465 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 1541 Views
Same guy - 12/12/2011 07:26:13 PM 1607 Views
Ha! Excellent point. *NM* - 11/12/2011 03:44:52 AM 785 Views
I have to agree. - 09/12/2011 10:54:06 PM 1593 Views
They're there for marketing - 10/12/2011 12:20:17 AM 1582 Views
Most of those comparisons are like that anyway - 10/12/2011 05:32:45 PM 1709 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 777 Views
To be fair, a lot of it isn't. - 11/12/2011 04:06:07 AM 1517 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 1466 Views
That's true. - 11/12/2011 11:08:01 AM 1447 Views
Maybe they mean something else by using his name. - 11/12/2011 03:50:15 AM 1549 Views
When they don't work, yes. - 11/12/2011 03:18:44 PM 1541 Views
The Tolkien fanaticism gets old. And yes, for me it is unreadable. - 11/12/2011 11:37:53 PM 1525 Views
Yes *NM* - 22/12/2011 07:08:38 PM 901 Views

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