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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 3035 Views
The comparison bothers me, but not because Tolkien isn't relevant. - 09/12/2011 10:05:22 PM 1887 Views
I agree with this. - 09/12/2011 10:21:34 PM 1928 Views
Re: I agree with this. - 10/12/2011 07:09:33 PM 1857 Views
Exactly *NM* - 12/12/2011 12:09:19 PM 997 Views
Only when shit works are being compared to him - 09/12/2011 10:22:26 PM 1781 Views
Larry, - 10/12/2011 01:13:18 AM 1800 Views
Snide dismissal that will be passed off as for his own entertainment. - 10/12/2011 04:55:43 AM 1722 Views
We get a lot of that around here. *NM* - 10/12/2011 05:18:01 AM 761 Views
makes me wonder... - 10/12/2011 04:37:33 PM 1707 Views
Re: makes me wonder... - 11/12/2011 03:03:15 AM 1659 Views
Well-deserved condescension. - 11/12/2011 03:54:27 AM 1871 Views
You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 04:20:26 AM 2063 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 05:25:08 AM 1784 Views
Re: You're sure about that? - 11/12/2011 06:03:02 AM 1657 Views
i think you shouldn't judge a whole world's school programs on your school - 11/12/2011 06:42:30 AM 1693 Views
Yeah, I'm limited in my knowledge, lol - 11/12/2011 08:03:26 AM 1718 Views
My school was...not great. - 11/12/2011 04:02:36 PM 1748 Views
I'm 24. - 11/12/2011 03:49:06 PM 1659 Views
If you're arguing that children should be able to read genre fiction, fine. - 11/12/2011 08:52:27 PM 1587 Views
Well, I suppose it depends on the type of genre being read - 11/12/2011 09:36:16 PM 1821 Views
How often do you hear the challenging writers mentioned at this site? - 12/12/2011 02:03:05 PM 1552 Views
Only when you, me, and a couple others write reviews - 12/12/2011 04:21:14 PM 1972 Views
Oh, it was the same as it always is - 12/12/2011 05:23:56 PM 1639 Views
True - 12/12/2011 06:29:10 PM 1759 Views
One note - 13/12/2011 12:17:48 AM 1766 Views
Perhaps - 13/12/2011 12:49:34 AM 1690 Views
*Sighs* Such is the plight of those shining few intelects... - 23/12/2011 01:15:47 AM 1733 Views
Much of the actual "Classics", that is, Greek and Latin originals, kids would eat up. - 12/12/2011 03:13:03 AM 1568 Views
Try teaching Apuleius in schools... *NM* - 12/12/2011 04:12:49 AM 878 Views
Plato is exciting, brutal and scandalous? - 12/12/2011 09:59:13 PM 1637 Views
You're upfront and honest about it; he isn't. The difference matters to me. *NM* - 11/12/2011 05:18:42 AM 925 Views
Uhh...uh... - 11/12/2011 05:34:23 AM 1671 Views
this is a bit off topic, but out of curiousity... - 11/12/2011 06:28:35 AM 1774 Views
There are no special snowflakes, are there? - 11/12/2011 09:39:21 PM 1587 Views
There are many way of widening one's horizons and broadening one's mind. - 11/12/2011 10:08:24 PM 1338 Views
I said as much in my comment - 11/12/2011 10:20:03 PM 1606 Views
What I don't like- - 12/12/2011 04:28:55 AM 1698 Views
Why don't you name something, then? - 12/12/2011 04:40:29 AM 1647 Views
Sure. - 13/12/2011 07:30:56 AM 1483 Views
Mentioning Ender's Game pretty much shot your argument in the foot. - 13/12/2011 02:02:59 PM 1585 Views
You dismiss the entire video game medium because many games lack value. - 13/12/2011 03:59:11 PM 1733 Views
You're like the McDonald's paid advocate trying to say Big Macs are actually healthy. - 13/12/2011 05:46:37 PM 1546 Views
McDonalds food is inherently unhealthy. - 13/12/2011 06:02:18 PM 1698 Views
For the sake of argument ... - 13/12/2011 04:09:51 PM 1595 Views
Stephenson is not literature, that's for damn sure. - 13/12/2011 05:49:24 PM 1539 Views
Thank you, The Voice of Lews Therin. *NM* - 16/12/2011 05:14:42 AM 941 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 1701 Views
that's alright. I really have no desire to stroke your twit-ego. *NM* - 10/12/2011 04:36:56 PM 726 Views
Considering the firestorm I appear to have touched off, that may be best. - 12/12/2011 12:57:49 PM 1676 Views
I know, John - 12/12/2011 04:27:04 PM 1577 Views
Re: I know, John - 12/12/2011 05:06:26 PM 1649 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 1562 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 1639 Views
Same guy - 12/12/2011 07:26:13 PM 1704 Views
Ha! Excellent point. *NM* - 11/12/2011 03:44:52 AM 869 Views
I have to agree. - 09/12/2011 10:54:06 PM 1691 Views
They're there for marketing - 10/12/2011 12:20:17 AM 1683 Views
Most of those comparisons are like that anyway - 10/12/2011 05:32:45 PM 1815 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 857 Views
To be fair, a lot of it isn't. - 11/12/2011 04:06:07 AM 1614 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 1564 Views
That's true. - 11/12/2011 11:08:01 AM 1545 Views
Maybe they mean something else by using his name. - 11/12/2011 03:50:15 AM 1649 Views
When they don't work, yes. - 11/12/2011 03:18:44 PM 1642 Views
The Tolkien fanaticism gets old. And yes, for me it is unreadable. - 11/12/2011 11:37:53 PM 1623 Views
Yes *NM* - 22/12/2011 07:08:38 PM 991 Views

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