Oddly enough, a lot of "great literature" was penned by hacks. For instance, The Three Musketeers was written by some guy who was being paid by the word for pulp fiction.Razzle Bathbone said:(grins) I was hoping I'd get one of those. Thanks, Khell.Khell_Sennet said:BLASPHEMER! HERETIC! How dare you mock the writings of the holy Heinlein?!
/sarcasm
And just in case anyone still thinks my opinions count for something, Asimov was a hack, too. A hack who advanced the genre considerably (as did Heinlein), but a hack nonetheless.
Robert Jordan? Was he the guy who wrote the Wheel of Time series? I read the first one of those, realized that it was exactly like a thousand other books I'd read, and never bothered to read the rest of them.Khell_Sennet said:I personally find Robert Jordan to be the WORST fantasy author ever.
You know, I really enjoyed my history class. You know why? Because not only did it give us the narrative history but it encouraged and emphasised looking at sources for information, judging their reliability and so on. One or two of our assignments involved not only essay writing but a separate document listing and analysing our sources. It was thrilling to be an amateur historian and through it I actually formulated a (slightly) new theory on World War 2.Cheeze_Pavilion said:Not at all. And that's all about the 'average educational institution' and not at all about English.Geoffrey42 said:I think you're right on this: there is such a thing as good literary criticism.Cheeze_Pavilion said:Basically, people who think any subject is BS have the problem of spending too much time around BSers. Spend a little time reading *good* critics and you'll see that a subject can be way outside the hard sciences and still have rigorous standards.
But: that doesn't make what happens in your average educational institution any better.
Let's not even get started on History classes that present the textbook as some sort of gospel and not a work of scholarship that ultimately rests on interpretations of primary source material.
But it's in writing. In a book...Cheeze_Pavilion said:Let's not even get started on History classes that present the textbook as some sort of gospel and not a work of scholarship that ultimately rests on interpretations of primary source material.
I hate nothimg more thant textbook learning, especially from old out of date text books. I'm talking USSR out of date.Cheeze_Pavilion said:Let's not even get started on History classes that present the textbook as some sort of gospel and not a work of scholarship that ultimately rests on interpretations of primary source material.
... Right. Thanks for the advice, and the time. I'll have a look into it when I've finished my grade's clusterfuck of tests.Fire Daemon said:http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/schoolcertificate/ [this] and other stuff
I'm also reading the book for school. Unfortunately, while I get it, and understand why I should read it, I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I can see why you like it, but me myself, I just can't like it. Though, Atticus is pretty cool...zebubble said:We are reading To Kill A Mockingbird in my English class and I am literally one of about 4 students in all 4 of her classes that is enjoying the book. I think it is amazing.
zebubble said:We are reading To Kill A Mockingbird in my English class and I am literally one of about 4 students in all 4 of her classes that is enjoying the book. I think it is amazing.
It's attributed to Sigmund Freud, though there's no evidence. Possibly not the greatest man to quote.zebubble said:Oh, does anyone have the full name of the guy who had the quote "A cigar is sometimes just a cigar" (Probably got that one wrong). I want to spout that one onto my English teacher.
i think i hated every book i read for school, i found it way to dry and boringstompy said:I'm also reading the book for school. Unfortunately, while I get it, and understand why I should read it, I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I can see why you like it, but me myself, I just can't like it. Though, Atticus is pretty cool...
I like this man. He talks sense. Personally I think Freud really wanted to sleep with his mother, and interpreted his evidence accordingly.Khell_Sennet said:I hate Sigmund Freud. He believes every man wants to sleep with his mother... I have no interest in his mother, she was a bag.
Siggy's just this guy, you know?Khell_Sennet said:I hate Sigmund Freud. He believes every man wants to sleep with his mother... I have no interest in his mother, she was a bag.
I think every liberty the movie took was a bad decision. But hey, that's me.The_root_of_all_evil said:Regarding Literature (and American literature especially), with the re-make of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, does anyone, apart from me, think that Mark Twain was actually a good addition?
(Given there's a psychopath, a sociopath, a gestalt personality, a white supremacist and a blood sucking fiend on board already?)
Agreed. Though Alan Moores continued obsession with kink and sex is getting on my nerves and I think there's far too much focus on that in The Black Dossier, and not enough focus on deepening the League universe or telling a good story.Saskwach said:I think every liberty the movie took was a bad decision. But hey, that's me.The_root_of_all_evil said:Regarding Literature (and American literature especially), with the re-make of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, does anyone, apart from me, think that Mark Twain was actually a good addition?
(Given there's a psychopath, a sociopath, a gestalt personality, a white supremacist and a blood sucking fiend on board already?)