1. Reading is absolutely crucial to every writer. It gives a person a basis of what kind of stories one can create. There are many, many different genres of book, and its important to be able to recognize the differences between them. Reading gives a person a sense of what's out there, what's accepted etc. Reading stretched the imagination, and gives people the scope of an imagined world, anything from Hogwarts to revolutionary France. It improves knowledge, that of vocabulary, story structure etc. etc. Taking notes, taking a class or even just wrtining a lot just don't compate to the benefits of picking up a book with any sort of literary value.
2. Being completely honest, a lot of things concern me. But the one thing that a person in highschool can see a lot of is, on the huge scale of things, comparatively minor. But that doesn't mean it's not important. This is people, especially young women who play dumb. They do it because they think boys will like them better because of it. I don't believe this to be true, and even if it is, the boys who want to date someone stupis are NOT worth a girl's time. And these are only short term. In the lon run, it is not worth pretending to be done and doing poorly on a test simply to gain a boy's affections. This simply hurts grades, teacher respect and can lead to other negative occurances.
3. I love to read. So naturally, I get inspired by works of literature. I must also confess that I am enamoured with early to mid eighteenth century Enghish literature. The Brontes, Jane Austen, etc. are just fantastic. For me, both Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice have provided a contrast that is important when trying to write something of substance. Pride and Prejudice is a very witty satire of the society in which Jane Austen lived. It is at the same time sarcastic and terribly romantic. On the complete other hand, Jane Eyre is a gothic romance, full of mystery. This lovely book inspires me because everytime I read it I notice something new. The first time, it was all about Jane and Mr. Rochester. THe second time, it was Jane's childhood- her lonliness and how that comes to affect her. The third time, it was about Jane's spirituality and faith. It's just an amazing story.
5 comments:
Maitland!!! You would be inspired by books. I like how you wrote about them for two of the three parts of the blog, and it makes me really inspired to read more (if I can find time.....) Do you have any recommendations for good books? Also, I enjoyed what you said about guys that want to date stupid girls being stupid themselves. It's totally true.
I'm not much attracted to dumb girls...if you want a boy's perspective on that.
I agree with Stef, you really made me want to read more books, but again, time issues. Also the whole dumb girls things bothers me as well. I think it's degrading to women. I don't think people realize that girls might have been able to go up to like the sixth grade a hundred years ago,. Now we can reach higher standards but some stupid girls are stupid enough to pretend to be stupid to impress some stupid boys who are stupid for thinking that girls are cool if they are stupid. Wow, think I said stupid enough? I simply want to reinforce how much I agree with how stupid it is.
I love Jane Austen and the Bronte's as well! I'm a big, big fan of JANE EYRE (if you ever get to see the musical version by Paul Gordon, check it out . . . It's very good and very faithful . . . There's a recording of the score easy to find).
I think I love most the picture of humanity that both Austen and Charlotte Bronte portray . . . people who are not perfect but who act upon the desire to do good. Plus, they are examples of great storytelling.
I read Charlotte Bronte's SHIRLEY a couple months ago, and I'm hoping to read Anne Bronte's AGNES GREY at some point soon.
I read Shirley a couple years ago--- it was fantastic! My all time fave is Jane Eyre, of course. I reacently saw the production of it at the Guthrie, but I have yet to see a musical version! Agnes Grey is next on my list.
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