I moved, it was a lovely move. It was quick, somewhat painless (save for my beloved I left behind) and has set me smack dab in the very core of the town I'm within, all for 75-85 dollars for rent, not to mention the best landlord a fella' could want. Anyhow, I'm just a stones throw from the library, which makes me happier than one could ever comprehend and I'm tending to spend hours in there simply perusing. During yesterday's perusing I had a horrifying thought ... what books of today would be the fodder for intellectual quotations and debate in the future? Sadly, I'm almost absolutely certain that said books will be fare such as Harry Potter and The DaVinci Code. You think me absurd, huh? Think on this:
In his time Shakespeare notoriously produced plays for the...hoi polloi, the common folk, filled with murder, lust, intrigue, mystery, goofball comedy, and so on. They were the soap operas, the "Desperate Housewives" of the time. For example: Titus Adronicus, just read this disturbing little play. It has cannibalism, rape, lust, sensless violence, revenge, and twistedness written all through-out. YET TODAY! Oh today, it is naught more then literary GENIUS! Or "A Midsummers Night Eve" Ever read it? Absurd! Goofy, off the wall, just plain wacky with some weird sexual innuendos (and outuendos at that). It was just a good laugh for the commen man, as were all his comedies. His Romances? Chick flicks, soap opera fare. It was all this but nothing more. But how is Shakespeare treated today? People quite him to show intelligence, Shakespeare is the false sophistication of the masses.
Or take Jane Austen for example. I love Jane Austen (are boys allowed to do that?) but it's not high art. It's the romantic comedies of the time. Our humorous chick flicks? Same thing. Yet Jane Austen is treated as something above everyone's head, therefore intelligent.
So, this simply raises the question. Which goofy form of entertainment is going to feed the egos of our great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren?
Will our language be different enough by that time that our books will be hard to read? Is "internet slang" going to be the next "New English", it's quickly going that way anyhow, thinks. Discuss.
Interesting thought.
I clicked your article in fear of yet another article on how the world is going to hell because we're all so stupid. And things are so much worse than they used to be.
But your clever enough to realize that things have been this way before.
I personally cast my vote for Stephen King, Rowling (harry potter), and the already old Mark Twain.
Twain was smart, but the only thing that made him popular was his insistence on writing in the vernacular of country bumpkin. More or less the same with King. He will be known for disgusting horror and creative fantasy but mostly for his constant vulgarity throughout both- the vernacular of the country bumpkin.
I think Rowling will be the Enid Blyton of the future, not the Shakespeare..
I have come to the conclusion that Enid Blyton didn't write most of her books. Just like Ann M. Martin and Carolyn Keene.
You make a great point, the classics are great and so is some of the stuff out there now.
Very interesting point you make.
But we must also talk about the caliber of the writers and not just their preferred storylines. We like Shakespeare because when you get down to it, he is still incredibly enthralling, not to mention he wrote everything in iambic pentameter -- something that is quite hard to keep up and stay true to the story. He was lauded during his day as well.
You must also realize that writings of pure intellect (philosophy or non-fiction) tend to be boring. These people are not generally writers foremost -- a philiosopher writes to share his/her ideas not entertain. So at many times, these truly intellectual books are looked over because as a mass, people want to be entertained when they read. Only those seeking out information tend to delve into the other "intellectual" literature of our past.
That's true. But isn't that more reasons to delve into The Divine Comedy, or Uncle Tom's Cabin. From authors who attempted to do both
Very true.
I was making a generalization about "intellectual" literature. Thanks for providing two great exceptions to that rule. Most do give those books very high marks on the literature rating scale. So perhaps we aren't "doomed" to low-culture literature.
For some reason, the comparison between Shakespeare and Desperate Housewives made me laugh. What you said is true, though. Shakespeare wrote wacky stuff.
I'll add something sophisticated later when I can get my brain going (edit: which may be never).
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Wow, I'd like to be able to read that.
I'm frightened because I *CAN* read that...
Great point. i like it alot
lol...
still nothing new
sigh