I just opened Moby Dick for the first time. I know … I’m a literary loser. I’m only on the 5th chapter (of 134, thank you), but already I am feeling “Ohmygod, this is the best book I have ever read!” I just don’t know why it has taken me 25 years of adult literacy to get around to this work.
I had this sneaky plan this past Christmas. I want my oldest son (and the siblings after him) to read some contemporary classics, so I went on Amazon and bought about a dozen $5 paperback versions of these things “for my kids”. Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, etc. Stuff that is perhaps over his head right now, but of more substance than Harry Potter. I must admit that the Lemony Snicket books are creative and of surprising quality, but I don’t want him to skip these gems.
I have spent way too much of my post-collegiate reading time with the Christian “challenge and encouragement” genre. Not that this is a bad thing, it’s just like having spinach for every meal for several years. I have tinkered with fiction and such, but my diet is (was) far to unbalanced.
So I am determined to read about the whale. I truly can’t wait.
The paradox of insular language
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We often develop slang or codewords to keep the others from understanding
what we’re saying. Here’s an example (thanks BK) of the lengths that some
are goi...
7 months ago
3 comments:
We've been doing pretty much the same thing with our kids lately, at least with the 18 and 15 year old. Not much new "classics" material seems to be published these days.
BUT.....
William Golding (Lord of..) and George Orwell (Animal Farm) are both Brits. Widen your concept to English Literature, and you're within the bounds.
I haven't gotten around to M.Dick either.
Shamefully, neither have I read The Great Moby. Some other classics have formed my view of literature however. I wanted to form my children’s view this way but them seem to be striking out their own path somehow. I'm not sure how that is possible. My eldest finds Clive Barker (of all people) intriguing.
That's it! Golding and Orwell are off the list! Can't even speak proper American. From now on it's only the local and Swedish authors that will offer guidance in this home ...
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