To be shocked the librarian was so poorly read?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

In the library recently reserving some books for dd. Librarian had not heard of A Handmaid’s Tale and did not know that As you Like It was written by Shakespeare.

These are not exactly obscure books!

AIBU?

@MaMelon

Why? You gave an honest answer to her question *@AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken* 😊 I hope she didn’t attempt to diminish your response?

Nope. Even worse, silence...

My go to response is JK Rowling.
I've no shame about it.
I've also read Jordan's autobiography because it was important to a friend.
As autobiographies go it wasn't bad. Though I assume it's ghostwritten.

AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken
Sometimes I think people forget the charm of childhood authors. I still enjoy Dr Seuss and feel joy reading him to DC.
When I was at university we studied children's literature and part of the unit looked at how adults view children's literature. Too often it's viewed as lesser than adult literature, then within adult literature some hold an unspoken hierarchy.

I don't have a favourite author, which frequently surprises the students. I have a range of books that I enjoy across a range of genres.

@SunnydaleClassProtector99

My go to response is JK Rowling. I've no shame about it. I've also read Jordan's autobiography because it was important to a friend. As autobiographies go it wasn't bad. Though I assume it's ghostwritten.

My issue with autobiographies is I just get fed up of hearing from that one person and their point of view. I want to hear the other sides to the story.

I think reading is amazing. It’s a gift to find a book you enjoy. Whether it be a trashy poolside steam fest or a serious or historical novel. We’re very fortunate to live in a time where most of us are literate and have access to books.

Incidentally I can't remember the writer of The Silence of the Girls

It's Pat Barker, I've read some of hers but never come across this one, is it good?
You'll get no argument from me re. Marjorie Blackman, great writer, though I think possibly her novels are classed in the YA category which might be why she isn't as widely read as she deserves to be.

One could write a similar argument for JK Rowling, Dan Brown
I can't let this one go, though. I've read most of their work and they are both great story-tellers, but their characterisation and descriptive passages really aren't on a par with Atwood, or Blackman.

CecilyP Atwood won the Booker in 2019, a little more recently than you assume.

CaptainOatFlosser, I don't have a problem with people disagreeing with my opinion – literature is a pretty broad church

She could have steered that conversation is so many other directions @AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken, it’s a shame she wasn’t able to do that.

Regardless of what you think about Dahl, his writing brings so much joy to children and adults - and let’s face it ‘who’s your favourite author’ is a bit of a reductive question!

Sometimes I think people forget the charm of childhood authors. I still enjoy Dr Seuss and feel joy reading him to DC.
Absolutely this! I don't even pretend to be reading it to my children

And Atwood has none of JK's warmth and familiarity with the reader. In particular I found the characterisation of Penelope very unpalatable. I imagine that is the point but it made an interesting concept jarring. And I do like grey characterisation, for example in George RR Martin, but it's very hard to make an unlikable character relatable and I don't think Atwood quite manages it every time.
I'm not a Dan Brown fan at all, so I won't fight his corner.

And the point about children's literature is well made. I think novels like 5 children and the secret garden have a magic unmatched.

Silence of the girls is very good imo. But I'm quite into Greek reimagining and feminism so it's right up my street.

I have read all of Margaret Attwood's novels, several Shakespeare plays (but not As You Like It}, currently reading Munich by Robert Harris', do not like Earl Grey tea. My son-in-law is a plumber who doesn't enjoy reading, and drinks Typhoo. Where do I fit in?

It depends on how many sugars Ds takes I think.

I didn't even finish the first George RR Martin book.
Dan Brown was very readable, but once you've read one, you've read the others.

Silence of the Girls is great. My dad recommended it to me, rather to my surprise.

Crikey! I don't believe I am a snob. I went to a secondary modern, did not go to university and did an ordinary office job.

When I was young, the library was very important to me and the librarian could suggest authors and titles I might enjoy or which she thought might be especially engaging - and sometimes challenging - for a younger person.

