Bethanne Patrick

LitNotes: U.K. Corral

Reading, Not Necessarily For Books: Says Honor Wilson-Fletcher, director of the National Year of Reading in the U.K.: "One of the fundamental problems we've got is that we end up being pejorative about certain kinds of reading. Parents should realise reading is not just about books." I think they do; they're just disappointed that other kinds of reading don't act as a "gateway drug" for books.

Books, Not Necessarily for Reading:  From The Guardian: "One in 10 Britons admit cheating the system at school by watching film versions of classic novels instead of reading the original texts, a survey said today." This is news? I'm actually surprised the number isn't higher. I'd rather hear from the nine Britons who actually read the classic novels and ask them why a full two-thirds of the population didn't realize that films like "Ten Things I Hate About You" and "Clueless" are adaptations.

Stories, Not Necessarily in Books: "Some of the UK's best young novelists are working with computer games designers to create digital short stories, each inspired by a classic work of literature but featuring games, blogs and web tools." I can't wait to try this out! The We Tell Stories project is from publisher Penguin and gaming company SixtoStart, and it will include work from Granta Best Young Novelist Toby Litt, 2006 Orange Prize winner Naomi Alderman, and Mohsin Hamid, whose novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist was on the Booker shortlist last year. 

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on March 28, 2008 | Comments (1)