Dark Pickle
Fucked Off
I'll agree with that as far as it goes, but I'd rather they read Barker or Gaiman, both of whom write much better fantasy fiction geared towards younger people.
Troll Kingdom
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The demise of Western Litterary Tradition: Harry Potter
- Thread starter Sadistic Bastard
- Start date
Sadistic Bastard
No Mercy
"Gateway Drug" = Heinlein's "Have Space-suit will Travel" and "Double Star", leading me to SISL and "I will Fear No Evil" soft core 60's porn, not to mention "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress".
Kid's reading: Good. Kid's reading Crap: Ok....ADULTS reading crap: We should know better. Look at the culture and hysteria? Look at how ADMITS to liking HP who are over 25?!?!?!
(Yeah, you all know who you are.)
-SB
Kid's reading: Good. Kid's reading Crap: Ok....ADULTS reading crap: We should know better. Look at the culture and hysteria? Look at how ADMITS to liking HP who are over 25?!?!?!
(Yeah, you all know who you are.)
-SB
Volpone
Zombie Hunter
Two things on Lucas--and sci-fi:
1) The other day The History Channel was doing shows on "Star Wars". I caught the tail end of one where they had various Famous Old People sucking Lucas' dick and licking his asshole. Then the next one was on the "science" of "Star Wars" (sorry Hambil but that is appropriate in this instance because "Star Wars" is about as far from being about science as...shit, analogies escape me). Before I managed to change the channel, I was hit with multiple clips from the prequels and I was dumbstruck with the realization of just how terrible they were. I'd pretty much managed to blot them out of my memory. JarJar Binks was an actual character!?
2) Anyway, for a franchise that was handed over to a hack producer, the "Star Trek" films are infinitely more watchable. (I'm talking II, III, IV, VI, and VIII.) Not only are they powerful themes, they are more mature themes and the dialog is infinitely stronger and more sophisticated. Still, the bookends, TWOK and FC, blatantly rip off "Moby Dick". But they do it very well. Besides, its not plagiarism if you cite your sources, is it?
1) The other day The History Channel was doing shows on "Star Wars". I caught the tail end of one where they had various Famous Old People sucking Lucas' dick and licking his asshole. Then the next one was on the "science" of "Star Wars" (sorry Hambil but that is appropriate in this instance because "Star Wars" is about as far from being about science as...shit, analogies escape me). Before I managed to change the channel, I was hit with multiple clips from the prequels and I was dumbstruck with the realization of just how terrible they were. I'd pretty much managed to blot them out of my memory. JarJar Binks was an actual character!?
2) Anyway, for a franchise that was handed over to a hack producer, the "Star Trek" films are infinitely more watchable. (I'm talking II, III, IV, VI, and VIII.) Not only are they powerful themes, they are more mature themes and the dialog is infinitely stronger and more sophisticated. Still, the bookends, TWOK and FC, blatantly rip off "Moby Dick". But they do it very well. Besides, its not plagiarism if you cite your sources, is it?
curiousa2z
Be patient till the last.
Lord John Whorfin, as a parent and a voracious reader, I've got your back.
DP, do you have kids? How old are they? Gaiman is in the Young Adults book section for a reason. His books are not gateway reading for young children by any stretch of the imagination.
SB, Rowling's books are, and I can vouch for their ability to get kids absorbed in reading books and realise the possibilities that lie in reading other books.
Readers will find their own levels. I don't read the Classics ALL the time....yes, I've read Joyce's Ulysses from cover to cover; and Ovid and Dante and many thousands others; I've also read all the Harry Potter books, - and liked 'em!
Guess which books got me hooked on reading? My grandmother had a bunch of old Nancy Drew mysteries at her house and I was always so bored when we went to visit that I started reading them for something to do. Great literature? No way!
BUT: they were adventurous, and the hero was a girl! I went on to read other series about adventurous kids solving dilemmas, and before I knew it I was reading all kinds of things - some drek, some happily not.
The point is, as a child I started out with absorbing, age-appropraite books (that weren't necessarily expanding my understanding of quantum physics, (though that came later) and that started me on the road to being a book reader for life.
That's what we want.
Don't like a certain author's books? Then rail away. It's a free country.
As long as you've actually read the books.
But there are alot of parents, teachers and librarians out there who bless Rowling, for getting kids (lots and lots and lots of them) to love reading books.
In an age of XBox and DVDs IMHO that's a Good Thing.
Dark Pickle said:
DP, do you have kids? How old are they? Gaiman is in the Young Adults book section for a reason. His books are not gateway reading for young children by any stretch of the imagination.
SB, Rowling's books are, and I can vouch for their ability to get kids absorbed in reading books and realise the possibilities that lie in reading other books.
Readers will find their own levels. I don't read the Classics ALL the time....yes, I've read Joyce's Ulysses from cover to cover; and Ovid and Dante and many thousands others; I've also read all the Harry Potter books, - and liked 'em!
Guess which books got me hooked on reading? My grandmother had a bunch of old Nancy Drew mysteries at her house and I was always so bored when we went to visit that I started reading them for something to do. Great literature? No way!
BUT: they were adventurous, and the hero was a girl! I went on to read other series about adventurous kids solving dilemmas, and before I knew it I was reading all kinds of things - some drek, some happily not.
The point is, as a child I started out with absorbing, age-appropraite books (that weren't necessarily expanding my understanding of quantum physics, (though that came later) and that started me on the road to being a book reader for life.
That's what we want.
Don't like a certain author's books? Then rail away. It's a free country.
As long as you've actually read the books.
But there are alot of parents, teachers and librarians out there who bless Rowling, for getting kids (lots and lots and lots of them) to love reading books.
