I've left this post marked unread since it first came up in my newsfeeds because I wanted to say something about it, but didn't know what to say. I still don't have it worked out, but at this rate I will never respond.
I think this is what turns kids who like reading off of literary analysis, and (gasp!) what makes kids who don't like reading not like reading in the first place. I was in the former camp until English 4AP; now I'm still wary.
It's because it's so obvious that there's more to the novel than [whatever's being discussed]. Some novels really are just vehicles for their messages, but clearly there is a difference between good fiction writing and bad fiction writing beyond the clarity.
I recently came across this Calvin and Hobbes comic in a re-read of the Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat collection. I hadn't thought about it much before, but having recently watched a few old movies, I realized there was something to that last line. Movies these days are heavy with attempts to "manipulate" emotions, but I prefer that to the dry "here's what happened" style of some old movies. Yes, we get things like Avatar where they go overboard, or cases like this SMBC comic where they have to hit you over the head with the emotions, message, and plot. But as a director/cinematographer myself, I have to say manipulating emotions is a skill, an important one.
And that's true in books as well. How a book makes you feel is a testament to the skill of the author, and may indeed be an important part of the message. And are definitely why it matters.
A book is not good or important because someone says it is.
no subject
I think this is what turns kids who like reading off of literary analysis, and (gasp!) what makes kids who don't like reading not like reading in the first place. I was in the former camp until English 4AP; now I'm still wary.
It's because it's so obvious that there's more to the novel than [whatever's being discussed]. Some novels really are just vehicles for their messages, but clearly there is a difference between good fiction writing and bad fiction writing beyond the clarity.
I recently came across this Calvin and Hobbes comic in a re-read of the Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat collection. I hadn't thought about it much before, but having recently watched a few old movies, I realized there was something to that last line. Movies these days are heavy with attempts to "manipulate" emotions, but I prefer that to the dry "here's what happened" style of some old movies. Yes, we get things like Avatar where they go overboard, or cases like this SMBC comic where they have to hit you over the head with the emotions, message, and plot. But as a director/cinematographer myself, I have to say manipulating emotions is a skill, an important one.
And that's true in books as well. How a book makes you feel is a testament to the skill of the author, and may indeed be an important part of the message. And are definitely why it matters.
A book is not good or important because someone says it is.
(More on this in a future blog post.)