Literary rant...

I was walking through a bookstore yesterday and spotted out of my peripheral the CliffsNotes for Of Mice and Men.   This upset me.  Granted, I don’t think anyone should be allowed to use CliffsNotes or other aids as such unless they have already read the book on which the Notes have been written.  But, come on, an abbreviated version of Of Mice and Men?  How insulting!  First of all, it’s one of the most brilliant pieces of American literature and, secondly, to read this book is to expose your mind and heart to questions you’d rather not ask.  Plus, a summary of a book that is only 112 pages, really?  How lazy are kids these days?

I don’t remember how old I was the first time I read Of Mice and Men.  I know it was before I was ever asked to read it for school.  I got on a Steinbeck kick at an early age and when I came to that book I fell in love.  I used to carry a copy of it around in my back pocket and any spare moment I had I would spend reading, rereading, studying and being mesmerized by its contents.  I took my time, I read it through the first time, crying with George, laughing with Lennie.  Then I reread it, taking in all the nuances and asking myself what I would’ve done if put in George’s position.  Then I continued to read it, over and over, enjoying the prose every time as if it were my primordial reading.  

I understand that some people need extra help deciphering what the author may have been trying to say.  However, if this means totally disregarding the writer’s true words and reading purely a summary of an otherwise enlightening and moving text then I don’t believe such cheating should be allowed.  It’s not necessarily cheating when it comes to an educational establishment’s rules, but it surely is cheating oneself out of a greater knowledge of literature, the world and what has made each culture what it is today.

Apart from Of Mice and Men,  three other books had such an impact on me while growing up.  Dickens’ - A Tale of Two Cities,  Golding’s - Lord of the Flies,  and Shakespeare’s - Richard III. 

When asked to read A Tale of Two Cities in my 6th grade English class I was thoroughly excited.  I was already a Dickens fan, having read Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol, after reading A Tale of Two Cities I fell in love with Dickens.  I read everything by him I could get my hands on.  When I find an author I enjoy I want to read everything they have written.  I am the same with actors.  When I find an actor of whom I admire, I want to see their entire filmography to see their progression throughout their career. 

A Tale of Two Cities failed to grab the attention and interest of my fellow 6th graders.  There were around 3 of us in the grade that actually enjoyed the book and didn’t end up trying to find the CliffsNotes or some sort of summary of the book in the encyclopedia (as the Internet wasn’t a popular or readily available device…remember those days?  When research papers actually took research and not just typing a subject into Google?  A topic for another day.)

I’m getting off track here…then again I don’t know for sure which track I was on to begin with.  I just wanted to say this:  Please, if you’re a parent, a teacher, an older sibling, a friend, anyone who has any say in what someone reads or has some sort of influence in someone’s life please put a book in their hands.  Find out what they’re interested in, and go from there.  And go back, go back into literature.  Mix it up.  Have them read newer stuff that catches their attention and then have them read something from the Greats that has a similar central theme.  We, as a whole, cannot let libraries, books, reading, writing, the smell and feel of a REAL book…not an electronic copy…although they are convenient…become just a thing of the past.  

Reading is so much fun.  It was a gift and a huge reward growing up when I could cash in my allowance for a new book (an addition to my Roald Dahl collection most likely).  It was a thrill, opening to the first page of a new book in the back of my parent’s car trying to see how much I could read before we made it home. 

I still adore books.  Going to the library is a twice a week trip for me, and a gift card to a bookstore, or a brand new book, is the best gift ever given.  Thank you to those out there who spend their lives writing.  You each are a leaf on the great literary tree that is life.

© 2013 Kara Nelson