I haven't read any Thomas Wolfe, but I did find Maugham interesting reading-- another author who satirized society, though sometimes in a way too dark and serious for me. I did like his line (I don't remember from which work) Marriage is only a way to spend the rest of your life paying for something that if you'd been a little more clever you could have gotten for nothing. grin Cindy >________________________________ > From: Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx> >To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2012 7:06 PM >Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Nobel Prize winners in Literature from 1901 was >Special COllections > >Indeed, you need to know where you came from to know where you are >going. For that reason I have studied history and I consider my studies >of history to have been essential to my political activism. However, we >are not talking about history. We are talking about fiction. That is >entertainment. Your preference in entertainment is an incredibly thin >basis on which to hang feelings of self superiority. Yet there are >people who do just that. > >On 3/11/2012 9:57 PM, Ixchel, Jackie wrote: >> Hi Anne, >> I agree with you, you need to know where you've come from in order to >> determine where you want to go. >> Jackie >> >> On 3/11/12, Ann Parsons<akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >>> Hi all, >>> >>> <smiling with twinkle> Ah, the relevancy argument again. Roger, my >>> friend, you date yourself. Relevancy was the popular cry in the 60s >>> and 70s. All literature taught in English classes had to be relevant. >>> The problem is that like those old, crabby English teachers you estue, >>> relevancy is determined by the reader. I think that Harry Potter is >>> relevant. I also think that Macbeth and Hamlet are relevant. Granted, >>> they are relevant for different reasons, but they are, indeed, >>> relevant. Now, the only reason I consider Thomas Wolfe and Somerset >>> Maughan relevant is because they typify a certain era in literature. I >>> personally do not enjoy reading these authors, but I do consider them >>> relevant when in the context of a literature class. You have to know >>> where you've come from in order to know where you're going. That's why >>> history is relevant. Understanding one's culture is related closely to >>> understanding its literature, but again, relevancy is in the eye of the >>> reader. >>> >>> Ann P. >>> >>> -- >>> Ann K. Parsons >>> Portal Tutoring >>> EMAIL: akp@xxxxxxxxxxxx >>> web site: http://www.portaltutoring.info >>> Skype: Putertutor >>> >>> "All that is gold does not glitter, >>> Not all those who wander are lost." >>> >>> Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network. Visit >>> www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere. >>> >>> To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to >>> bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>> put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of >>> available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line. >>> >>> >> >To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to >bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of >available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line. > > > >