I´ve always thought that as long as people are reading, I don´t
particularly care for the genre or even the literary quality of the
books in question. Be it Harry Potter, Twilight or a Harlequin
Romance, it doesn´t make a difference to me because even the most
crass form of literature can help people enhance their vocabulary,
ability to express themselves and reading comprehension skills. In
the case of the ineptly-named "urban fiction" I´ve read articles
pointing out how it reaches out to a demographic group that otherwise
wouldn´t buy novels at all. Judging by the covers, titles and jacket
copy of most urban lit, it is certainly not my cup of tea. As a
matter of fact, it look pretty crappy. Nonetheless, if it makes more
people read and spend money on books, then it's all fine. Who knows,
some of its readers might eventually "graduate" to other forms of
fiction such as straightforward crime & mystery or maybe authors like
Walter Mosley.
-Gonzalo.
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "jacquesdebierue"
<jacquesdebierue@...> wrote:
>
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, DJ-Anonyme@ wrote:
> ."
> >
> > That's the second time this week I've run across a mention of
Marcuse
> > (the other was to his theory of repressive tolerance). Hadn't
heard his
> > name in years, maybe decades. One thing I remember from One
Dimensional
> > Man was his argument (actually just an aside) that it's better,
more
> > liberating, to screw in a field than in a car.
>
> It has been a long time since I have read his books, but his themes,
> like those of Fromm and others, pointed out a tendency towards
> dehumanization. Point well taken, I think.
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 06 Jan 2009 EST