Of course, nobody can be expected to have an all-round knowledge of every book in a library, but some knowledge is preferable I think - especially for the employee as otherwise their working day must be very dull and unchallenging.

@LolaSmiles try Fevre Dream. It's a self contained George RR Martin about Vampires in the slave south with a twist.
Much more manageable and minimal fantasy elements (apart from vampires obviously)

I also struggled with the first ice and fire, but once you break the first book barrier you get into stride and it's amazing.

I'm desperate to read Winds of Winter.

Believe me, working in a modern public library is far from dull and unchallenging!

I asked you earlier though - what books, out of the millions of titles out there, should library assistants have some knowledge of (bearing in mind that Atwood and Shakespeare aren’t very high on the list of most borrowed books)?

@SunnydaleClassProtector99

Sara obviously stock up on Earl and Lady Grey before you do that!

I obviously have both. I'm most offended that you should think I would need to stock up. I've had plumbers work for me before, I know their standards! I am wondering whether I should gravitate from Twinings to Fortnum and Mason though.

SunnydaleClassProtector99
Thank you for the suggestion. It sounds much better than the whole marching up to castles, blah, blah, blah that's in the Fire and Ice ones

My husband said the same about needing to break the first book, but I haven't got the sticking power to plough through something dull in the hope that it gets better. When the series came out he tried to get me to watch it with him, with no success. I think I watched a bit more later on with with John Snow and the ginger woman beyond the wall, and the weird red witch woman, and then concluded it's maybe not the genre for me.

@LolaSmiles

AllTheUsernamesAreAlreadyTaken Sometimes I think people forget the charm of childhood authors. I still enjoy Dr Seuss and feel joy reading him to DC. When I was at university we studied children's literature and part of the unit looked at how adults view children's literature. Too often it's viewed as lesser than adult literature, then within adult literature some hold an unspoken hierarchy.

I don't have a favourite author, which frequently surprises the students. I have a range of books that I enjoy across a range of genres.

I still mourn Judith Kerr.

And I'm a massive fan of Frank Cottrell-Boyce. The Forgotten Coat should be required reading in Year 5 or 6. Great for a PSHE crossover.

I think it is probably Marmite to be honest. The series started off well but the less said about the end the better. But I thought Fevre Dream was a nice neat, no thrills example of his writing. The problem with ice and fire is it's so complex I believe even he gets tangled up in details as it sprawls out and out.

Sara I like Yorkshire myself, but Tetley or Typoo will do. Any port in a storm.

Aaargh. UNforgotten Coat!

Absolute disgrace.
In another life my husband was a graduate librarian, but I know far more about Shakespeare, poetry and literature than him from my A Level English literature course ( despite being a scientist I got a Grade A !) and frequent visits to the RSC when I read combined SCIENCES at university.

Don’t start me on the topic of how totally ignorant ‘ arty farty’ types can be about Natural History, evolution, genetics, scientific research etc etc.
One of the main problems with all this COVID situation is that in addition to general corruption in awarding contracts, NO ONE in the government has the slightest knowledge about science and medicine !

Didn’t Boris Johnson read PPE at Oxford ? He’s always been a ‘ rival ‘ of David Cameron who I think read English or History.
Don’t worry, they were BOTH members of the Bullingdon club!!!
Maybe should have used their time better by getting a vague knowledge of science and technology !!!
Rant over !

than him from my A level

Fascinating!

It's telling that there's a widespread assumption that it's 'Great British' culture that counts.

Yesterday involved searching for a missing reservation of some Urdu fiction. It's useful knowledge if you're working in many city community libraries, to be comfortable with transliterated titles/names that are orignally in other scripts, and to be able to communicate with people for whom English is a second language. (This can take rather more time.) In the city where I work, it would be shocking not to know about major religious festivals - eg Ramadan - and to know how these will impact on library users lives.

So perhaps everyone who is so shocked at other people's lack of knowledge would like to try shelving some Gujerati books correctly?