If you have time, it is very interesting to read the comments at the end of articles in The New York Times--sometimes they are as insightful as (or more insightful than) the article itself. Here are a few comments I really enjoyed:
"I'm twenty- one years of age, and major in literature at university. I liken the questions Professor Currie poses to the course assessments handed to students at the conclusion of each semester. I dread these handouts, and like my peers, seldom take them seriously. Pencil in hand, I struggle to fit the breadth and nuance of the semester into the tidy, bureaucratic grading bubbles:
'On a scale of 1 to 10, how much have you learned in this course?'
I hesitate to answer these questions, because they seem so contrary to the ideas at the heart of literary discourse. In the classroom we are taught to do “re” work—rethink, reconsider, reweigh, retrace—essentially, go back to the beginning and start all over again. Do I think any differently about temptations of the flesh now that I have read Faust? Probably not. Am I more equipped to resist material pleasures in my own life? No. I am as confused and conflicted as ever before.
'So, did you learn anything at all then this semester?' my father will ask confusedly, as I eagerly summarzie the semester.
If he had given me a bubble sheet, quite frankly, I would have answered “no.” Because that bubble sheet’s conception of learning, as measured by numbers, statistics—quantitative, inert objective tools of measurement—cannot adequately capture the visceral, pulsating, exhilarating feeling of being alive, as great writers so oft capture."
And another great one:
"This is a fascinating question, and I'm glad that it's getting consideration in the Times. But you're asking one question here and answering another. You ask "Does reading (generally) make us better people?" and then answer "Does reading create more empathy by acquainting us with situations we haven't experienced?" Of course, reading (generally) does make us better people even if it's only to give us a language to talk about things we hadn't known about before. But literature itself has been working on the latter question for hundreds of years. I understand this is a philosophy column, but I immediately don't expect to hear very new and interesting things from someone who is talking about a field outside of his own. Martha Nussbaum's "Love's Knowledge" is hardly the exemplar of this particular inquiry, considering that it's out of date, is more about Nussbaum's frustrations with the limits of her own field, and a discussion of how much she loves books rather than their ethical merits. It's hardly an example of a rigorous literary study. It might be influential, but it's cited more often as something to argue against rather than as support for a new argument. Other ethical criticism (Booth, George Levine, Altieri, Hale, J. Hillis Miller, etc.) would be much better places to start. Better to think about literature on its own terms (rather than psychology's), especially when you're asking a question that novels themselves still haven't worked out. "
Out of curiosity, how many of you think that all of the previous articles do, in fact, argue from a perspective of faith?
ReplyDeleteIt is refreshing to read an article by someone who is more evidence based and less agenda driven.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, but I felt a big portion of the article is about evidence or studies we don't have. It talked about how we can't prove things because we don't have accurate studies on it.
DeletePeople don't read to be a "better" person they read because a particular book or article is interesting or entertaining. Personally i don't go up to a book and say, "oh look I'm going to read this to become more passionate, or empathetic." I have never read a Great work of literature either so I really don't know if it does or does not make us a BETTER person.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting the author kept talking about how books make us better people. I thought it was going to talk about making people smarter or around the same idea. I think the only way a book can make us have better values is if the author has that intent and the reader has the same intent and goal going into the book.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. It is a lot like everything else in life. You get out of it what you put in to it. So if you go to school and you want to learn and you are open minded and participate in class you will get more out of it than if you go with bad attitude and play with you phone in class and don't listen to the teacher or what others have to say.
DeleteI liked the concept that reading great books can make us better people. It goes to say that the great stories of our pastime can have a positive effect on our lives or at least the way we view things. I can't say I 100 percent agree but I can see some truth in this article. I would say the authors intent has everything to do with the level of motivation or bettering of oneself. I can't say I read Harry potter and felt that I should stand up to all evil and do what's right. But books that are Intended to have effects on people like self help books or religious books are written to effect people in a good way. I liked the article.
ReplyDeleteit talked about how people become better while reading books. In a way I can see how that is true but also if people want to be good people they choose to become good. If people want to do wrong they make that choose.
ReplyDeleteThis is Todd harris
DeleteThe author came to the conclusion that books do make us better people. In speaking to Annie Murphey Paul's article it is basically a contradiction. On one end, the fiction makes us smarter and more interactive and on the other literature makes us "better". In looking at the two articles together, and their objectives and conclusions, we basically have to decide if we want to be better or smarter.
ReplyDeleteI think that while great literature doesn't make people better, it is good to be educated about the classics, you don't want to be the only one that doesn't get a reference from classic literature. But morally there isn't any definitive proof that reading literature will make one a better person, but they will be better educated.
ReplyDeleteI can understand why they think literature makes you a better person but ultimately it all comes down to you and the decisions you make. What you read may help influence you but it is still your decision.
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