Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2013-01

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Dick Monaghan sent this article years ago, and it is still relevant
• We get letters from Carol Hansen and Doris Dignard
• Don Henderson forwards some thoughts for the new year
• Catherine Nesbitt sends an example of language differences
• Shirley Grayman shares a quiz for mature readers
• Rafiki forwards the story of a mystery solved
• Sites are recommended by Bruce Galway, Carol Hansen, Don Henderson, and Tony Lewis

Dick Monaghan forwarded this article by Andrew Solomon nine years ago, and it is evident that the situation has not improved since then:

THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN BOOK

A survey released recently reports that reading for pleasure is way down in America among every group - old and young, wealthy and poor, educated and uneducated, men and women, Hispanic, black, and white. The survey, by the National Endowment for the Arts, also indicates that people who read for pleasure are many times more likely than those who don´t to visit museums and attend musical performances; almost three times as likely to perform volunteer and charity work; and almost twice as likely to attend sporting events. Readers, in other words, are active, while nonreaders - more than half the population - have settled into apathy. There is a basic social divide between those for whom life is an accrual of fresh experience and knowledge, and those for whom maturity is a process of mental atrophy. The shift toward the latter category is frightening.

Reading is not an active expression like writing, but it is not a passive experience either. It requires effort, concentration, attention. In exchange, it offers the stimulus to and the fruit of thought and feeling. Kafka said, "A book must be an ice axe to break the seas frozen inside our soul." The metaphoric quality of writing - the fact that so much can be expressed through the rearrangement of 26 shapes on a piece of paper - is as exciting as the idea of a complete genetic code made up of four bases: man´s work on a par with nature´s. Discerning the patterns of those arrangements is the essence of civilization.

The electronic media, on the other hand, tend to be torpid. Despite the existence of good television, fine writing on the Internet, and video games that test logic, the electronic media by and large invite inert reception. One selects channels, but then the information comes out preprocessed. Most people use television as a means of turning their minds off, not on. Many readers watch television without peril; but for those for whom television replaces reading, the consequences are far-reaching.

My last book was about depression, and the question I am most frequently asked is why depression is on the rise. I talk about the loneliness that comes of spending the day with a TV or a computer or video screen. Conversely, literary reading is an entry into dialogue; a book can be a friend, talking not at you, but to you. That the rates of depression should be going up as the rates of reading are going down is no happenstance. Meanwhile, there is some persuasive evidence that escalating levels of Alzheimer´s disease reflect a lack of active engagement of adult minds. While the disease appears to be determined in large part by heredity and environmental stimulants, it seems that those who continue learning may be less likely to develop Alzheimer´s.

So the crisis in reading is a crisis in national health.

I will never forget seeing, as a high school student on my first trip to East Berlin, the plaza where Hitler and Goebbels had burned books from the university library. Those bonfires were predicated on the idea that texts could undermine armies. Soviet repression of literature followed the same principle.

The Nazis were right in believing that one of the most powerful weapons in a war of ideas is books. And for better or worse, the United States is now in such a war. Without books, we cannot succeed in our current struggle against absolutism and terrorism. The retreat from civic to virtual life is a retreat from engaged democracy, from the principles that we say we want to share with the rest of the world. You are what you read. If you read nothing, then your mind withers, and your ideals lose their vitality and sway.

So the crisis in reading is a crisis in national politics.

It is important to acknowledge that the falling-off of reading has to do not only with the incursion of anti-intellectualism, but also with a flawed intellectualism. The ascendancy of poststructuralism in the 1980s coincided with the beginning of the catastrophic downturn in reading; deconstructionism´s suggestion that all text is equal in its meanings and the denigration of the canon led to the devaluation of literature. The role of literature is to illuminate, to strengthen, to explain why some aspect of life is moving or beautiful or terrible or sad or important or insignificant for people who might otherwise not understand so much or so well. Reading is experience, but it also enriches other experience.

Even more immediate than the crises in health and politics brought on by the decline of reading is the crisis in national education. We have one of the most literate societies in history. What is the point of having a population that can read, but doesn´t? We need to teach people not only how, but also why to read. The struggle is not to make people read more, but to make them want to read more.

While there is much work do be done in the public schools, society at large also has a job. We need to make reading, which is in its essence a solitary endeavour, a social one as well, to encourage that great thrill of finding kinship in shared experiences of books. We must weave reading back into the very fabric of the culture, and make it a mainstay of community.

