The danger of a simple story

Last night, I finally broke down and watched The Hunger Games on Netflix streaming. Despite yawning and losing interest at several points, I stuck with it because I've heard so many friends and students talk about how amazing the books and movies are. My take? Meh. I've seen this story before - post-apocalyptic fiction? Mad Max (movie), Equilibrium (movie), A Clockwork Orange (movie), and Fahrenheit 451 (book and movie) for starters - all with stronger storylines, more interesting and well-developed characters, and less predictability. Also fun to watch.

A couple of people asked me if I've read the Hunger Games books. And the answer is no. Just as I haven't read Harry Potter or Twilight. I admit that I am a reading snob of sorts - that I don't find simplistic storytelling in any way fun or even worth my time. But, I also understand that I have lots of smart friends, students, and colleagues who enjoy these stories as brain candy - an escape - a slightly elevated and more fanciful version of reality TV - stories that require no thought, no real time investment, and certainly no memory (as they are ultimately forgettable the moment you finish them).

My question for you: Why do we constantly make the distinction between "fun" and "not fun" reading? When we do this, we drive people away from amazing stories that are well worth the thought and time investment. Why are stories that are beautifully written with skillful language play, complex characters and situations, and a level of unpredictability in outcomes considered "not fun"? I have never understood this and it honestly drives me batty when I hear people say that - because to me, good storytelling with all of those qualities I listed IS fun. I read the way I watch TV - I don't watch reality TV, I don't watch vapid sitcoms, and I get bored with programming that offers me nothing. I will turn the TV off and play Scrabble on my Kindle Fire or read if I run through all of the channels and see nothing of interest - and that is happening more frequently now.

As a college professor, I see the results of allowing kids to just read simple stories for fun - when they get to college and are asked to read more complex material (fiction or nonfiction), they can't do it - they don't understand. Because their brains have been trained for simplicity - ease of understanding. Kids who read simple stories will never consider complexity "fun" - and that is a shame because the quality of stories available is broad and deep - and they will miss out. Take Louise Erdrich's The Round House - a YA novel that won a National Book Award - I wonder how many parents will choose this brilliantly constructed, truthful, dramatic, poignant, (and yes, humor-filled) story for their YA this summer? My guess is none. Not only is it a Native American writer writing about an all-too-frequent problem on reservations - rape - it is also complex and thought-provoking - and has a lot of ambiguity - no clear-cut answer. And that's uncomfortable, right?

Has our society been on a downward slide away from complexity and ambiguity since the 60s? WWII? The European invasion? I'm not sure when we started to slide, but we really ought to make an effort to stop.

Mark Bauerlein (The Dumbest Generation) talks about Harry Potter being more "social happening than a reading trend" because "kids read Harry Potter not because they like reading, but because other kids read it" (43). Even more bothersome is the lack of attention to other books: "If only we could spread that enthusiasm to other books. Unfortunately, once most young readers finished Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, they didn't read a book with the same zeal until the next Potter volume appeared three years later" (44). Reading simple stories because other people are reading them and then not finding anything else to read because those other stories are too hard, too complex, and most importantly, not Harry Potter (or insert any favorite vapid character here)...this is a problem.

Adults who pick up these books are adults - they've been through school, they're looking for a little brain candy and a little escape from daily BS....I get that, I really do. I just can't get into it. I blame my degree for that - and a lifetime of reading more and more complex stories and finding absolute joy in feeling something when I read. This is also how I approach stories when advising students or teaching stories to students.

When I was at Auburn University, I had the opportunity to teach contemporary World Lit - my students ended the semester by reading Song for Night by Nigerian writer Chris Abani. To a student, it was their favorite reading of the entire semester...and also the hardest, most troubling, most complex, most disturbing, and most beautiful. Maybe as a society we've gotten dangerously away from expecting anything of our kids - of demanding that they challenge themselves intellectually - and expecting them to find joy and pleasure in the discoveries and feelings that result from that challenge.

Two of the most challenging novels I read for fun when I was 12 - 13 years old were The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and Watership Down by Richard Adams. These books impacted me then and stayed with me, subtly influencing how I see the world, the way that any memorable, substantive story can. Ability with language is enhanced by reading more complex stories - and by authors who use language expertly and lyrically to construct their stories. We fear complexity in language too much - this directly relates to students at college not understanding basic words like ubiquitous.

Stories that get into your head, churn things up, make you think, question, and wonder, and then stay with you - this is the hallmark of "not fun" reading...and that is a travesty. This is the type of fiction we should all be reading, but especially the younger set. We should expect more of the younger generation and encourage them to run toward complexity and learn to love it instead of shrinking from it. I really do see the connection between embracing complex, hard, difficult stories at a young age and the ability to grasp, understand, and solve complex, hard, and difficult situations as an adult.

Our experiences don't exist in a vacuum and the last thing you want is for your kid to say to her professor that she's one of the only people who ever expected anything great from her - that she was never challenged until now and appreciates the opportunity to rise to the occasion and greater expectation. This happens more frequently that you might imagine - and one of the solutions is what I suggest - start by expecting younger people to read and enjoy more complex stories - treat them as fun, because they are - and that sets the stage for a lifetime of deep and meaningful reading enjoyment and so much more.