I was watching an interesting news item last week regarding electronic books and the addition of soundtracks and sound effects to them. What made the news piece more interesting was the cry, in unison, from our four children that such a feature would remove the need to have imagination when reading.
As we discussed this we found that we all regarded the 'mind's eye' images and sounds to be focus and means by which books were special. It was this that made a book great and often made the film of the book weak when the silver screen's interpretation fell short of the book we had read.
This led to the fact that one of the local schools had decided to show the video of Jane Eyre on the grounds that it:
a. saved the cost of n books, and
b. made the story accessible to those who might have struggled a bit with the reading!
Of course the whole point of English at school is surely to teach the language in both written and read forms and so point the second left me wondering if this was one of the reasons we have such poor reading standards displayed by many young people (gosh, don't sound like a young, trendy Vicar this morning, do I?). Secondly the film was an interpretation brought about by editing and modifying the story and so the story as it left the pen was not the same story as that which hit the screen. It might have been an approximation, but often with films there are omissions and quite major changes made to keep running time, cast and cost under control.
The issue of saving the cost of the books is another quite frightening issue as far as I am concerned because as Academies and Free schools and other 'out of the State system' educational bodies become the norm', surely this 'cost-cutting' will become the order of the day in oh so many ways?
Recently the family has seen 'Much ado About Nothing' in a variety of formats ranging from unexpurgated and modernised versions on film to a stage play of the same in a London theatre (more later) and modernised version and play excluded different elements. It was the same story but the journey was different in each. The main points were present but something was lost in each and whilst all three were enjoyable - it was for me - the reading in association with the other media that completed the whole.
One of the people on a London radio station who discussed this suggested that perhaps abridged talking books were a better way of helping our children do English - heaven forbid!
Still, grumble done, let the day begin.
Pax
6 comments:
I used to show a "film of the book" after we'd read it first. Always the comments were that they preferred the book because "the pictures are better!" The idea of showing a film to save money is crass!
Better pictures is why I prefer radio drama to most TV drama
I've loved the recent Radio adaptations of Terry Pratchett's "Nation" and Roald Dahl's Matilda.... must go and get the book proper!
An e-book is just a different way of getting the words on the page to the eye...but I'd HATE the addition of a soundtrack....
Now, an audio book is different, as long as it is unabridged and read by someone who can...I still remember listening to Tony Robinson reading Tarry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind during an interminable night before an operation in hospital. Just a voice, and the words...the pictures in my head were better than any movie could have been.
And, of course, I can actually read lol!!!
When I see what is happening now, I am SOOOOOOOO glad I was educated when and how I was, that I was taught to think critically and that I was encouraged to develop wide-ranging interests. This is spoon-feeding of the worst kind, done so that the students can learn just enough to pass exams but not enough to be able to engage properly with real texts. Still, I guess they should be just equipped enough to earn a living (perhaps) working shifts in some dreary so-called service or retail job.
Post a Comment