tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post5034712435266539718..comments2024-03-29T10:09:22.033+00:00Comments on Shadows & Light: Concertinas and ProustSteve Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11684120060438252945noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-23150786950293216752019-02-15T11:57:54.836+00:002019-02-15T11:57:54.836+00:00There is something to be said about not having you...There is something to be said about not having young people read "classics" that they don't have the maturity for. I had a high school English teacher who stopped me from reading Green Mansions which I found boring. She said I shouldn't read it until I was ready to love it, which took a couple more years. Better to keep the kids reading something than to put them off the idea of reading.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12702753521139060960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-63399177172487437102019-02-13T21:28:28.528+00:002019-02-13T21:28:28.528+00:00Concertina maker - there couldn't have been to...Concertina maker - there couldn't have been too many of those around!<br /><br />Who decides what's a classic? Just because it's old doesn't make it so. I wonder what the criteria are? All I know is that I can't get through an awful lot of them. And using "an awful lot" like that probably designates me as a culturally incompetent boob, too :)<br /><br />On the other hand, I sometimes I wish I had terms of reference for some classics when I find them used to make points in other writings. But not enough, I'm afraid, to actually go and, you know, READ them.jenny_ohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15475480579733466963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-47707021924867637712019-02-13T17:39:45.937+00:002019-02-13T17:39:45.937+00:00I love the little concertina maker/art gallery sho...I love the little concertina maker/art gallery shop. It's so neat and compact. I can imagine selling my needle felting and crafts and some antiques and old books in the shop and living through that door to the side. Nice little daydream! Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03107838233635613580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-78997913689922311522019-02-13T17:10:35.211+00:002019-02-13T17:10:35.211+00:00It's okay to get Proust off your library shelv...It's okay to get Proust off your library shelves. His long writings will always be available someplace if someone has a desire to read them. You make me wonder if you have the old beats there... any Kerouac, Ginsberg or Ferlinghetti?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-90438218538729988112019-02-13T17:02:00.440+00:002019-02-13T17:02:00.440+00:00I was an English major and Proust never came up on...I was an English major and Proust never came up once as a must read at my college. Or maybe I avoided those classes. Harry Potter is a modern classic by my lights. I do think the series will endure and be read fifty years from now. We’ll see though. 37paddingtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12400464105403622384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-53558780163237142532019-02-13T16:20:16.514+00:002019-02-13T16:20:16.514+00:00My wife tried to read Proust and said she couldn&#...My wife tried to read Proust and said she couldn't believe how many pages it took him to describe his bathroom habits. On the other hand I once knew a guy who insisted Proust was the greatest writer ever. I haven't tried him yet. I'm only 78. Saving him for my old age.Catalysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804837416104556928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-69170655944054840032019-02-13T15:28:14.151+00:002019-02-13T15:28:14.151+00:00The most important thing is to get kids to read an...The most important thing is to get kids to read and keep them reading.Redhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17996243850279671523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-14448615159177727802019-02-13T15:08:26.595+00:002019-02-13T15:08:26.595+00:00Your topic today brought back some rather pleasant...Your topic today brought back some rather pleasant memories for me of my time working in Chicago. While I was in the city, I started following the theatre career of Mary Zimmerman who adapted classics into fantastic plays. One of those plays was called "Eleven Rooms of Proust" and it was staged in an old warehouse where the audience went from room to room to see scenes adapted from "Remembrance of Things Past". It was such a wonderful experience. She also did an adaptation of The Odyssey (also fantastic) but I think my favorite of all was "Ovid's Metamorphoses". That one was simply genius. I went to see it 3 times in Chicago and the it went to Broadway and I saw it there. Mary Zimmerman is an artistic genius. Sharonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645915869786296771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-81150381481536796952019-02-13T15:02:56.732+00:002019-02-13T15:02:56.732+00:00the effort to get children to read is the bottom l...the effort to get children to read is the bottom line. to read for pleasure, the love of reading and learning,not just for grade. If they are curious about reading the "classics" they are offered for study in Lit classes. You did a good thing! Encouragement in a library is always welcomed especially for children, whatever it takes. I do not even know what cultural competency is but it sounds like something I might need. Linda Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070050388987072100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-51533488243488053512019-02-13T15:01:50.198+00:002019-02-13T15:01:50.198+00:00just because someone designated some old fart'...just because someone designated some old fart's writing a 'classic' doesn't mean it is or that it is still relevant. especially to school kids. I remember having to read things like Tess of the D'ubervilles, The Mill on the Floss, another along those lines I can't remember the name of in English class. my daughter had to read The Last of the Mohicans which was so wordy a paragraph 3/4 of a page long could be summed up in a sentence or two. it was tedious to read.ellen abbotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00535475792150335186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-81566370786737449642019-02-13T14:22:35.351+00:002019-02-13T14:22:35.351+00:00If no one has checked out a book in half a century...If no one has checked out a book in half a century, the culture may have already been "dumbed down" although quite frankly, I doubt if a more than a hundred high school age kids in the history of the universe have read any Proust at all, much less the entire eight volumes. <br />Let us know if you gain any new insights on cultural competency. Ms. Moonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09776404747858099919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5123631695572626256.post-19467242144862275592019-02-13T06:45:09.988+00:002019-02-13T06:45:09.988+00:00I think I need some "cultural competency trai...I think I need some "cultural competency training" myself as I often suffer from cultural incompetence. It can be very debilitating. As for weeding out classics I say "Good!". After all it is a school library and what is on the shelves should reflect the preferences and interests of the pupil population. Or is this just another example of my cultural incompetence?Yorkshire Puddinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06019673884543913089noreply@blogger.com