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/lit/ - Literature

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1318880 No.1318880 [Reply] [Original]

C.S. Lewis said; "Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

Stewart Lee said; "No, I haven't read it [Harry Potter] because I'm a 40 year old man."

Who do you agree with?

>> No.1318882

Lewis.

duh.

>> No.1318886

Stewart Lee is a pompous bore who isn't as clever as he thinks he is.

He's /lit/ as a person.

>> No.1318889

Suddenly I want to read the Chronicles of Narnia.

>> No.1318891

Lewis is correct, but that's not to say you should have interest in YA fiction.

Just shouldn't be shamed for having it.

>> No.1318895

They're both pretty reasonable.

The dude is 40. He is not HP's target audience, and particularly the first two are very much children's books. It's perfectly fine if he doesn't feel any interest in reading it.

>> No.1318898

I agree, but "Adult" and "Child/Young Adult" Fiction are genres. They're aimed at a certain audience that the author expects to find them aesthetically pleasing. I don't have a problem with anyone enjoying something aimed at a child if they have an interest in it, but to suggest that the disapproval of "childish" things is simply out of concern for appearing "grown-up" is utterly retarded.

Both of those positions seem ignorant and defensive.

>> No.1318905

I'm not even sure who Stewart Lee is, but he sounds like a jackass.

I'm with Lewis.

>> No.1319048

I'm with Lewis. A well-written piece of YA fiction or children's fiction is a pleasure to read, no matter your age.

English is my second language, I was raised in French. I only discovered Dr. Zeuss' Green Eggs & Ham when my niece asked me to read it to her. I was 23, and I still LOVED it.

Better example might be the Little Prince, older you get the more you read into it.

>> No.1319053

>>1318886
Ha ha, I kind of like him and I don't really like Harry Potter but this is so true

>> No.1319062

I agree with Lewis and that's an awesome quote.

>> No.1319065

i used to have all the franklin books as a child, i want to find them and read them now

>> No.1319073

I think you're taking Lee's quote out of context.
He wasn't actively saying that it's to read children's literature as an adult. He was just making a joke in response to other adults, presumably, pressuring him to read a children's series. There's nothing wrong with that; he's not the target audience.

>> No.1319075

Definitely Lewis.

Lewis had a very good handle on lit and on the human psyche. Of course he didn't have to deal with Stephanie Meyer...

Of course, anyone who reads bad literature should be embarrased because it sucks, not because of it's (supposed) intended audience.

>> No.1319077

>>1318898
I agree that there is a noticeable difference between "children's" and "adult" fiction, and I agree that disliking children's lit is not necessarily a matter of not wanting to seem childish. We all have preferences, and insofar as children's lit is noticeably different from adult lit, it is possible for our preferences to arbitrarily limit our enjoyment of one or the other.

I think it's unlikely for a person to dismiss the category of children's literature for its own sake if he doesn't have a stick up his ass, though, and I especially dislike the quintessentially modern belief that children's and adolescent literature must necessarily be dumbed down or deal with immature themes.
I feel like this opinion has become so prevalent that there's been a redefinition of "children's lit" to include only such books. People don't seem to think of the Three Musketeers or 20000 Leagues Under the Sea or Kidnapped or Moby Dick as children's books any more. I don't even hear about the Phantom Tollbooth that often in these conversations. I can deal with that, but I think it's a shame, and I think any conversation that uses that definition is going to be boring, because "children's lit" has become synonymous with "crappy lit".

>> No.1319080

I agree with Lewis because he's obviously right. 25 and love that HaPo.

>> No.1319102

Lewis, clearly.

Anyone who can't enjoy a good story because it's "for children" should step down from their high horse.

21 year old, loved Harry Potter ever since I read the first one when I was 11 (and eagerly anticipated my Hogwarts invitation). My parents, who are in their late 40s, both love Harry Potter as well.

To use another example, Pixar movies are ostensibly "for children", but their stories and characters are so well crafted and usually deep that it's very easy for someone of any age to appreciate them.

>> No.1319174

meh. i agree with lewis, though lee makes a point (though obviously has been shortchanged by OP). regardless, i've read HP books though i dont enjoy them nearly as much as more "mature" fantasy-style novels (LOTR being a prime example). why? because its childish, and offers little depth as compared to other offerings. i imagine the younger readers will get more out of it simply because they likely havent been introduced to superior works yet. (HP is decent, but highly overrated, in my opinion)

>> No.1319176

90% of this board is literally children who don't even know what a "good story" is

>> No.1319196

I like some childish things, sometimes out of nostalgia, sometimes because the concepts and writing are very cool no matter what age you look at it from.

Then there's HP, which is nothing more than a child's wish fulfillment fantasy much like Twilight (This normal boring life isn't my real one! My parents / boyfriend are really wizards / a vampire! One day someone is gonna come and take me to Hogwarts / the secret Vampire club! I really AM special!)

I can't condone anyone reading these because they're children's books that don't even acknowledge their childishness, and instead pretend to be mature pieces of literature with some kind of meaning beyond their bland appeal to the lowest common denominators.

>> No.1319296

I often wonder when people who say "You shouldn't read kids books anymore, you're not a kid!" ever read kids' books in the first place.


heck, Wizard of Oz is still as good all those years ago now. I appreciate fairy tales more now as an adult than I did as a kid I guess.