Comments on: The Peril of A.P.

By: OneBigParty

OneBigParty — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:02:31 +0000

I should say that in my case, if it’s between having the freedom to read the books I want versus the constraint in college that is supposed to “facilitate action,” I read more books when I can read what I want.

By: OneBigParty

OneBigParty — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:46:52 +0000

I thought I’d mention a giving-more-freedom situation that seems to have freed up, in this case seventh and eighth grade students, though it isn’t freedom from AP exactly, it’s freedom from professed boredom and lack of motivation. A movement is on in some schools to get kids to read by removing the books of the typical middle school canon and allowing them the freedom to read books of their own choosing with the result that students are reading more, according to some teachers who’ve tried this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/books/30reading.html?em

By: stephanie

stephanie — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:54:19 +0000

I never responded to this at the time, but this was one of the most helpful things on the board for me. So – thanks!

By: ThisisWater

ThisisWater — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:46:40 +0000

Julia:

Why? Because of the time we waste in our heads?

I’m guilty of same.

By: Julia M

Julia M — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:55:00 +0000

This is kind of scaring the sh*t out of me…this thread.

By: Julia M

Julia M — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:53:03 +0000

Yep. Me too. Thanks for the window into how Game folks know this and see this…great post.

By: Haze

Haze — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:11:35 +0000

Very key. It also seems pretty clear that DFW was ‘aware of’ John Barth’s “The End of the Road” that other seminal work which explores the near-catatonic pyschological paralysis of its protagonist, Jacob Horner, a character whom Jonathan Lethem recognizes(in influencing a novel of his own) as “being characterized by a certain slipperiness: he refuses to cohere, to take one or another rather than both ends of a given argument, to be consistently seducer or seduced, rival or friend, confident or pathetic.”
In a world of seemingly infinite choice Horner likewise cannot ‘choose’ a thing. He will be both everything and nothing as long as all the choices exist.

By: chris

chris — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:02:38 +0000

On “less freedom=less paralysis” in a literary context, read up on the OuLiPo. (Wikipedia is serviceable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oulipo)

By: BrendaH

BrendaH — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:29:45 +0000

As a mom of a board gaming family and an elementary school teacher for 27 years, I have to say you are spot on!
This also reminds me of a piece of research done years ago (as memory serves) about children playing on a playground bordered by city streets with occasional traffic. The kids all tended to play near the center of the playground until a fence was erected around the perimeter, at which time the kids began to “feel free” to spread out, utilizing the entire playground area. Another example of limits/boundaries = “freedom”/ enjoyment?
So great post! Can’t wait to share it with my brother who made my whole family “Settlers” geeks!

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:36:46 +0000

Really interesting post. You’ve illuminated a new facet on this gem of a novel.