Editor,
I find it ironic that “The importance of classics” by Charlie Chapman in the Feb. 9 edition of the Daily Journal begins with a description about the travesty of replacing “The Catcher in the Rye” with a text more relevant to high school English students. In 1981, this so-called “seminal novel” was simultaneously the most censured and second most-taught book in America. The year 1981, as many readers of the San Mateo Daily Journal can likely recall, was not that long ago.
But irony aside, I doubt there is any better example than “The Catcher in the Rye” of a (relatively) recently-published book which English teachers have perennially slapped onto reading lists in hopes of sparking a love of literature within their students.
And that point brings me to my qualm: I’m sure that many teachers would gladly muse about the symbolism of the “White Whale” from Moby Dick if the majority of 12th-graders listened on with glee. As a bookworm, believe me, I am pained to admit that this is not the case.
So teachers do the next best thing: Attempt to instill a love of literature within their students so that, one day, they too will passionately discuss the reasons why classic novels endure. I have yet to meet anyone who cites “War and Peace” as the book that got them hooked on reading.
Texts now regarded as members of the canon of classic literature — like “The Catcher in the Rye,” apparently — were once perceived as “contemporary works.” Give these new books a chance.
Lysithia Page
Burlingame
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(1) comment
James Baldwin?
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