After having read CoL49, this is what one of my students said ...

[Will Layman]

I have taught COL49 to high school kids, and it's largely a losing
proposition.  Sure, some will be exciting by the wordplay and some will be
titillated by the randy humor, but they are mostly unprepared to appreciate
the serious side of the book.  Frankly, it's not their fault.

To teach Pynchon to high school kids, I've found the best vehicle, by far,
is "The Secret Integration."  The racial elements are serious matters that
they can really get into, and "deep" parts of the story have less to do with
death and mortality (which they are not old enough to really deal with) than
with self-understanding and identity (Who am I becoming? Am I my parents?).

Hey, most ADULTS don't get Pynchon and wouldn't have patience for a book
about a shadow postal service.  Give these kids a break and let them read
good stuff that they have a chance of relating to.

-- Will Layman

On 2/25/05 9:44 AM, "john winthrop" <john_winthrop at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Well how old are your students?
> Not that it's a good excuse, just wondering.
> to know how important the mail system is you would have to use it every once
> in a while, some how the more it goes the less snail mail we are acquainted
> with. did you read about that high school survey showing a majority of
> students thought the first amendment to be too liberal?
> hm.
> welcome to our world.
> 
>> From: Chris Pinner <chris.pinner at gmail.com>
>> Reply-To: Chris Pinner <chris.pinner at gmail.com>
>> To: Tim Strzechowski <Dedalus204 at comcast.net>
>> CC: Pynchon-L <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Subject: Re: After having read CoL49, this is what one of my students said
>> ...
>> Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 09:21:25 -0500
>> 
>> Wait a minute...there ar epeople who don't get how important the mail
>> system is to the world?  How they control most major communications at
>> some time or another?  Holy crap...not to mention all the other stuff
>> going on in there.  I find it hard to imagine a system that holds more
>> subtle power over the people than the postal service.
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 21:46:20 -0600, Tim Strzechowski
>> <Dedalus204 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>> "I can't believe that we actually had to read this book. It was based on
>> an
>>> obsession over an underground mail system. (How exciting...) Why would
>>> anyone even care if there was mail getting delivered by means of
>> something
>>> other than the system set up by the U. S. Government."
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Welcome to MY world . . .
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Oy
> pynchon-l at waste,org
> 
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