While it's been sitting on my reading table for a month now, I've finally started Nick Reding's Methland. What I've discovered is a riveting account of the slow decline of one corn belt town in Iowa, largely due to an abundant supply of illegal methamphetamine. Reding, a working journalist, travels to Oelwein, Iowa to look into the many ways the drug has unraveled the towns folk, regardless their socio economic status.
Just as revealing but equally vexing is the revelation that methamphetamine was at one time legal, manufactured to help soldiers in combat as well as housewives overwhelmed by the doldrums of suburban living. From here, the drug has jumped all manner of societal firebreaks to land on the short list of most damaging narcotics, right up there with heroin and crack cocaine.
Reding interviews law enforcement officials, as well as those who found dealing crystal meth more rewarding, in more ways than one, than working at Wal Mart.
The reporting is incisive, the conclusions disturbing. Crystal meth has enjoyed unhealthy popularity in northern Michigan so this examination of small town Iowa hits closer to home than I'd like to think.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Favorite Read
A student approached yesterday after class to ask me what my favorite book is. I was unable to answer with anything more than a response about what I've been recently reading. As those who read often know well, singling out one book is nearly impossible. I have had many favorites over the years, starting in high school when I might have said Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, or Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. In college I might have quickly responded with titles like Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail '72 by Hunter S. Thompson, or Love is a Dog from Hell by Charles Bukowski.
These days it's more likely to be a recent read. I've lauded Born To Run by Christopher McDougall and Going Out Green by Bob Butz. Right now I'm reading The Truth About Love by Josephine Hart and I'm being drawn in completely. Hart, like so many of her Irish and British counterparts has a lyrical style that relies as much on the influences of verse as it does on the twists of fiction. There are several others waiting on my reading table, so no doubt the answer about what is my favorite book will change by degrees in the coming days.
The more important question for me is "what are you reading now?" Because if you're not reading something, always, there won't be any growth in the possibilities.
These days it's more likely to be a recent read. I've lauded Born To Run by Christopher McDougall and Going Out Green by Bob Butz. Right now I'm reading The Truth About Love by Josephine Hart and I'm being drawn in completely. Hart, like so many of her Irish and British counterparts has a lyrical style that relies as much on the influences of verse as it does on the twists of fiction. There are several others waiting on my reading table, so no doubt the answer about what is my favorite book will change by degrees in the coming days.
The more important question for me is "what are you reading now?" Because if you're not reading something, always, there won't be any growth in the possibilities.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
School's In Session
School started today, so my classroom is once again filled with students hoping to manage their way through what I throw at them, whether it be the simple tale Of Mice and Men in English I, or the more challenging Inferno of Dante in Advanced Placement Literature. What they also seem to hope is to get by with as little reading as possible. I fully recognize that a sizeable portion of my seniors cut corners on their summer reading. They rely on Sparks Notes, Cliff's Notes, and Wikipedia to find the answers they could find as easily in the actual reading.
I'm always at a loss this time of year wondering why so few students don't take to reading as productive passtime.
My loosely and anectdotally based observations come down to what is practiced at home, and what is promoted in the popular media. There is no denying that booksellers are hurting as people turn away from books. But what are they turning toward? Are the absences left with the loss of literature being adequately filled by television, the internet, or other electronic media? I believe they are not. I believe the dumbing down of our students is largely due to their lack of appreciation for reading. No one ever learned while talking, something many of my students are quite good at. But everyone who reads learns something, whether it be how to make popcorn int the microwave, or how to investigate the relationship between medicine and history. Reading is essential to growth, but alas too many students, at least at high school, are less interested in growth than they are in gain.
I'm always at a loss this time of year wondering why so few students don't take to reading as productive passtime.
My loosely and anectdotally based observations come down to what is practiced at home, and what is promoted in the popular media. There is no denying that booksellers are hurting as people turn away from books. But what are they turning toward? Are the absences left with the loss of literature being adequately filled by television, the internet, or other electronic media? I believe they are not. I believe the dumbing down of our students is largely due to their lack of appreciation for reading. No one ever learned while talking, something many of my students are quite good at. But everyone who reads learns something, whether it be how to make popcorn int the microwave, or how to investigate the relationship between medicine and history. Reading is essential to growth, but alas too many students, at least at high school, are less interested in growth than they are in gain.
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