Ultimate Houde
UC's Resident Genetic Recombinator
VVD called, he's in the bushes.
Has your reading matured?
- Thread starter Lynx
- Start date
VVD called, he's in the bushes.
McCheese
Well-Known Member
Girl stalker. That's Hot.
Which bushes, I don't see him. He's good, it must be that military training.
Hibiki
Really is pretentious, no matter what she says. Do
Bass
Nexus of the World
This is an important, lucid point.
moonmaster
Without him, all of you would be lost souls roamin
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- Feb 23, 2005
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I was reading an article the other day about the recent controversy where librarians are trying to ban a children's book because it mentions a dog's "scrotum". The writer of the article suggested that it's better for children to know what things are rather than learn the wrong terms, and that kids books with adult themes like alcoholism and mental illness can help children understand the different aspects of adult life that would otherwise confuse or scare them.If anything, I think my reading has "immatured". I mean, once I got to college, I discovered ElfQuest and the idea that indy comics had great stories and characters who had never even heard of spandex. And now I'm back to reading superhero stuff and graphic novels/comics pitched to kids.
Joking aside, I don't think it's a case of one's taste "maturing". There are novels dealing with some pretty serious subject matter written for kids: death, mental illness, alcoholism, abandonment, etc. The vocabulary might be simpler than an adult novel, and some of the subject matter might be toned down a little, but the books are still pretty heavy. You don't have to read the classics to find good character development or universal themes. Any decent writer will likely have them in his or her works.
I was wondering what you think about this, as a librarian?
I was watching that also. :lol:
AYTGIMM? really helped me out during a difficult time, being a young girl growing up in a scary world.
:lol:
Bass
Nexus of the World
Since I'm not a librarian, I will add my opinion on this by giving a different example and drawing no conclusions because I'm Bass and I'm allowed to do this kind of thing.
There was, not to long ago, a 'controversy' involving a parent who said that she didn't want her kids (still in single digits) being taught Harry Potter in school. She felt that they were too young for the occult nature of the books. People of course went ape**** at her for defending her beliefs. People complain parents don't look after their kids, here's this woman trying to do right as she sees it by her kids and everyone says she's crazy.
Anyway, she says, when the kids are being taught Harry Potter, she'd like her kids to go to the library and be taught another book.
The school said no. If the book is in the library, it can be taught in school and her kids can't be excluded. Either those kids are taught Harry Potter OR Harry Potter is banned.
So the mum said, ban it.
And of course, there was a 'controversy' about this book-burning mum. The evil, book-burning mum that wanted to kill Harry Potter. What tosh. This woman said, "I have different religious beliefs" but because she was Christian, the media and education system turned her into an ignorant book-burner instead of allowing her a very simple request.
So, in opinion to your librarian story, I don't know. I don't think I read your story in the first place.
Love,
Bass
Gideon Stargrave
Well-Known Member
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- Nov 10, 2006
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- 3,395
So...what was this thread about, again?
Oh yeah. Maturity in comicbook taste. Honestly, I think that any book can be "mature" or immature based simply on the writer and artist. And since creative teams change so often, it's easy for books to go from very deep/full of adult themes to a pretty basic superhero formula.
Here's a scenario I thought up; Imagine that the Bendis/Bagley team (one you are all familiar with) was writing Punisher Max and Ennis/Larosa were on Ultimate Spider-man. Just a simple roll switch right?
And then we end up with a Frank Castle who calls his enemies "Mishugas" and a Peter Parker who is killing nuns and running old ladies off of cliffs.
My second point is that there are different ways for your "reading to mature". Do you mean that you're starting to read books with deeper plots and themes or just books loaded with over the top violence and adult content? There are different types of "mature" books (pr0n ROFL).
Oh yeah. Maturity in comicbook taste. Honestly, I think that any book can be "mature" or immature based simply on the writer and artist. And since creative teams change so often, it's easy for books to go from very deep/full of adult themes to a pretty basic superhero formula.
Here's a scenario I thought up; Imagine that the Bendis/Bagley team (one you are all familiar with) was writing Punisher Max and Ennis/Larosa were on Ultimate Spider-man. Just a simple roll switch right?
