Quote of the Day

Well, technically it was the quote of Tuesday, but whatever day you read this, your day will be made.

Bookshelves of Doom (a fantastic blog for readers, particularly but not exclusively readers of YA) posted an EW interview with twentysomething quasi-celebrity Lauren Conrad and. . . bless her little heart, she seems like a sweet young woman but I think she hasn't matured enough to think before she speaks. I was stopped in my tracks by her description of The Great Gatsby as "fun." (Uhhhh, wasn't the title character kinda melancholy--not to mention at least one character in the story DIED?)

Nevertheless, her comment is very timely, as I've spotted quite a few students in the library with a copy of Gatsby in their hands, so I had to share the interview with our American Lit teachers. They all found it quite a hoot, and in fact the writing center teacher came to me asking for a forward because one of the AmLit teachers had mentioned it to her. So I sent it over, and she zeroed in on another LC gem, accompanied by the perfect zinger:

"I can stay in my PJ's and write."

I think that is just how Dostoyevsky felt.




Really, it was just AWESOME. And it came from the woman who helps our students improve their class papers and college application essays. Cool, huh?

Comments

ccr in MA said…
I am trying to imagine Dostoyevsky in pajamas at all, let alone thinking it a major benefit to being a writer, and now my head hurts.

Also loved "She lacks a filter, which I really admire" (ugh, really?), and of course "More scintillating scintillatingness", on the referring page.

EW indeed!
Kate P said…
Yeah, sometimes EW stands for something other than "Entertainment Weekly" (which BTW has surprisingly good book reviews). LC has no filter herself. . . I can't believe she admitted she read Sparknotes on everything--and then remarked about how poorly she did as a result. DUH.
Didn't Faulkner sometimes wonder around Oxford, MS in his PJs (long before that was EVER thought of as cool) taking down conversations he overheard so he could use them later? I can just see him in striped pajamas with a pipe in his mouth, standing on a street corner scribbling.

Gatsby depressed my daughter terribly. She had tears in her eyes when she finished. Loves all the other Fitzgerald she's read, however. Why do they make kids read this grim stuff? Can't they read "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and things of that nature instead?
Kate P said…
Laura--I didn't know that about Faulkner! Interesting.
Yeah, we read both "Bernice" and "Gatsby" in school, and I read a couple others on my own. I mentioned "Gatsby" to my sister and she had that "loved it" reaction but clarified it was the opulent roaring-twenties lifestyle that was the attraction. Why do girly-girls like the flapper stuff so much, huh?
Kate, it's the fringe and the beads, I reckon.

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