Dana's a freaky camel?
I want to torture you. I used to love it, and it's been a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured someone, they didn't even have chainsaws.
Angel ,'Chosen'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Polter-Cow - Jul 01, 2004 8:32:59 am PDT #3805 of 10002
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Lilty Cash - Jul 01, 2004 8:33:32 am PDT #3806 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
"The Yellow Wallpaper" is like "To Room Nineteen" -- well-written and so close to the bone I never want to read it again
I haven't read "To Room Nineteen", but I understand your "Yellow Wallpaper" feelings- I get vaguely nauseous reading that story- it's like it knows something about me that I haven't figured out yet. Messes with my mind.
Lilty Cash - Jul 01, 2004 8:34:20 am PDT #3807 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
Pictures Camel Dana letting her freak flag fly.
DavidS - Jul 01, 2004 8:41:54 am PDT #3808 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Personally, I've felt that the value of any work of literature, theater, music, or film is exactly contained in the reader/viewer/listener experiencing it.
Way too relativist for me. But then I don't have an issue with there being a Western Canon either. (Which doesn't preclude people having interesting fights about what belongs there.)
erikaj - Jul 01, 2004 8:45:14 am PDT #3809 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!
I agree with Hecubus. I mean, I LOL at say, David Sedaris. And I would refill David Simon's printer cartridge as my job. But it's too soon to say what their lasting significance is.
Lilty Cash - Jul 01, 2004 8:53:24 am PDT #3810 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
I can agree with erika and Hec to a degree- I think that teaching someone how to read critically, so that one might find relevance in a work is most important- so a canon has to develop of examples to use in teaching. The quandary is in who makes those decisions; how does a canon develop and grow?
Daisy Jane - Jul 01, 2004 8:54:49 am PDT #3811 of 10002
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
Heather is me. Also with the Portia- and Camino Real-love.
You are involved in theater aren't you juliana? Most people I know who love Camino have either seen it or have staged-or thought about staging- it.
Loved The Yellow Wallpaper.
I mean, I LOL at say, David Sedaris. And I would refill David Simon's printer cartridge as my job. But it's too soon to say what their lasting significance is.
Fair enough, but can we go ahead and call Adams a classic writer? A modern day Swift?
Nutty - Jul 01, 2004 8:56:03 am PDT #3812 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I think it's more relevant to this discussion to question what use the Western Canon is, rather than whether it exists or not. (I also don't dispute its existence, but will also fight to the death about what is or is not on the list.) Does the WC have relevance to the books you read in your ordinary habits (and how)? Can you enjoy a book that was influential, but has aged badly? Does ignorance of a segment of the WC necessarily impair your ability to enjoy/benefit from another novel?
Jesse - Jul 01, 2004 8:57:38 am PDT #3813 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I took a great class in college about the Modernist Canon -- we read stuff in and out of the canon, and talked about why the things that made it in, did. Of course politics were a huge part of it. Damn, I loved that class, as over my head as I was.
deborah grabien - Jul 01, 2004 9:02:14 am PDT #3814 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
I think that teaching someone how to read critically, so that one might find relevance in a work is most important
See, I don't get this. Relevance to who? This is why I don't read crit at all, and don't buy into its importance: I'm completely in the "I have my opinions on it, and there's no reason why my opinions of it should matter to anyone but me" corner.
Why do I have to read something critically? Why can't I read it for the only reason I find remotely acceptable: that the subject matter or the language causes an echo somewhere in me?