Reading is harder than watching television or playing video games. I think of the Epicurean mandate to exchange easier for more difficult pleasures, predicated on the understanding that those more difficult pleasures are more rewarding. I think of Walter Pater´s declaration: "The service of philosophy, of speculative culture, towards the human spirit is to rouse, to startle it to a life of sharp and eager observation .... The poetic passion, the desire of beauty, the love of art for its own sake, has most; for art comes to you professing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass." Surely that is something all Americans would want, if we only understood how readily we might achieve it, how well worth the effort it is.

Dick commented on the article: I am depressed by this. Maybe the remaining readers are the better, more thoughtful ones, but there is no doubt we are in a crisis of literacy. The political campaigns are a sickening proof of the belief among the campaigners that the electorate is not capable of entertaining complicated issues. (And they´re ALL complicated.) This is not a partisan remark. Both parties are equally convinced of the voters´ simplicity.

Everyone is aware that simple-appearing issues like abortion, gay marriage, foreign attack, lower taxes, and religion in the schools will move the voters, but long-range difficult issues will result only in yawns. (See the movie, read the book "All the King´s Men," by Robert Penn Warren. It´s a thinly-disguised biography of Huey Long, who wanted to do good, but realized it was fatal to discuss real issues with the voters.)

As you know, I regard the entire Iraq invasion as a giant swindle perpetrated by men eager for revenge and colonialism, but it remains to be seen whether the electorate will see through this shabby deception.

CORRESPONDENCE

Carol Hansen writes: Saturday morning, and once again I spend the first part of the day enjoying The Tale Spinner - something I look forward to every Saturday.

I have a question that you probably can´t answer, but I´ll ask it anyhow, just in case.

Until recently all the links in the newsletter were highlighted so I could just click and be taken to the site. Suddenly, they no longer are. Oh, one or two still are, but most are not. I´ve no idea why this has happened and I wonder if you do?

I´ve had this happen a time or two in the past with other links people have sent and I found that by forwarding the e-mail to myself, I would then receive them highlighted. But that doesn´t work with the ones in the Spinner.

Any suggestions?

Happy New Year, and please know how much I enjoy The Tale Spinner each and every Saturday. Thank you.

ED. NOTE: As I told Carol, I have had one other complaint about this change, but that is all, so I am assuming that most subscribers can still click on sites and be taken to the originals. I can only suggest that she read the Spinner online, and in Jay´s site she will find many of the videos embedded on the page, while on Burke´s site, all of the links are clickable.

Their addresses are http://members.shaw.ca/vjjsansum/ and http://nw-seniors.org/stories.html

On Carol´s continued enjoyment of the Spinner, I can only say that it is remarks like hers that keep me editing the newsletter after 18 years. If I did not believe that many readers still find it interesting, I would wrap it up and quit worrying about those blank pages every week. Thank you, Carol, for your kind words, and thank you to all the readers who have supported me for so long.

Doris Dignard writes: Once again your friends have given us some very interesting and educational videos to watch. I was extremely impressed with the Space Station. I´m a bit claustrophobic, so I found the preparation for going home in the Soyuz a bit hard to watch. I just kept thinking, I would NEVER do that.

ED. NOTE: Neither would I, Doris, and I´ll bet we have lots of company!

Don Henderson forwards these thoughts for the new year:

HOW TRUE IT IS ...

Another year has passed
and we´re all a little older.
Last summer felt hotter
and winter seems much colder.

I rack my brain for happy thoughts
to put down on my pad,
But lots of things that come to mind
just make me kind of sad.

There was a time not long ago
when life was quite a blast.
Now I fully understand
about living in the past.

We used to go to weddings,
football games, and lunches;
Now we go to funeral homes,
and after-funeral brunches.

We used to have hangovers
from parties that were gay;
Now we suffer body aches
and while the night away.

We used to travel often
to places near and far;
Now we get sore bottoms
from riding in the car.

We used to go out shopping
for new clothing at the mall,
But now we never bother ...
all the sizes are too small.

We used to go to nightclubs
and drink a little booze.
Now we stay at home at night
and watch the evening news.

That, my friend, is how life is,
and now my tale is told.
So enjoy each day and live it up,
before you´re too darned old!

Catherine Nesbitt sends this one:

CANADIAN, EH?

A couple are at the airport in Arizona awaiting their flight. They are dressed in heavy boots, parkas, scarves and mitts, ready to head home to the Canadian winter.

An older American couple standing nearby are intrigued by their manner of dress.

The wife says to her husband, "Look at that couple. I wonder where they´re from?"

He replies, "How would I know?"

