photo by me.

We are reading Jarhead in one of my classes this week. We are looking at prospective audiences, themes, reasons for the writing, reasons for reading, types of language used, etc. I love all of these kinds of things. I love healthy debate over literature and like looking at things from a different perspective.

I also like playing devil’s advocate.

I found the book to be a bit dull. I found it to be sophomoric. I didn’t read the brilliance that New York Times or other such esteemed critics read.

I stated this in class today. I also stated that I felt the author used elementary language and spoke down to the audience. I have a feeling he even dummied it down for some reason.

That offends me.

My classmates took offense to the things I said. They liked the book. They liked the level of language used in it. They reminded me that the majority of Americans read at a 6th grade level. They reminded me that Marine “grunts”, for the most part, are probably not educated.

I wondered if I’m an elitist when it comes to literature.

I love William Shakespeare and Jane Austen and Langston Hughes. I also love the books that I call “beach reading” – Stephen King – Okay…I just went to my six bookcases to find some of these “beach readings” to give some titles and couldn’t find any. Maybe I sell them to the used bookstore to get other books. I dunno. But you know the ones I mean – the books you can get at the grocery store book racks. Silly, fun books that you can finish in an afternoon.

Maybe I am a snob. As I perused my bookcases, I noticed a proliferation of Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker – all authors who deal with serious social issues within their beautiful prose. I noticed the rows of feminist theory, the tomes of English Literature, Romantic poetry, and anthologies of women writers.

Really, what it boils down to is that I like to be engaged. A writer doesn’t have to use polysyllabic words to engage me. It’s the nuances, the depth, the subtelties of language that draw me in. Double entendres. Symbolism. Metaphors. Foreshadowing. The classics of creative writing.

I like language and I like to see it used in an inventive way.

If I wanted something straight, we’d be having a conversation. When I read, I want to be involved.