M O N D AY, J A N U A RY 2 3 , 2 0 0 6Charles Dickens A Bore?On Friday, the New York Times made such a childish assertion, I can'thelp bringing it up again.</p><p> In a review of "Bleak House," the new PBSminiseries, the Times said "'Bleak House' is too good to be homework.Unfortunately, it is such a fixture on required reading lists that manypeople forget to read Dickens' for fun."Who exactly does the NYT have in mind? Presumably there are somebuffoons out there that don't like Dickens, but they're hardly likely tobe reading the Friday arts section of the NYT.</p><p> Of course, the book thatpops up on most reading lists is "Great Expectations," not "BleakHouse." But whether students are reading "Great Expectations" or"Bleak House" or "Oliver Twist" or "David Copperfield" or just aboutanything else by Dickens, their usual reaction is not boredom (it'shardly "The Scarlet Letter" or some other worthy novel short ondramatics but long on critical praise) but excitement over one of thegreat entertainments.</p><p> Charles Dickens is one of the most belovedwriters of all time; his serialized novels were the "24" of their day, witheach chapter providing a delicious cliffhanger.</p><p> To what possibleaudience does the NYT think it's talking in assuming that we all thinkDickens is a bore? (USA Today made an almost identical claim.)POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT 1:13 PM 2 C O M M E N T S :Ed Sikov said..."Unfortunately, it is such a fixture on required reading lists that manypeople forget to read Dickens' for fun."The sentence is so idiotic one scarcely knows where to begin.</p><p> Is itunfortunate that people "forget" - ?! - to read for pleasure or that it's onrequired reading lists? And presumably "many people" are not incollege or graduate school, so "required reading lists" aren't really aproblem for the majority of readers.</p><p> And how does one's interest inVictorian Lit, or British Authors, or Great Books of the World, lead tomemory loss in the pleasure centers of the brain?Next Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: Charles Dickens A Bore?http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/charles-dickens-bore.html 1 of 37/29/09 4:05 AMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SAaronMichael in New YorkBiboy POPSURFING.COM: Charles Dickens A Bore?http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/charles-dickens-bore.html 2 of 37/29/09 4:05 AMPOPSURFING.COM: Charles Dickens A Bore?http://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/charles-dickens-bore.html 3 of 37/29/09 4:05 AM
