Pam Tellew

I remember in Anne of Green Gables that woman Anne went to live with (was
she an aunt?) was very critical of Anne's habit of reading all the
time. The story takes place about the time books started being more
accessible (public libraries, cheap printing, dime novels). There was a
time when reading "too much" was considered a problem.

Penn Acres

Hey-never mind Anne! I am 65 and was always being told to get my nose out of a book-that it was going to ruin my eyes- having my reading brought out for surprised comment (caught reading by the evening light from a window after "lights out and go to bed'')
That reading that much wasnt good for people.That the reason that I had to get glasses at 10 was because of too much reading.
Never mind that we lived in the country-that I spent huge amounts of time outside and can count on two fingers the toys or books I had.
That being taken to the library in town was a huge ordeal.
They did go to bat for me at the Library-told the Librarians that I could look in the adult stacks because what I wanted wasnt in the childrens section.
I was reading James Oliver Curwood, Jack London, -Girl of the Limberlost- and all of his-who wrote those anyway?mind blip.
The Librarians still would come and tell me I was'nt allowed in that section and I would obstinatly say that my parents said I could-One of them always hovered behind me and was quick to say "oh, you don.t want to read that-if my hand touched different books.
After I was a teenager I found that there wasnt much there "forbidden"-Heck I had read it all in my girfriends True Confessions mags.etc (g)
and my parents werent ignorant rednecks-my dad was the manager of a business in town and active in other groups.-in fact it was his old boxes of books in a back storage closet that started me reading those types of books at about 10... who knows what thats all about..
Then when pocketbooks came out they were suspect-
now its tv and computer time and video games-and so it goes
grace

----- Original Message -----
From: Pam Tellew
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 10:50 AM
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] books and addiction


I remember in Anne of Green Gables that woman Anne went to live with (was
she an aunt?) was very critical of Anne's habit of reading all the
time. The story takes place about the time books started being more
accessible (public libraries, cheap printing, dime novels). There was a
time when reading "too much" was considered a problem.

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