Guilt and Reading

June 28, 2012

Voices in the literature vs genre debate

Ursula K. Le Guin & The New York Times are the latest to weigh in on the perennial debate:

"Genres exist, forms and types and kinds of fiction exist and need to be understood: but no genre is inherently, categorically superior or inferior." - Writer Ursula K. Le Guin, BookViewCafe.com>>

"It’s plausible, in fact, that the standards we appeal to in support of comparative judgments within a genre (complexity, subtlety, depth, authenticity and so on) could just as well be used to judge one genre, overall, better than another.  I suspect it’s just a democratic preference for tolerance that keeps many of us from this path." - Gary Gutting, "Reading and Guilty Pleasure", The New York Times Opinionator

"For newly fluent readers, usually age 8 or 9, any reading is indeed good reading. But for students in middle school and high school, reading selection does matter. Students attain more knowledge of both kinds reading Stephen Crane’s 'Red Badge of Courage' than they do reading the 'Hunger Games' series" - Claire Needel Hollander, "Some Books Are More Equal Than Others",  The New York Times Opinionator

What are your thoughts?