buhi
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Post by buhi on Dec 28, 2016 18:02:52 GMT 7
Probably should be in art and literature.
But here it is.
Was up all last night watching "The Mayor of Casterbridge" sure have read the novel a few times. It always depresses me, as do all Hardy's works. But he was relentless in his doom and gloom. Why read Hardy?
Dickens I class myself as a minor expert on. His usage of language is incredible. But the weakness is sentimentality.
Hardy, no, in your face doom and gloom.
Now who would I write like if I ever bothered?
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smokie36
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Post by smokie36 on Dec 28, 2016 18:07:45 GMT 7
I had to study that for my Higher English many years ago.
What a depressing load of shite....I blame that for blether's descent into alcoholism.
Ahem....
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buhi
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Post by buhi on Dec 28, 2016 18:10:05 GMT 7
I had to study that for my Higher English many years ago. What a depressing load of shite....I blame that for blether's descent into alcoholism. Ahem.... And mine. Not shite though. |
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smokie36
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Post by smokie36 on Dec 28, 2016 18:12:14 GMT 7
I had to study that for my Higher English many years ago. What a depressing load of shite....I blame that for blether's descent into alcoholism. Ahem.... And mine. Not shite though. To a 15 year old smokie it was appalling bollocks....but yes I know better now. |
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buhi
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Post by buhi on Dec 28, 2016 18:14:29 GMT 7
I had to study that for my Higher English many years ago. What a depressing load of shite....I blame that for blether's descent into alcoholism. Ahem.... Thus I take it you know the novel. A self made man who lies. Not only lies, destroys others lives. Oh , where is the mirror? |
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smokie36
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Post by smokie36 on Dec 28, 2016 18:19:33 GMT 7
I had to study that for my Higher English many years ago. What a depressing load of shite....I blame that for blether's descent into alcoholism. Ahem.... Thus I take it you know the novel. A self made man who lies. Not only lies, destroys others lives. Oh , where is the mirror? The perils of strong drink. |
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buhi
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Post by buhi on Dec 28, 2016 18:27:09 GMT 7
Ouch Smokie, but I will try to redeem myself. My wife knows all I have done. She has been hurt, but stands by me.
I can ask for no more. I do not lie , to her or you out there.
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bowie
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Post by bowie on Dec 28, 2016 18:37:04 GMT 7
Now if there is a point to be made here, it is of all the sexual innuendo, the banter of all those conquests. But truth is deeper than that. And those that shout loudest are the least knowledgeable. That includes me.
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buhi
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Post by buhi on Dec 28, 2016 19:18:56 GMT 7
New years prize; what quote?
Ti's not so sweet now as it was before.
No cheating, google banned.
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bowie
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Post by bowie on Dec 28, 2016 19:40:09 GMT 7
I suspect he is alluding to the twelve days of Christmas. Bloody smart ars.
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Post by rgs2001uk on Dec 28, 2016 21:07:20 GMT 7
And mine. Not shite though. To a 15 year old smokie it was appalling <knackers>....but yes I know better now. Think yourself lucky, I had to endure Catcher In The Rye, presented by some hippy type teacher. Even as one who comes from a sink estate I could find no escape in it, too effin thick to understand. My escape came in Geography class, looking out the window at drab grey dreary buildings and shoite weather, and the teacher going on about far flung lands. |
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thatguy
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Post by thatguy on Dec 29, 2016 6:53:39 GMT 7
If you think Hardy's novels are depressing, check out his poetry.
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AyG
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Post by AyG on Dec 29, 2016 8:00:02 GMT 7
Out of curiosity I looked up what children these days study for GCSE English Literature. I find that also depressing. For Edexcel (stupid name!) examination board:
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Animal Farm
- The Other Side of Truth
- Journey's End
- An Inspector Calls
- A View from the Bridge
- The Long and the Short and the Tall
No Shakespeare. No Dickens. No Hardy. No Austen. No Eliot. No Brontë. In fact, nothing before the 20th century, as far as I can see, and nothing that remotely resembles a challenge. I'm not familiar with all the works, but the ones that I know could readily be finished in one sitting.
There are generations being brought up who will not have been introduced to quality literature in school, and who are unlikely to start reading it in later life. For them it'll be a diet of Jilly Cooper and Jeffrey Archer - assuming they read books at all.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 8:38:45 GMT 7
In my last year of High School we had an English teacher by the name of Miss Fogharty, she gave us term novels to study like Animal Farm, Watership Down and The Hobbit.
I actually found them interesting, for a change, and studied them. I read the first chapter of The Hobbit at school that day and went home and read the rest of the book that night, reading by torch light. Literally could not put it down.
Previously we had been given the most boring rubbish to study, so it's little wonder our grades went up when we were given material that actually made us want to read.
These are modern times, what once qualified as "quality literature" may not apply to a 2016 teenager.
Quoting all the "masters" is fine, but little use to the students if they find it boring. And there is a lot more to literature than 19th century English writers.
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AyG
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Post by AyG on Dec 29, 2016 9:24:00 GMT 7
In my last year of High School we had an English teacher by the name of Miss Fogharty, she gave us term novels to study like Animal Farm, Watership Down and The Hobbit. I actually found them interesting, for a change, and studied them. I read the first chapter of The Hobbit at school that day and went home and read the rest of the book that night, reading by torch light. Literally could not put it down. Previously we had been given the most boring rubbish to study, so it's little wonder our grades went up when we were given material that actually made us want to read. These are modern times, what once qualified as "quality literature" may not apply to a 2016 teenager. Quoting all the "masters" is fine, but little use to the students if they find it boring. And there is a lot more to literature than 19th century English writers. I think that sadly reflects the dumbing down of education. It shouldn't matter what children want to read, and it shouldn't matter if they find it boring or not. They should be required to read what is good for their education. I found reading Great Expectations for O-level tedious, but in later life I'm glad that I did. "Quality literature" is literature that has endured. I very much doubt that anyone will be reading Watership Down in 100 years' time. The Hobbit, in my opinion, is a children's book - not something for someone in the last year of High School. My class read it when we were 9. (In fact, I'd read it myself a couple of years earlier.) |
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