Article on Readers Versus "Book People"

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

As things stand now, you usually don't get any appreciation for the culture from the school literature lessons. Quite the contrary.

To be clear, I mean it only in the third sense listed here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appreciation (definition c). But maybe school fails at that, too?

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There are so many books out there that hy would you keep trying to find a classic you like when you didn't like the ones you've read? Just go find a genre you do like.


The problem is that Shakespeare was meant to be seen and not read. You might find you like Hamlet if you saw it performed. I've seen movie adaptations of classic books that I would not like to read. Sometimes, the problem is the style of writing.



But, some of these other viewpoints aren't relevant to anything today. Sure you can read about different viewpoints, but not viewpoints that are obsolete. The problem also is in the way some of these books were written back then. If schools read books that were relevant to current times and using current language, then they might be more accepted.

First of all, classics are not a genre. They span several genres and disliking one doesn't mean your bound to dislike all. Shakespeare is not the same as Jane Austen or Chekhov. If anything classics are books that tend to be more intellectual, forcing you to think. (Maybe there are exceptions to this.) This more than anything is why many people I know avoid them - whenever they read, they do so for pleasure and want something simpler.

Nothing wrong with that. I don't see anything wrong with not reading at all either. Humanity survived very long not reading anything at all - not even knowing that you can write things down! - and was arguably all the happier for it.

If scifi is the only thing that makes you happy - go for it! If nothing other than fan fiction about lesbian vampires in new age cultist settings tickles your fancy - I'm all for it!

Regarding Shakespeare I actually agree! I'd say show it either in a modernized TV version or in a play with the original pronunciation (improves it a hundredfold!).

Your point about viewpoints being obsolete is beyond me. I don't get how a viewpoint can be obsolete, but whatever floats your boat

Originally Posted by Quoth

I find the only way to read a play is to read it out loud doing the voices. But also I can hardly read poetry. I need to read it out, or better still hear someone else or a recording of me.

In poetry, rhythm is very important, as is the interplay of sounds within and between the words. Reading poetry quietly in ones mind makes little sense. In fact, reading poetry makes little sense.

I think we should return to the ancient ways of poetry - enhanced by music. That's the way it was performed in ancient Greece and Rome, and that's what people seem to prefer naturally (just compare songs to dry poems in popularity).

Kate Tempest is a great example of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH797RUNJIY (a poem about war read with some supporting music in the background)

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The problem (as I see it) is that if school is where you get the books you read and you really dislike them, then you may not find a passion for reading. If your parents do not help you with reading then you may not end up wanting/liking to read. My mother read and got me into reading. School, didn't do a thing.

Once again, I don't think school should be expected to get you to like reading. It's something you are likely to develop (or not) a liking to on your own. I would think very few people have discovered they love reading from a school assignment.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kandwo

Once again, I don't think school should be expected to get you to like reading. It's something you are likely to develop (or not) a liking to on your own. I would think very few people have discovered they love reading from a school assignment.

But school should also not turn you off to reading. So Schools (IMHO) need to make a concerted effort to choose books that are more relevant and use current language.