In an age of XBox and DVDs IMHO that's a Good Thing.
Dark Pickle
Fucked Off
Yes I do darlin, three, all girls. The oldest is ten and she was interested in reading around two or three from my comic. She just had to know who all those crazy people in capes were.
As far as your comments about Mr. Gaiman goes, I can only recommend Coraline (children’s book and soon movie) and Mirror Mask (movie with long-time comics collaborator Dave McCean as director).
So do books like The Cat in the Hat and The Bernstein Bears, and at a younger age too
That’s certainly true. I was reading King at 13, and have recently seen a 10 year old boy reading him. I too enjoy classics like Dante, Kafka, Twain and others. I also enjoy genre fiction, comics, and poetry.
Really? I liked the Hardy Boy’s, but I read some of Nancy Drew adventures as well. Sometimes, they even teamed up! I’m not saying every kid’s book has to be Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz here…
But you just said ”Readers will find their own levels?” SRSLY, everything you’re saying here is rational and eloquently put. My only disagreement is worshipping Rowling as the second coming of children’s literacy, when she’s basically a hack that got lucky. It’s not like I wouldn’t let my kids read HP, but I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled, either.
That's what we want.
Don't like a certain author's books? Then rail away. It's a free country.
As long as you've actually read the books.
Well thanks mom, but do I gotta? I didn’t like the movie, and that’s usually a sign…
Ok 2 points for griffon-dork or whatever. I’ll even give the books extra credit for pissing off the religious right. But in the end, hackneyed tripe is hackneyed tripe, no matter how popular it is.
Come to think about it, who says video games and computers don’t contribute to literacy? Some of those RPGs are pretty text-heavy…
Sadistic Bastard
No Mercy
Let me re-state this:
CHILDREN'S books = Reading Gateway = GOOD THING!!!!!
CHILDREN'S books = Adult fans that spend endless hours debating it like hard-core "Trek" fans and writing pedo-erotic fiction = Sad, Creepy, and for God Sakes....MOVE ON TO AN ADULT BOOK!
-SB
CHILDREN'S books = Reading Gateway = GOOD THING!!!!!
CHILDREN'S books = Adult fans that spend endless hours debating it like hard-core "Trek" fans and writing pedo-erotic fiction = Sad, Creepy, and for God Sakes....MOVE ON TO AN ADULT BOOK!
-SB
Sadistic Bastard
No Mercy
I'm sorry to hear that...
-SB
-SB
curiousa2z
Be patient till the last.
it might explain alot, though...
curiousa2z
Be patient till the last.
zomg, you don't decide on whether you like a book based on the movie, really?!!!DP said:
in that case, don't bother reading Umberto Ecco's The Name of The Rose, one of my favourite books of all time, cuz the movie sucked.
Dark Pickle
Fucked Off
zomg, you don't decide on whether you like a book based on the movie, really?!!!
in that case, don't bother reading Umberto Ecco's The Name of The Rose, one of my favourite books of all time, cuz the movie sucked.
No, I don't do that with every book, in fact I try to read the book first where possible. But really...is Harry Potter worth it?
curiousa2z
Be patient till the last.
:bigass:
Sadistic Bastard
No Mercy
The ALL TIME WORST BUTCHERING OF A GREAT BOOK into a Terrible movie:
David Brin's "The Postman" = Fantastic book, dealt with the morality of "hope" and social responsibility. "Who will be responsible for all of these children?" - Cyclops
"The Big Things never, ever let you go..."'
"Is it true, did she die for you?"
Keven Costner's "The Postman" = Movie that stole the title and threw out the ENTIRE BOOK and was not even a good "Mad Max" remake. Not even as mediocre as "Waterworld". I hope Brin made a bundle off the rights, because it sure as hell wasn't even an "adaptation" of the book he wrote. Guess we couldn't let Costner's character follow the book and get the shit knocked out of him and watch while others fought his battles for him...or deal with the guilty conscience that most died for a lie. Might require, oh say...ACTING?!?!?!
(sigh)
Ok...I'm better now.
And Harry Potter still doesn't deserve a tenth of the attention it get's from anyone older than 13.
-SB
David Brin's "The Postman" = Fantastic book, dealt with the morality of "hope" and social responsibility. "Who will be responsible for all of these children?" - Cyclops
"The Big Things never, ever let you go..."'
"Is it true, did she die for you?"
Keven Costner's "The Postman" = Movie that stole the title and threw out the ENTIRE BOOK and was not even a good "Mad Max" remake. Not even as mediocre as "Waterworld". I hope Brin made a bundle off the rights, because it sure as hell wasn't even an "adaptation" of the book he wrote. Guess we couldn't let Costner's character follow the book and get the shit knocked out of him and watch while others fought his battles for him...or deal with the guilty conscience that most died for a lie. Might require, oh say...ACTING?!?!?!
(sigh)
Ok...I'm better now.
And Harry Potter still doesn't deserve a tenth of the attention it get's from anyone older than 13.
-SB
I don't have a problem with adults enjoying Harry Potter. I read the first 3 books, and then decided they were a little too repetitious for me.
When I was 9 I got hooked on the Trixie Belden series, I graduated from that to hysterical romances.. then I discovered Heinlein, thank god.
If anyone would like to read really good YA literature, try anything written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Her YA stuff is as good as her adult stuff, because she doesn't dumb it down.
When I was 9 I got hooked on the Trixie Belden series, I graduated from that to hysterical romances.. then I discovered Heinlein, thank god.
If anyone would like to read really good YA literature, try anything written by Ursula K. LeGuin. Her YA stuff is as good as her adult stuff, because she doesn't dumb it down.
