11:19 pm - 04/03/2012
The only thing more embarrassing than catching a guy on the plane looking at pornography on his computer is seeing a guy on the plane reading “The Hunger Games.” Or a Twilight book. Or Harry Potter. The only time I’m O.K. with an adult holding a children’s book is if he’s moving his mouth as he reads.
I’m sure all those books are well written. So is “Horton Hatches the Egg.” But Horton doesn’t have the depth of language and character as literature written for people who have stopped physically growing.
I appreciate that adults occasionally watch Pixar movies or play video games. That’s fine. Those media don’t require much of your brains. Books are one of our few chances to learn. There’s a reason my teachers didn’t assign me to go home and play three hours of Donkey Kong.
I have no idea what “The Hunger Games” is like. Maybe there are complicated shades of good and evil in each character. Maybe there are Pynchonesque turns of phrase. Maybe it delves into issues of identity, self-justification and anomie that would make David Foster Wallace proud. I don’t know because it’s a book for kids. I’ll read “The Hunger Games” when I finish the previous 3,000 years of fiction written for adults.
Let’s have the decency to let tween girls have their own little world of vampires and child wizards and games you play when hungry. Let’s not pump Justin Bieber in our Saabs and get engaged at Cinderella’s Castle at Disneyland. Because it’s embarrassing. You can’t take an adult seriously when he’s debating you over why Twilight vampires are O.K. with sunlight. If my parents had read “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” at the same time as I did, I would have looked into boarding school.
NYTimes Fail Opinion
Joel Stein: "Adults Should Read Adult Books"
The only thing more embarrassing than catching a guy on the plane looking at pornography on his computer is seeing a guy on the plane reading “The Hunger Games.” Or a Twilight book. Or Harry Potter. The only time I’m O.K. with an adult holding a children’s book is if he’s moving his mouth as he reads.
I’m sure all those books are well written. So is “Horton Hatches the Egg.” But Horton doesn’t have the depth of language and character as literature written for people who have stopped physically growing.
I appreciate that adults occasionally watch Pixar movies or play video games. That’s fine. Those media don’t require much of your brains. Books are one of our few chances to learn. There’s a reason my teachers didn’t assign me to go home and play three hours of Donkey Kong.
I have no idea what “The Hunger Games” is like. Maybe there are complicated shades of good and evil in each character. Maybe there are Pynchonesque turns of phrase. Maybe it delves into issues of identity, self-justification and anomie that would make David Foster Wallace proud. I don’t know because it’s a book for kids. I’ll read “The Hunger Games” when I finish the previous 3,000 years of fiction written for adults.
Let’s have the decency to let tween girls have their own little world of vampires and child wizards and games you play when hungry. Let’s not pump Justin Bieber in our Saabs and get engaged at Cinderella’s Castle at Disneyland. Because it’s embarrassing. You can’t take an adult seriously when he’s debating you over why Twilight vampires are O.K. with sunlight. If my parents had read “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” at the same time as I did, I would have looked into boarding school.
NYTimes Fail Opinion
i read both and you can't stop me
can't be tamed
Fuck you very much Joel.
I also don't think everyone has to be at the mental capacity of a 12 year old to read YA books.
Edited at 2012-04-04 02:44 pm (UTC)
let's not forget that this is the genius that brought us this pulitzer prize winning piece: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic
it's obvious that they just threw this shit in there because every other article was in support of Young Adult literature.
I got in a huge fight with a friend over this dumb article, and not because I disagree with him (which I do) but because it is SO POORLY WRITTEN. He's not saying anything the title of the article doesn't say. There are no facts, no back up, no nothing. So fuck you, Joel Stein. Shut up.
who gives a shit my sister who is 25 likes sarah dessen i make fun of her sometimes but at least she reads
But I will say that I haven't read any YA books for a long time. The YA section does not interest me anymore.
I rest my case.
I've continued to think about this following the comment I made on Page 17 last night at around 2:00am. At the time, I was purely angry, and I still stand by my sentiments.
That said, after continuing to think about it this morning, all I feel for this man is pure pity. This issue is clearly not limited to whether or not Stein believes adults should real young adult literature. This poor, pathetic man clearly has defined what constitutes 'adulthood' in such a narrow-minded, limited way as to shut himself off from so many wonderful experiences.
He doesn't know what he's missing, and I think his arbitrary definition of what is 'appropriate' and 'mature' has made him a very angry, bitter man. We can see the evidence of such feeling in this article alone, not to mention his other works which are filled with bigotry and hatred toward others.
He is disparaging toward those who play video games or watch animated films, even those of the extreme depth of feeling and resonance like the Toy Story series. He implies that spending time at Disneyland (Or, I'm assuming, Walt Disney World) is 'embarrassing'. Well you know what? I love video games. Throughout my life, I've played and loved many, particularly Epic Mickey, Spyro, and L.A. Noire. I love animated films and movies. I particularly love Disney and Pixar films, and know most of the songs off by heart. I still visit WDW every one or two years, and I enjoy it every single time.
Does that mean I'm regressing into childhood, sucking my thumb and generally acting like an embarrassing child, like Joel Stein implies? Hardly. I've taken a cruise to Rome, Greece, Egypt and many other locales, and have learned from each and every culture. For the past three years, I've read over one hundred historical studies, biographies and other non-fiction work for pleasure.
I am not defined by one thing I enjoy. Unlike Stein, who apparently can't enjoy a range of different interests at once, I am open to all different experiences, and don't cut myself off simply because they may not be geared toward me. This man is living in a black-and-white hole created by his own hand, while I like to think I'm enjoying life in Technicolour.
This man has no power of us. He is an impotent, small person who is upset over his own choices, and therefore attempts to take it out on others by dictating to us what he believes is appropriate. The only power he can inflict over us is that we which provide him. I refuse to be angry, because then I'm allowing his toxicity to affect me. All I feel for this man is shame and pity, as he is the one losing out. Not me, and certainly not many of the other people in this power who disagree with his sentiments.
Edited at 2012-04-04 04:12 pm (UTC)
my attention span has obviously suffered from all the Jane Langton I snacked upon in my youth.
Hell, we invented Dave and Buster's just so we could play games without looking weird for hanging out at a Chuck E. Cheese. I agree with you, he seems bitter.