Image via Wikipedia
“All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values. Well, as an old poop I can remember back to when we had those old-fashioned values, and I say let’s get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States — and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!” Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1922-2007
Image via Wikipedia
I just read an article at Care2.com entitled “Student Runs Secret Banned Books Library from Locker” which needs no explanation. I, for one, could go hours ranting about this one. Once in high school I had an English teacher who passed out a list of past and present books that had been banned. This list included The Wizard of Oz, The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, and The Great Gatsby! I remember being horrified and asked myself what could possibly have been in these books so subversive that we, the American reading public had to be protected. My horror turned to anger and abhorrence when I discovered that my school library had banned all Judy Blume books which recount tastefully and poignantly the concerns of adolescent girls. I decided right then and there to embark on my own personal crusade to read every book on that list.
That was the extent of my militancy and I have to say my interest flagged after a while because many of the books didn’t pique my interest enough. So when I read this article describing a Catholic school student’s subversive library I was thrilled. Here is a kid who is doing something about banned books that makes a difference! In the article the reasons for the school’s banning such books as Paradise Lost and The Canterbury Tales are based in religion, a premise I find disconcerting as it suggests aggressive control and apparently so does Nekochan (the student’s preferred avatar name).
Nekochan states that she now has a locker filled with 62 banned books which she loans out to fellow interested students and realizes that she is at risk for getting into trouble. But her belief that she is right in her stance encourages her to continue her rebellious activity despite the danger of getting caught.
Continue, Nekochan, to “Fight the Power!! Knowledge is a gift and we should be allowed to make our own choices about what we should and should not read.
Image via Wikipedia
The days are getting shorter and there is a hint of crispness in the air. Soon, too soon, the languid days of summer will be over and autumn will be here. Naturally, my mind has begun to turn towards preparing my son for his inevitable return to school. Its been a flurry of clothes and supplies shopping, arranging for after-school, and the return to routine. Once again, I will begin to mandate a time for reading, both alone and together. Ever since he was a baby he’s been read to and although my son will be entering the 5th grade this year we will choose and put aside books especially to be read aloud.
Presumably one would think he’s too old to be read to, that it’s too babyish. I disagree. An article at the website Education World (Reading Aloud: Are Students Ever Too Old?) corroborates my belief. Not only does reading aloud to your child promote reading literacy but it’s also great bonding time. Some of my greatest childhood memories were of my father reading to my sister and I. My Dad was a master of reading with character voices, he had the wonderful talent of becoming a persona; I remember with great fondness his reading, in the vernacular, the adventures of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox and his interpretation of Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi made real for me the epic life and death battle of the stalwart little mongoose with the evil snake Nagaina. The latter so fondly remembered that a few years ago 
while reading aloud with family I coerced my Dad to read, once again, one of my favorite stories. And for a moment, at the age of 40, I was able to relive a wonderful childhood memory. I don’t think he truly understood what a wonderful gift he gave me that summer evening. (Dad: If you’re reading this now, Thanks).
I too, want to give this gift to my son. I try very hard to do voices; my pirate voice is pretty good (but I recommend having a glass of water on hand) and some of my very favorite characters to read have been those of Roald Dahl. It feels so good to become the deliciously bratty Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the sinister Grand High Witch from The Witches. I suppose I must be doing something right because my tween still looks forward to laying in bed listening to Mom’s interpretation of stories, bad accents and all. At least, I haven’t yet had any complaints!
A Brief List of past, present and future read-alouds
Image via Wikipedia
“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install,
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”Roald Dahl, 1916–1990 (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
I want to share this link because I am on a serious Jane Austen bender at the moment (when am I not?) and I think this is an amusing and raucous mashup. I’ve seen it so many times and yet I am still laughing. Enjoy.
“I dearly love a laugh… I hope I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can.” (Pride and Prejudice)
I have just finished Why Jane Austen? by Rachel M. Brownstein. It is a scholarly book, a serious discourse that attempts to interpret why Jane Austen is considered such a great writer and why she has become such a phenomenon in this day and age. The author strives to explain and understand from many viewpoints: Jane Austen’s contemporaries, her family, the young girls who are looking for a simple courtship story, women who see early feminist messages á la Mary Wollstonecraft, white-haired ladies who ooh and aah at the neat writing of her manuscripts and letters, and the zealots who would defend, to the death, her genius. It is a well-written book; the author, a professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center and who has lectured at meetings of the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA), knows her stuff. I enjoyed reading it but found parts of the book dry and, at times, confusing. I am wondering if my dense reading of this book is because it wasn’t what I expected. The well-known axiom, “don’t judge a book by its cover” is appropriate here as the cover picturing a Jane Austen “action figure” atop a stack of books belies its content. I thought it would be a “light, bright and sparkling” book appropriate for summer holiday reading. Beach reading it was not.
No sooner had I read the last page I began to question why I love Jane Austen so much. Oddly enough, it is a tough
question to answer, most likely because my outlook towards her has changed over the years. I must admit I came to her quite late. I never read Pride and Prejudice as a giddy schoolgirl; I discovered her in college. I am embarrassed to say that my introduction to Jane Austen was through the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth as Elizabeth and Darcy. I remember loving it as I tried to watch while being teased by a neanderthal who felt that the highly mannered society, the clothes and stately settings, and period language were pretentious. I read the book and soon after the other five novels. I fell in love.
A small part of my Jane Austen collection
Since then, I have read the biographies, the Juvenilia, the letters, magazines, articles, on-line blogs, and have re-read the books countless times. I would rather go hungry than not purchase the newest edition of any of the novels, biography, or critical essays. I even watch and enjoy the cinematic versions of the books and Jane Austen’s life. My favorite P&P is no longer the Firth one; he being much too Byronic for my tastes and not the Darcy of the novel. I have read each book in different ways, sometimes I focus on character, sometimes it’s the language, I like to focus on reading between the lines to gently uncover Jane Austen’s witty and humorous and very accurate assessments of the people we still come into contact today. She was a master of language; her writing so exquisite and at the same time so humble. Unless you are looking for it this can be easy to miss. Virginia Woolf summed it up best in A Room of One’s Own,
“Anyone who has the temerity to write about Jane Austen is aware…that of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness.”
So why Jane Austen? Because I am the giddy girl seeking romance, the intellectual woman looking for discourse on the perfect novel, the feminist fighting for female independence and a break from the accepted docile rendering of womanhood, the gray-haired lady who values penmanship, civility, and manners. Jane Austen answers to all of these various parts of my personality and so much more. I’ve never been let down by her and have always been able to find a kernel of wisdom, laughter, and joy no matter my mood. Her words have uplifted my spirits, answered difficult questions, and given me an understanding of people through the behavior of her characters. She is great. It is as simple as that.
Image via Wikipedia
“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.” (Pride and Prejudice, Vol I., Ch. VIII)
A Latter-day Bluestocking 