Fw: 2/2/22

[Bret James Logue]

On Tue, 4 Feb 1997, Tom Stanton wrote:

> Henry M wrote:
> > 
> > Yes, someone mentioned that their teenage son was going though or had
> > gone through a AR period. (Won't say who, there's a child involved
> > here.)
> 
> My son (16) has read the major stuff & was entralled. Then he
> started reading about quantum physics for extra credit & was
> blown away by the indeterminism. Nietzche (sp?) can't be far
> behind (he has the intro book)...
> 

I have always wanted to write a novel that would get latched onto by the
brooding teenage-intellectuals-to-be.

Serving on the Applications Committee of a small desert college, I learned
that personal reading lists for mid teens, and their personality from it,  
tend to fall into a few basic catagories:

1)Ayn Randians with their hyper-individualism
2)Pirsig's Zensters
3)Sci-fi, D&D novels
4)Camus and Existentialism (often with generous bits o' Sartre)
5)(rarely) a dip into the Nietzchean form of elitism

Is there space in the young one's minds for Mr. Pynchon.  If only more
people read CoL49 instead of Rand or Pirsig.  Both of whom I
think have only detrimental effects.  Certainly it would be
alot to ask 15-17 year olds to read GR, but perhaps V. would become
popular among the youngsters.  
And I don't agree with a previous e-pinion.  I think V. is more accessible
because it's easier to enjoy. The story (the adventure) is easier to
grasp.  Certainly in terms of structure and message it is complex, but it
reads like a thriller (at least I know I couldn't put it down).  

--bret