I've read in some academic sources that writing literature for children and the youth is actually more demanding than writing "adult literature." Literature for younger people often has a clearer structure, the plot makes more sense and/or is easier to follow, there are didactic and humorous points, the texts tend to carry a positive, hopeful message. Probably the only place left for the literary/artistic portraits of truly heroic characters nowadays is youth literature.
I have heard the same. An interesting comparison in my mind, is that it is far harder to ride a horse in a straight line than it is to perform any of the more complicated movements. That might be for the reason that one needs to ride the straight line first to learn the skills and balance required for the rest. Once the 'simple' has been mastered, the complex reveals itself. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Genetic? I wonder if the enjoyment of reading is genetic? I love to read, but don't remember "learning" to enjoy to read. I just have always loved books and reading, along with libraries, book stores, etc.
Science fiction often focuses on basic ethical topics and issues of personal character - honor, justice, friendship, loyalty, creativity, perseverance ... People generally like to ponder those topics, at least implicitly. The aliens, supertechnology etc. are just a backdrop for the elaboration of those ethical and character topics. Consider how cheesily simplistic Star Wars would be if they would be set in ordinary life circumstances.
I am not convinced. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! There is a social permissiveness typical for modern adult literature that adults are allowed be confused, troubled, unhappy, cynical - and that there needn't be anything done about that. Literature for adults from the 1800's and earlier generally did not practice such permissiveness. Youth literature generally does not practice such permissiveness; instead, it is aimed toward finding the inner and external resources to overcome hardship. In reality, people do want to overcome hardship. Actually, I think that reading youth literature does not at all prepare and enable a person to read modern adult literature. The two are generally two completely different categories, as far as their outlook on life is concerned.
You're also describing all the movies I hate! They have no beginning, middle and end. I prefer movies for kids and chick flicks. At least they tell a story. Not much of a loss, if you ask me. Although my wife the lit major insists that Latin America is now the world's literature center. I find Paulo Coelho's stories both understandable and satisfying.
My great aunt who was born in 1890 to working-class parents taught me how to read when I was 4. Newspaper reading was essential to her, and she loved to do the crossword puzzles. Learning to read pleased her, which was important to me. I think the rapid expansion of my reality that came with being able to read words propelled me from there to keep reading, though I was not conscious of this till much later in my life.
So (some of) the enjoyment in reading is somehow connected with exerting a measure of control over one's own experiencing/observing and reasoning? A delighting in discernment. Agreed, but this can set in only if some conditions are fulfilled, one of them being that the reader have the confidence that the discernment she is developing will not be considered wrong by authoritative figures in her life. If the reader fears that her discernment will be used against her in some way (such as getting a bad grade for writing a literary interpretation that the teacher doesn't like), then she is not likely to enjoy reading. So in such a case, in order to enjoy reading, the reader must have one or more or all of at least these: considerable independence, self-confidence, lack of fear of bad grades, the ability to lie and make statements that please the authority figure and not feel uncomfortable about such lying.
The reading material in my early life was certainly monitored by my mother and included children's books, comics, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys etc. moving on to Reader's Digest and their condensed books as well. There were never any 'tabloids' in our house and I never saw any porn laying around, now that I think back. I was very attentive and obedient in class. My report cards reflect this. I probably mirrored the interpretation of the teacher in my earlier grades. I was raised not to lie, although I have learned that it can be important to discern precisely how much of the truth any situation may require. For me, school was about getting good grades and pleasing the teachers and my parents. It was like a game. What are they looking for? Find it and deliver. That was the expectation and so in delivering it, I do not consider myself to have been lying. This was early conditioning and so my discernment was still quite limited. For the record, and so that it may aid yourself and others in understanding my developmentally arrested perspective, I was enrolled in school at age 5, skipped grade 5, and then due to family upheaval I took grades 8-10 by correspondence and two years of high school in a residential school type setting 1000 miles from my home, abandoning formal education 2 courses short of completing high school. I have never even bothered to get my G.E.D because I have become cynical of the whole process. I can learn to do most anything that is required of me and I have demonstrated this. I am largely self-taught. The majority of my short-comings and inadequacies I am quite aware of, yet they serve my purposes. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Did such "delivering" never make you feel like shit? Sure, I could, and to some degree, still can, "deliver" too, but later, I barely recognize myself in the mirror. Oh.