She counters, "You could go and ask them."

He says, "I don´t really care. You want to know, you go ask them."

She decides to do just that, walks over to the couple, and asks, "Excuse me. Noticing the way you´re dressed, I wonder where you´re from?"

The Canadian farmer replies, "Saskatoon, Saskatchewan."

The woman returns to her husband, who asks, "So, where are they from?"

She replies, "I don´t know. They don´t speak English."

Shirley Grayman writes that this quiz is harder than she thought at first. The answers were on the tip of her tongue ... she remembered, but ....

QUIZ FOR SENIORS

1. After the Lone Ranger saved the day and rode off into the sunset, the grateful citizens would ask, "Who was that masked man?" Invariably, someone would answer, "I don´t know, but he left this behind." What did he leave behind?

2. When the Beatles first came to the US in early 1964, we all watched them on the _____________ Show.

3. "Get your kicks, ________________."

4. "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to _________________."

5. "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ____________________."

6. After the Twist, the Mashed Potato, and the Watusi, we "danced" under a stick that was lowered as low as we could go in a dance called the __________.

7. "Nestle´s makes the very best _________."

8. Satchmo was America´s "Ambassador of Goodwill." Our parents shared this great jazz trumpet player with us. His name was __________ ____________.

9. What takes a licking and keeps on ticking? __________________.

10. Red Skelton´s hobo character was named _____________ and Red always ended his television show by saying, "Good night, and ________________."

11. Some Americans who protested the Vietnam War did so by burning their _____________.

12. The cute little car with the engine in the back and the trunk in the front was called the VW. What other names did it go by? ____________ and _____________.

13. In 1971, singer Don MacLean sang a song about "the day the music died." This was a tribute to ___________________.

14. The Russians placed the first satellite in orbit. it was called ____________.

15. One of the big fads of the late ´50s and ´60s was a large plastic ring that we twirled around our waists. It was called the _________________.

16. Remember, LS/MFT: _____ _____/_____ ____ _______.

17. "Hey, kids! What time is it? It´s ________ _________ ________!"

18. "Who knows what secrets lie in the hearts of men? The _________ knows!"

19. There was a song that came out in the ´60s that was a "graveyard smash." Its name was the _________ ______.

20. Alka Seltzer used a "boy with a tablet on his head" as its logo/representative. What was the boy´s name? ______________

ANSWERS

1. The Lone Ranger left behind a silver bullet.
2. The Ed Sullivan Show
3. On Route 66
4. To protect the innocent
5. The lion sleeps tonight
6. The limbo
7. Chocolate
8. Louis Armstrong
9. The Timex watch
10. Freddy the Freeloader and "Good night and God bless."
11. Draft cards. (Bras were also burned. Not flags, as some have guessed.)
12. Beetle or Bug
13. Buddy Holly
14. Sputnik
15. Hoola-hoop
16. Lucky Strike/Means Fine Tobacco
17. Howdy Doody time
18. Shadow
19. Monster Mash
20. Speedy

Rafiki forwards this report on an

ORNITHOLOGICAL MYSTERY

It is not a pretty story... about 200 dead crows near Regina, and there was concern for Avian flu. They had a bird pathologist examine the remains of all the crows, and he confirmed the problem was definitely not Avian flu, to everyone´s relief. However, he determined that 98% of the crows had been killed by impact with trucks, and only 2% were killed by car impact. The Province then hired an ornithological behaviourist to determine the disproportionate percentages for truck versus car kill.

The behaviourist determined the cause in short order. When crows eat road kill, they always post a "look-out crow" in a nearby tree, to warn of impending danger. His conclusion was that the lookout crow could say, "Cah", but could not say "Truck."

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Bruce Galway forwards this link to a video of the Toccata and fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach played on glass harp (musical glasses) by Robert Tiso:

Carol Hansen sends this link for all the people out there who have spent hours and hours training their pets to roll over and speak:

Don Henderson suggests you check out the looks on the faces of the young girls in this clip:

Tony Lewis picks this as his favourite of all the "stuff" that arrived in his in-box in the past year:

The greatest speech ever made, Charlie Chaplin´s speech from from The Great Dictator:

When most well-intentioned aid workers hear of a problem they think they can fix, they go to work. This, Ernesto Sirolli suggests, is naïve. In this funny and impassioned talk, he proposes that the first step is to listen to the people you´re trying to help, and tap into their own entrepreneurial spirit. His advice on what works will help any entrepreneur:

To check out the features of the "freedictionary", which changes daily, go to