Writer's Block: Forbidden Reading
In all honesty, this wasn't really a problem I had growing up. My parents encouraged me to read all the classics--including those 'evile' banned books--and any other literature that would get me to think. They stood behind me when my CP Lit teacher refused to read and mark an essay I did for a class because it was based on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and how attitudes had (hopefully) changed. (Obviously things hadn't changed much in Podunk, PA.) The whole incident taught me the importance of thinking for myself.
The closest my dad ever came to forbidding me to read something was my brief dabbling in Harlequin romances. He asked me why I was reading them, and fifteen-year-old me didn't have a good answer. Eventually I came to the conclusion that they weren't all that interesting or intelligent. Shortly after that, it was back to Chaucer, Dante, Steinbeck, and Orwell and the interesting conversations these works brought about. I still discuss books (along with politics and philosophy) with my dad and enjoy both the enjoyment and debates.
Now that I'm a parent myself, I don't forbid my kids to read anything as long as it's age appropriate. So my kids have grown up with Harry Potter, Narnia, and Nancy Drew. Are they the best the literary world had to offer? Maybe maybe not. But more to the point, they keep the lines of communication open, because, much like me, my kids love to talk about what they're reading.
The closest my dad ever came to forbidding me to read something was my brief dabbling in Harlequin romances. He asked me why I was reading them, and fifteen-year-old me didn't have a good answer. Eventually I came to the conclusion that they weren't all that interesting or intelligent. Shortly after that, it was back to Chaucer, Dante, Steinbeck, and Orwell and the interesting conversations these works brought about. I still discuss books (along with politics and philosophy) with my dad and enjoy both the enjoyment and debates.
Now that I'm a parent myself, I don't forbid my kids to read anything as long as it's age appropriate. So my kids have grown up with Harry Potter, Narnia, and Nancy Drew. Are they the best the literary world had to offer? Maybe maybe not. But more to the point, they keep the lines of communication open, because, much like me, my kids love to talk about what they're reading.