Ruth Graham has been attacked for her article disapproving adults reading teen literature. I finally read her article and thought, in some ways, that it's not as bad as it's being made out to be. I've read several young adults books, enjoyed them and am neither embarrassed to have read them (as she suggests I should be), nor feel that my ego/person is threatened by the fact that she disapproves. Hers is just the opinion of one person, one whom I don't even know. I think she makes some good points and has some valid concerns, specifically, that books written for adults approach life stories in a much more complex and sophisticated manner, which they should, because adults experience a different life and experience life differently; and if you're reading only or mainly young adult fiction, you're reading something written for someone with that limited experience and perspective (which is the point).
Where she makes the mistake is of being judgmental and making silly blanket statements like: "Adults should feel embarrassed about reading literature written for children." Of course they shouldn't. In fact, there are wonderful books written for children that I would suggest all adults read. And there are "Young Adult" books that transcend the genre and seem to be written for any age, like Pullman's The Golden Compass or The Hobbit. She seemed to be mainly talking about "real-life" teen books, not fantasy books. I can't comment on that at all, because I've never read one of those kinds of teen books. (As for fantasy in general, Michael Chabon has made a much more eloquent defense of genre fiction than I ever could: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/27/entertainment/ca-chabon27). Generally, I don't think people should ever feel embarrassed about reading books, maybe only embarrassed if they're not.
I think it would have been better if she had avoided generalized, simplistic, inflammatory and/or judgmental statements. And it would be better if the people attacking her article did the same. Then maybe some common ground and new insights would be found that would benefit everyone. Instead it turns into yet another American war of words: I'm feel this way so I'm right and you must be wrong/you're wrong and you've offended my feelings and my very personality by stating your opinion. The truth is, we learn nothing from being "right."
The Buddha said: “Our enemies are our greatest teachers.”
There's a very nice blog about this by Marcella Corroeli Jager, a fellow writer:
http://writersrising.blogspot.com/2010/02/your-greatest-enemy-is-your-greatest.html
You can read the Slate article about Young Adult Fiction for yourself here:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/06/against_ya_adults_should_be_embarrassed_to_read_children_s_books.html
For a thoughtful and impassioned rebuttal to the Slate article, you can read my friend Liz Thurmond's blog post here:
http://countmystars.wordpress.com/2014/06/05/ya-fiction-elitism-and-the-culture-of-should/
Peace all,
Robert
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