graham crackers and chocolate make for the best combination

[wingblossom]

I'm unreasonably afraid that, one of these days, someone will go, "Hey, you there! Eating sandwiches in the library! Get off these premises and never come back again!" right out of the blue. Because I bring food with me while I work at the computers all the time, and for some reason, I'm never been caught cold-handed with it. One day, my luck may just run out.

My classmates in Psychology & Adolescent Literature want to read Twilight instead of Ursula Le Guin. I think this demonstrates a basic failure of the American education system.

For more details: in class today, my professor said that she received a barrage of emails complaining about the syllabus for the course, citing that they disliked the syllabus because "they hated fantasy." Even more people dropped the course because of this, which surprises me, because you think they'd bother to READ THE COURSE DESCRIPTION for this class instead of showing up on the first day and ending up shocked. At any rate, my professor said that if enough people offer, she's willing to switch two of the Le Guin books for other YA novels. A couple of people immediately jumped up and suggested Twilight as one of them.

I really do not want this. I mean, we wrote out our thoughts on the syllabus (if we liked it, if we wanted any changes to be made, if there were any other suggestions we had) and handed it in at the end of class. But no one seems to have any enthusiasm for the books we're reading, which became pretty obvious when she kept encouraging us to share our thoughts on The Magician's Nephew today and almost no one bothered.

If anything, there are other better YA books to pick from than Twilight, and it annoys me that my classmates can't recognize a good thing when they see it.

At any rate, my suitemate just brought back a s'more for me -- and I finished watching The Office, so all's well. :)

Comments

[bell]

I'm actually in favor of studying Twilight academically, because it's obviously created an impact on our current culture, and if only for that, it's become an important text. On the other hand, WHY COMPLAIN AT THE FANTASY IN A COURSE WITH THAT TITLE AND DESCRIPTION, AND AKLDJFLAKDJF. :< I prefer sci-fi over fantasy, but OH HOW I'D LOVE TO HAVE STUDIED YA FANTASY NOVELS IN COLLEGE. /grumbles/

[wingblossom]

I see that, but at the same time, I don't want my professor to give into pressure to teach Twilight just because some of the other students would rather read that. I mean, if it were originally on the syllabus, that's one thing. But I think she should just stick to her guns and not make major changes just for the sake of appeasing a few. Although we did hear back about this yesterday, and a lot of other students were in favor of not reading Twilight, so! Some hope may be there.

AND THE CLASS IS REALLY WONDERFUL SO FAR. :D

[cyanwitch]

Oh, ew. I sympathize with you completely here. Twilight does not belong in a college classroom. (Unless it's involved in a parody discussion.) There are so many AMAZING young adult books out there, with really interesting themes and plots and characters, and then there's Twilight. Which is okay for a mindless entertainment read, and okay for younger kids, but really, really not deep enough for any real discussion.

And the lack of response to The Magician's Nephew makes me sad. :( That was always my favorite Narnia book as a kid - I mean, they're traveling between worlds! How much cooler can you get?

[wingblossom]

I KNOW. There are tons and tons of fantastic YA books, and I'd rather read one of them over Twilight any day. Like bell pointed out above, there may be some value to teaching Twilight because of its cultural impact, but IMHO it's only interesting in that context. (Unless you're making a full-scale critique of the books, which is also valid.)

I love that book so much. I wasn't as fond of the last Narnia books, like The Last Battle, but I never got tired of reading The Magician's Nephew.

[cyanwitch]

I think that bell has a valid point, but that maybe it's a bit too early to teach about the cultural impact of a book that's only been out for about five years. And a full-scale critique of the books would probably take too long - and it doesn't seem like the people who want to read it would really enjoy that. :P

I think after The Magician's Nephew my favorite was The Silver Chair, but now I really like A Horse and His Boy the best. And The Last Battle made me so mad once I actually understood what was going on, lol. I liked it plenty as a really young kid, but. Not so much now.

[wingblossom]

it doesn't seem like the people who want to read it would really enjoy that

True! But there probably are other students who would be interested in critiquing it -- you certainly see enough people online who are more than willing to rip it to shreds. XD

I can't remember The Silver Chair all that well, unfortunately, but I do remember liking the earlier books a bit better. What did you think of Voyage of the Dawn Treader?

