tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4983456639903939161.post383951703768461743..comments2023-12-17T02:42:27.945-08:00Comments on The Virtual Astrolabe : Do Great Books Grow Old? Or Do We Just Forget How To Read Them?Joshua Grassohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18044499439462324420noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4983456639903939161.post-45702962684656401992016-09-07T11:12:35.245-07:002016-09-07T11:12:35.245-07:00To be fair, some of the substitutes are great book...To be fair, some of the substitutes are great books in their own right: I've read and taught The Martian and it's an amazing book. But it doesn't really compare to Moby Dick thematically or in its richness of character or metaphor. It's apples and oranges. The same goes for Beowulf and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Again, a great book, but the only connection is that both take place in "fantastic new worlds." Please. Beowulf is about the struggle between two ways of life, and how the poet (or his world) tries to incorporate old ideas and values into the Christian mindset. It's so powerful and multi-layered and Douglas Adams isn't writing the same kind of book, to say nothing of the fact that one is a novel and one is an epic poem! <br /><br />Our culture seems literature as interchangeable as old technology; we upgrade our phones, so why not our literature? They can't see that the technology metaphor doesn't work in every situation or for every kind of experience in life. Joshua Grassohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18044499439462324420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4983456639903939161.post-57754701803428437692016-09-07T04:34:33.414-07:002016-09-07T04:34:33.414-07:00"The words “overrated” and “outdated” are the..."The words “overrated” and “outdated” are the first thing reluctant readers and dismayed teachers hurl at classic texts. It becomes a badge of pride, as if they’re outing the work for masquerading as literature for so long. In truth it’s a defense mechanism, allowing everyone to escape the intellectual challenge of tackling a rich and difficult text."<br /><br />I was outraged at the suggested "substitutes" and hope the list is never adopted by schools. What? Do we undervalue teenagers so much that we think they aren't up to intellectual challenge at all? The message of "just toss the old books into the garbage bin of history" would deprive us of rich cultural heritage that had survived the test of time. It must not happen. Hannah Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13734404043381742834noreply@blogger.com