Imagine not being in a mental position to enjoy books. The Hobbit. Asimov’s Foundation or Robot books. The Expanse. D H Lawrence. Jane Austen. Vonnegut. Stephen King. Lewis Carroll.
Even worse, not having the capacity for the full nuance of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.
I’m so glad that when I was in school social media didn’t exist. I read The Hobbit during the summer between 4th and 5th grade and moved right into Lord of the Rings. In 6th grade I tried The Silmarillion but that was still a little too dense for me. I went back 2 years later and conquered that beast.
Reading Tolkien was a formative experience for me in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the time. It literally shaped the way I look at things, expanded my vocabulary, and inspired future hobbies in addition to all of the benefits that you get from reading anything. I can’t even imagine having that part of my life replaced with TikTok brainrot and selfies.
This is sad, well beyond the educational aspects.
Imagine not being in a mental position to enjoy books. The Hobbit. Asimov’s Foundation or Robot books. The Expanse. D H Lawrence. Jane Austen. Vonnegut. Stephen King. Lewis Carroll.
Even worse, not having the capacity for the full nuance of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.
I’m so glad that when I was in school social media didn’t exist. I read The Hobbit during the summer between 4th and 5th grade and moved right into Lord of the Rings. In 6th grade I tried The Silmarillion but that was still a little too dense for me. I went back 2 years later and conquered that beast.
Reading Tolkien was a formative experience for me in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the time. It literally shaped the way I look at things, expanded my vocabulary, and inspired future hobbies in addition to all of the benefits that you get from reading anything. I can’t even imagine having that part of my life replaced with TikTok brainrot and selfies.
Mom had this big illustrated version of the Hobbit. TV off, she read it to us kids across many evenings, determined that we would know Tolkien.