Tuesday, September 04, 2007

The Best Penny-Dreadful

My own comments on the Harry Potter debate have always sounded so strong because I am always arguing from the fact that so many people who oppose Harry Potter are so vehement. Of course, I'm not imagining Harry Potter as Christ at all, but it may seem that way because I'm trying so hard to show people what is so good in these books.
I found an article that, if I've shown everyone what it says, allows me to rest my peace. It's by Alan Jacobs from Wheaton College (where Youssef almost went) and the thing that Youssef really liked about it was that the author actually argued from the text. Here are some enlightening quotes, followed by the link...


"There is no class of vulgar publications about which there is, to my mind, more utterly ridiculous exaggeration and misconception than the current boys' literature of the lowest stratum."[attributed to Chesterton] Chesterton is perfectly happy to acknowledge that these books are not in the commendatory sense "literature," because "the simple need for some kind of ideal world in which fictitious persons play an unhampered part is infinitely deeper and older than the rules of good art, and much more important."

"And above all, what Chesterton loves about the penny dreadful is this: 'It is always on the side of life.'"

http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/005/1.47.html

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the article. I had Dr. Jacobs for a class a couple of years ago. He's sharp.

Spoon said...

Yeah, I'm in Jacobs' Classical Lit class this semester and he's absolutely enlightening.

Youssef Sleiman said...

How do you get into a class of his? I've mentioned Dr Jacobs and no one seems to know him at all. Do you think there's a Sharpie-marker-thick line between Academia and the Associated Press?

PS: Where are you livin'/schoolin' now, Spoon?

Spoon said...

Wheaton/Wheaton.

Spoon said...

BTW, I'm undergrad. Hangin' out with the little kiddies. Why aren't you here, friend? And I just found out today that Jacobs is my new academic adviser. Bonus.

Lynne' said...

;) He's not their because he's too busy being a reporter!
(And a daddy and a landlord and a husband and a video game writer too!)

Spoon said...

Reporter? Video game writer?

Lynne' said...

Yep! But he might have to talk about that on another post (though not much about the video game till it's copywrited).

Youssef Sleiman said...

True enough.
Reporting - I've got the awesome opportunity to get paid to write. It's a good paper with quality people. That said, I've heard too much about how I'm improving the paper's quality.

Video-game writing - I've copywritten a system whereby action RPG games can last indefinitely and accurately portray a character's fame and secret identy.. I'll send it to you when we (my brother, I think, will be programming if he can get his Interet up and running) finish.