Just watched "the hunger games" yesterday night..

[Love'sReject]

MTV was revolutionary. There were still certifiably great films and albums recorded and released then. The Reagan era was a fine one for culture. I don't think any good novels were released, though; the good American book died in the 70s.

[basilandthyme]

MTV may have been revolutionary to you, but I still listen to the radio. I don't listen to any of the albums I owned (and loved!) from back then, so they can't be that great. And there's nothing much worth rebuying.

[Love'sReject]

MTV was revolutionary; a lot of artists got creative and there was competition to make interesting videos AND music to go along with it. You're solely mistaken if you think nothing great came out of the 80s. It all sure beats today's emo faggots, gangsta's and really stupid, trashy women like Rihanna and Lil this and Lil that.

[basilandthyme]

duplicate post

[basilandthyme]

MTV is behind the music videos of today too. All the hippy strutty stuff which is all sex and no substance. You can't cite something being revolutionary and then want it to stop half way. If you want to have no Lady Gaga or Rhianna, you'd have to go back in time and stop visual representation of music.

Yes, there was fun stuff which came from the 80's - it was a great time to grow up in. But every era had it's own musical strengths. The grunge rock from the 1990s. The British music of the Noughties. And this era will have stuff we look back fondly at in 10 years time too.

You say the good American book died in the 70's. I have to confess that I'm more familiar with Australian fiction. But Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove series comes to mind as a great American book. So does Annie Proulx's The Shipping News. Alice Walker: The Colour Purple. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. Alice Sebold: The Lovely Bones.

Oh, and cultured/educated adults don't use the word 'faggot'. Stop giving yourself airs as being better than others.

[basilandthyme]

Today's best is as aesthetic as a turd in a punch bowl, that was my point. The rest of what you said I have been aware of for years now.

if you're aware that kids have been reading accessible fiction since it was available, why are you so bothered on about today's children reading it? Why should I have grown up with Nancy Drew books and my father with Biggles books but modern children should have nothing contemporary which they enjoy?

[basilandthyme]

The stories were written for teenagers; I won't pretend to compare them to stories written for an adult audience, but for books aimed at teenagers, I thought it was good.

While we're talking children's fiction, I have to say that I really loved Morris Gleitzman's Once and Then. Powerful holocaust fiction aimed at about 10-12yo kids. The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett was enjoyable too.

I didn't get into Harry Potter. I enjoyed the first book then read the second but didn't finish the third. The rest remain unread. Hubby enjoyed them though - but he's more into fantasy fiction than I am.

[dem862]

Never wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.

-George Bernard Shaw

[vashti]

While we're talking children's fiction, I have to say that I really loved Morris Gleitzman's Once and Then. Powerful holocaust fiction aimed at about 10-12yo kids. The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett was enjoyable too.

I didn't get into Harry Potter. I enjoyed the first book then read the second but didn't finish the third. The rest remain unread. Hubby enjoyed them though - but he's more into fantasy fiction than I am.

I didn't care much for Harry Potter either, but I liked A Series of Unfortunate Events.

[Love'sReject]

Grunge rock was moronic. A bunch of whiny indie antecedents that talked about how mainstream music is wrong while selling millions of albums a year.

At least Nancy Drew got kids to think: The Hunger Games inspires elementary level literary criticism. "Dude, that character was like awesome." "Omgz, it was so well written."