A fail-safe plot to piss off the dumb few that forgave us

[sovay]

So, I'm not going to start pulling Pox Party from the library YA shelves. Instead I'm content to rely on the kids to spare themselves. That seems safe enough because of another feature of Anderson's writing—its difficulty. Pox Party is replete with too-good-for-the-SAT vocabulary words and painstaking historical accuracy. (In the author's note, Anderson goes so far as to regret an anachronistic reference to "tricorne" hats. Thanks.) The intricate and windy 18th-century prose should suffice to ensure that any 12- or 16-year-old who reads this book is a 12- or 16-year-old who really, really wanted to. The adult raves aside, I wonder how many of them there are. Pox Party bears all the worthy marks of a book that makes adults swoon and kids roll their eyes.
—Emily Bazelon, Slate Magazine

Because everyone knows that adolescents don't read complexly and historical accuracy is only for pretentious academics.

31. Crowley, Little, Big
What the fuss was about then: Elf sex.
What the fuss is about now: Fairy fucking.

Maybe we just have different senses of humor.

36. Smith, The Rediscovery of Man
What the fuss was about then: "Cordwainer Smith." Isn't that a great pulp-adventurey sort of name? One of those archaeologist / gunfighter sort of names. "Smith. Cordwainer Smith."
What the fuss is about now: Okay, I just like to say "Cordwainer Smith."
—David Moles, Chrononautic Log

There are days when I think that the internet is single-handedly making me misanthropic. Then I remember that all these articles, reviews, rants, memes, are generated by people, and I know it is not the fault of the medium. And I am not blameless: I read them. And contribute. We're idiots, babe. It's a wonder we can even feed ourselves.

Comments

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

historical accuracy is only for pretentious academics.

Yeah. The next generation needs the balls to recreate the glory that is Iraq the same way Bush recreated the glory of Vietnam.

It's a good thing the reviewer warned adolescents to avoid the book. Someone who didn't know any better might accidentally find the historical details and extraneous vocabulary words to be interesting. It's nice to know someone's helping to prevent people from learning too much.

[sovay]

The next generation needs the balls to recreate the glory that is Iraq the same way Bush recreated the glory of Vietnam.

*preemptively shoots self in head*

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

Lo, I spread warm feelings this holiday season.

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

I was going to say something about saving a bullet in the chamber for me, but the way things are going, I'll just do the American thing and kip on down to Wal-Mart for an exit strategy of my own.

If I were a Peanut's character, now is when the smoke would rise from my skull.