So is Andew Motion a prat or what?

[SorenLorensen]

"The Odyssey, Ulysses and Portrait of a Lady by Henry James" (from MN's newsletter about an article in the Guardian) - as in what Andrew Motion reckons children should be reading.

Well, no-one could accuse him of dumbing down. But Ulysses? Really?

And I don't think children should read R&J - I think they should see it.

you'd know SL

But older children might manage them - and surely it's better to set our sights high? I agree with you, Marina.

Some older children might manage them but in my experience most wouldnt and it would in all probabaility put them off reading books for life.

Well if he enjoyed them fine but don't push your taste on others especially chidren. My primary school had a visiting mobile libary and when it came the older kids picked the books. Our teacher would go mental if any of us choose Enid Blyton. I mean mental. Banging desks, opening doors and banging them throwing the blackboard duster across the room. Funnily enough I found Enid to be a real guilty pleasure. A bit like Heat Magazine today.

I have read several worthy books and several thrashy novels. Kids should be taught how to enjoy reading first before introduced to the more worthy efforts.

I was hoping mts was going to do this...

Original article

Guardian comment on list

letters

SL - apologies! DS helpfully poured orange juice on my laptop keyboard, so I had to switch it off immediately in the hopes it will dry out! I'm now posting from the libary.

I have a couple of experiences with ol' Mr Motion (that sounds a wee bit suspicious does it not?!).

Back in the day when I was an undergraduate and not a struggling PhD student, I was general editor of a student mag and an online creative writing e-zine. Now, the university I was studying at had given Mr Motion an honorary doctorate and I thought I would ask said poet to write an intro for the Jan issue of the e-zine about why creative writing in universities is important and just a few general musings. Quite appropriate I thought considering he is supposed to champion creative writing at degree level and we had given him a free degree. Got a very terse letter back from his 'secretary' saying that he was far too busy to contribute to a student run publication, what with all his committments to real newspapers like the Guardian etc. Okay, so it wasn't that blunt, but that's the general gist.

I now work in the same place as good ol' Andrew and have had a few encounters with him where he has expounded the virtues of encouraging creative writing in students and how he 'can't do enough'. Pah!

And whilst I appreciate the desire to encourage children to experiment with more difficult literature at a younger age, I studied Ulysses for my Masters and I still come out in a very nasty rash every time I think of it. And don't even get me started on Finnigans Wake!

So he is yet another of the HE's Professors in Do What I Say, Not What I Do Studies then kleggie.
Tut.

You shouldn't be allowed to read Portrait of a Lady until you're at least in your twenties. Actually possibly not until you've had a child as well - otherwise you will just not get what a monster Osmond is. Feel quite strongly about certain things not being ruined by too early exposure.

Odyssey, well, it's quite rollicking really - perhaps that's a be-read-to (and quite young) rather than read yourself as posey teenager. And full of things that it's worth knowing about and being able to pick up on in other contexts - eg what Cyclopses are. Lovely and scary.

Ulysses - not really anything to say. It's quite fun, but kind of twaddly really. Wouldn't say education incomplete without it.

and Scylla and Charybdis
and why we call sirens "sirens"

I re-read it recently (Fitzgerald translation) and it's definitely an easy read.

I read the Odessey to myself at around 11 and not knowing any greek I got the pronounciations of all the names completely and hilariously wrong. Whoever did the first translation into english obviously knew nothing about phonics.

is that the University of London, Kleggie?