And then we end up with a Frank Castle who calls his enemies "Mishugas" and a Peter Parker who is killing nuns and running old ladies off of cliffs.
My second point is that there are different ways for your "reading to mature". Do you mean that you're starting to read books with deeper plots and themes or just books loaded with over the top violence and adult content? There are different types of "mature" books (pr0n ROFL).
moonmaster
Without him, all of you would be lost souls roamin
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2005
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Joe Kalicki
Well-Known Member
Actually, as I've stated before, Ennis has written an entirely appropriate and quite excellent Spider-Man story in Tangled Web. With John Mcrea, no less.
Lynx
Well-Known Member
Deeper plots and themes. Punisher MAX was just an example. For instance, I picked up both LOEG trades, V for Vendetta, the Dark Knight Returns, the newest Fables trade and the newest Walking Dead trade. All of which, in my opinion, are much deeper books then, say, any of the Ultimate line (Except, perhaps, The Ultimates).
If the book HAS a lot of violence, such as Punisher MAX, its not the reason I get it. I could be picking up books like Hack/Slash or any of the other numerous horror movie comics if I was just going for over-the-top violence.
Interesting. . .
Well, I agree that if the mother didn't want her children reading said books, especially in elementary school, she has that right. The way the school took it was completely wrong. Now, if they were older, say, high school or even middle school, then I don't think it should have been a problem. Children should understand the difference between the real-world occult and literary magic by their pre-teen years. After all, schools teach The Lord of the Rings and the Arthur legendarium by that time and people usually don't complain about the magic in those stories.
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Seldes Katne
Site mom
First of all, I doubt very much that many librarians are trying to ban this book. On average, librarians support the rights of people to read what they want, and try to offer a wide range of materials for patrons. There's a saying in the library field that a good library collection will have something to offend everyone -- even the librarian.
What seems to be happening is that librarians are trying to figure out where to place the book (which goes by the title of The Higher Power of Lucky, by the way). Any book published in the United States that is intended for readers up to 14 years of age is eligible for the Newbery Award, so it's a very broad range of works being considered every year. Several books that have won the Newbery have been more suitable for the Young Adult section, which usually contains books that deal with somewhat more graphic subject matter than what's found in the Children's collection. Some librarians are buying the book, and placing it the storeroom, where patrons can have it by request but where children won't just pick it up off the shelf.
No one's putting a gun to anyone's head to force them to read it, either. It's like any other controversial work -- if it doesn't appeal to you, go find something else to read.
I think that many children either won't have the faintest idea what the word "scrotum" means, or won't think anything of it if the adults around them aren't freaking out about it. I agree that using the anatomically correct term is preferable to a euphemism. (I think having the snake bite the dog on the leg would have been even better, but presumably the author had a reason for writing her book this way.) Having not read the book myself, I can't offer much of an opinion on it at this point, other than to point out that people really need to make their judgement based on the book as a whole, rather than one word or one chapter. One reason libraries have controversial books in the collection is to give patrons the opportunity to read those books and decide for themselves what they think. We have Higher Power of Lucky on order because it's a Newbery winner and public libraries are expected to have most of those books. I expect it to go on the regular shelf under the author's last name, like any other novel.
To make a comment on Bass's Harry Potter story, schools and school libraries have a somewhat different set of issues than public libraries do. In schools, children are essentially a "captive audience", and many school districts here will often offer alternatives to controversial books, or books that parents ask their children not have to read for religious or other reasons. We had one student in a school district where I worked who was reading and doing a report on an alternate book to "A Christmas Carol" for some reason. She would come to the library during her English class to read and write her paper.
I think the mother in question had the right to ask that her child not be taught Harry Potter, which has been a controverial book here in the states for various reasons. (It's one of the few books that has been challenged more times than Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which was at the top of the American Library Association's list of most frequently challenged and banned books for several years.)
In my opinion, parents who take an interest in what their children are reading are to be supported, even if I don't agree with their choices. Better that than the parents who take no interest in their child's reading (or worse, no interest in anything the child is doing at all).
