Books and Reading

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

Clancy vs. Pynchon?  Well, to drag up another quotation:

"Some books are to be tasted, others are to be swallowed, and some few to
be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts;
others to be read but cursorily; and some few to be read wholly, and with
diligence and attention."

TRP, I believe, fits the last category.


But expectations are all.  I find students also bemused by the idea that
novels or movies demand attention, thought, and discussion.  That seems
predicated on a belief that all narrative forms are "only" for "entertainment"
or that "escape
" is the supreme goal of stories.  Ask them "escape from what?" and you are
met with bewilderment.  The unexamined life is pretty darn good!


Not that it's unique to the latest generation.  It took me years to realize
why I didn't do so well in high school chemistry class.  My teacher had
told my parents at a conference that I couldn't read the textbook "as though
it was a novel."  I thought he meant I was reading too closely and carefully!!


Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)