howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#1
#2
You'd be surprised what you can do once your attention is gripped! And reading, like any other skill, improves with practice.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#3
I was dragged through A tale of two cities for my 'O' level, but I did not use that book for the exam. Again the films do have something plot and character wise. I may when in my dotage return to them.
Peter is better able than me to de-clench or whatever it's called, but the use here of 'modern-children' makes it firmly the fault of Dickens and not that there is anything the matter with the children of today.
I doubt whether any of the current tranche of children's novelists would admit to be less worthy or dumbed-down as opposed to CD.
I think that if children are reading that is all for the best. I dread (still) the idea that just because he is long dead yet enjoying an anniversary this is reason enough to re-cram him down the throats of those (me) with other things to do, other things to read.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#4
I read Dickens as a child and enjoyed him. I also read Stevenson, Jonathan Swift, Ian Fleming and Harold Robbins, amongst many other authors. I can remember being chastised for reading From Russia with Love at prep school.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
#5
My mother (an avid reader all her life as was her father), used to say she read all of Dickens by the age of about 12 !!!
The more one reads the easier it becomes I think. I must read more. I have just read one of Anne Widdicombe's novels.
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#6
I used to read a lot but the last year or so when I am warm and comfortable I find I nod off after a couple of pages, now I only tend to read in the summer while sitting sunning myself in the garden.
Dickens is a wonderful story teller but it is vital for children to be introduced with the right story at the right age, very much like Shakespeare, the wrong story can put you off for life. I hated Julius Caesar at school but had learnt about some of his other plays earlier.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#7
never had dickens or shakespeare at my school.
the b .b.c. used to do dickens stories on a sunday tea time and excellent they were, some great character actors played in them.
first tried reading shakespeare about 15 years and quickly warmed to his great command of language and his understanding of the human condition.
again best enjoyed on the big screen, henry 5 played by kenneth branagh was a masterpiece in my view.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
#8
If only Charles Dickens had thought about some way of serialising his novels, breaking them up into smaller chunks for the populace to take in. Perhaps in instalments?
How short sighted!
Of course, all good literature..this can't be denied. Took my kids to the Dickens festival before Christmas in Rochester, well worth a visit.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#9
very dry darren.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
#10
Sorry Howard.
#11
Indeed....
Kath - Widdicombe...??
At my school it was a full fat diet of Shakespeare, Homer, Dickens (as a side salad), and we did Greek and Latin - for which I am grateful - and I taught myself Hebrew as a hobby. Yes, reading has benefits and it teaches one to think.
Guest 665- Registered: 24 Mar 2008
- Posts: 345
#12
Is it the box to blame or other factors like social networking and smart phones becoming too much of a distraction. The sudden recently decline would seem to correlate. I find it has affected my own attention span to a degree.
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
#13
The box may encourage immediate short-term thinking, but I am sure that TV IS used by many for that very reason. I cannot blame children for acquiring the 'instant gratification' mindset when so many adults spend so much time, effort and hard cash in making TV work that way for them. Be it advertisers, programme makers or (sorry for this mention) politicians.
With the drive to produce for the (non-existent?) work-place there is less and less time for the pleasure reading should bring.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
#14
Our English mistress at school lived and died Shakespeare and whether it was grammar, literature or drama, it was always Shakespeare, sitting on edge of her desk, shutting her eyes and lapsing into quotations.... I do like Shakespeare though, and I love Dickens.
Bern, my goodness, Hebrew !!
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
#15
My English master Mr Denman, was so passionate about Shakespeare and Dickens that he spoke eloquently in prose throughout the lesson and beyond. He was a great tutor, always dressed in dickensian garb, an interesting character, who would spout the great works word for word on the bus on the way to school. I think he would now be seen as completely bonkers and not allowed to teach in this day and age.
We also did Latin, ancient Greek (Homer) and Russian Yeuch!
Bern Hebrew Jeez!