[cyanwitch]

Haha, this is true. XD

I forget most of what was in The Silver Chair, honestly, I just remember that it used to be my favorite. And Voyage of the Dawn Treader also had its stint as my favorite, so! I remember thinking that it was so cool that their world was flat.

Speaking on a slight tangent, have you watched the movies? I think that's one of the series where I like the movies better than the books.

[wingblossom]

Well, I'll be reading them again soon enough! So I should be able to remember what I did and didn't like about those books. :D

Actually, we just watched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in class a couple of days ago. I thought I had seen it before, since my mom took it out of the library, but I must have seen only bits and pieces, since there were a lot of scenes that I didn't recall.

It was an interesting adaptation; better than I remembered it being. I liked how much emphasis was placed on the sibling dynamics, which -- to be quite honest -- gave more depth to the Pevensies than the books ever did. The movie's treatment of Peter was also pretty telling. In the books, I liked him because he was the ideal older brother figure, and always knew the right thing to do. In the movies, it's almost like they decided to deconstruct that perception -- since he's the oldest, he tries to be in charge, but he's kind of awful to both Susan and Edmund, and can be a real jerk at times. I don't know how this makes me feel about movie!Peter, but it's an interesting characterization for him, and less stilted in that respect than the books can be.

[cyanwitch]

I really liked the characterization in the movies better than the books - in the books, I felt like they were just paper cutouts dancing along the pages a lot of the time. There were hints at personality, but I never really... felt it, I guess. Which is part of the reason TLWW wasn't ever one of my favorites, I think.

I never actually liked Peter until the movies! Then again, I mostly only ever liked Lucy and Susan - Lucy because she was cool and near my age, and Susan because she had long hair. (Yes, I know. I was like, six, give me a break! XD) I think that the movie is... a more realistic take on how people actually act? And I liked that better, personally.

I'm not sure that I didn't repeat myself ten times or make any sense, but. XD

[wingblossom]

I think so, too, although some of that might have to do with C.S. Lewis's writing style more than anything else. The books move along at a very fast clip, and in comparison, the movies need to be more developed in order to fit the hour-and-a-half runtime.

When I was little, I mostly just liked Lucy. XD The rest of the Pevensies barely registered to me -- Susan the most, since I thought she faded into the background in comparison with the rest of the characters. Reading all those articles and meta (especially Pullman's, hahah) about her in the last book has made her more of a blip on my radar, though.

I think that the movie is... a more realistic take on how people actually act?

And yes, exactly! I thought the movie did a great job of showing that, particularly by shadowing the effects of WWII right in the beginning of the film.

And you made perfect sense. XD

[cyanwitch]

Reading all those articles and meta (especially Pullman's, hahah) about her in the last book

Oh? See, now I'm really curious.

And I wasn't so sure about that. XD So that's good.

[wingblossom]

Oh my goodness, you never heard about it before? XD (Not making fun of you; I'm just surprised.) There's been so much polite tearing into C.S. Lewis on Philip Pullman's part that I thought everyone considered it old hat.

I just did a quick Google search, and these are some of the most pertinent links that came up:
Pullman on Lewis
The Dark Side of Narnia
Lewis and Pullman
Unsubtle Atheism in Pullman's Books
The Problem of The Problem of Susan
LJ post on the same
Neil Gaiman's take

Neil Gaiman also wrote a short story called "The Problem of Susan." It used to be located here, but that link has gone dead since. :(

[cyanwitch]

Oh, thanks!

And, I guess that I've maybe skirted around it a bit? I'm not really into the fandom or stalking info about it, so. I'd heard of the short story by Gaiman, but I hadn't really given it much thought.

That aside, the excerpts of the story that I did manage to find make me really, really curious. It may be time for a library trip soon. Maybe. If I can scrounge up enough money to pay my newest fine. >_>

As far as the links, I think I agree with the people who criticized Pullman's interpretation more. But I still hated that part of the books the most. =P
Actually, as a kid, I didn't question it. I just figured she got what she deserved. I think that, more than anything, is what bothers me now - I think about the Narnia books in general, too - because so many times I feel like Lewis just wants us to accept things without giving us a reason. And it bothers me that I ever did. Especially in Susan's case, because I have a lot more sympathy for her, and I don't really think the blatant dismissal she got from the other characters - and Lewis, in a way - was something she deserved.

tl;dr: I'm not even sure if I entirely agree with everything I just said, because I have a feeling I misphrased some of it. But!