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'Enriching Our Literary Heritage': Judy Blume or Madeleine L'Engle?
BreakPoint with Chuck Colson ^ | December 29, 2004 | Chuck Colson

Posted on 12/29/2004 12:36:31 PM PST by Mr. Silverback

This November, Judy Blume was presented with a medal from the National Book Award Foundation. The same day, Madeleine L’Engle received a medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Though both authors are best known for their books for teenagers, they couldn’t be more different.

Blume made her name as the writer of Deenie, Forever, and other young adult novels known for their sexual themes and explicit descriptions. Typically, many of the articles written to celebrate her medal pictured Blume as a sort of big sister who provided guidance and reassurance about premarital sex, masturbation, and similar topics. Washington Post writer Jennifer Frey gushed, “Blume is, at heart, a childhood friend. . . . She is the one who told us secrets, who took the mystery out of the embarrassing stuff. She made us feel normal. She made us feel understood.”

Yet when her adorers in the media bring up the actual quality of Blume’s writing, it’s usually in a rather sheepish way. Even writer Susan Jensen, who thinks Blume’s books are popular enough to be considered “contemporary classics”—as if popularity were all it took to make a classic—admits that “Blume has received criticism for stereotypical characters [and] flat writing.” Another admirer, Ellen Barry, conceded, “You’d be hard pressed to find a paragraph of description in any of Blume’s books.”

The medal Blume won from the National Book Foundation is for writers who have “enriched our literary heritage.” Given her monotonous prose, it’s hard to argue that Blume has done that. But Foundation member Jessica Hagedorn tried anyway, telling a reporter, “For young people, [Blume] is as literary a writer as you can ask for.” Really? As literary as Robert Louis Stevenson? As Mark Twain? C. S. Lewis? Harper Lee? E. B. White? Madeleine L’Engle?

While Blume got a generation thinking about their bodily functions, Madeleine L’Engle was transporting them to other galaxies and centuries with imaginative, beautifully written tales like A Wrinkle in Time. There are those who argue that Blume’s kind of realism is better for kids than L’Engle’s fantasy. I happen to think there’s room for both genres, but that’s not really the point. The point is that L’Engle’s fantasies, with their exploration of love, God, family, suffering, death, and other timeless themes, reach emotional and literary heights that Blume’s work can’t even begin to climb.

It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Blume received her award, not for literary merit, but for something else—promoting a worldview. By sympathetically portraying adolescent sexual relationships that are free of values (except the avoidance of pregnancy and disease), Blume did as much as anyone else to help bring the sexual revolution to the younger generation.

Ironic, isn’t it? Most conservatives, according to popular stereotypes, would not know a good book if they bumped into it on the street. Yet it’s the National Endowment for the Humanities, part of the Bush administration, that honored one of the truly great fiction writers of our time, who wrote of God and timeless truths—while the allegedly sophisticated literary set, the National Book Foundation, awarded an honor to an author who is mediocre at best. It makes you wonder who’s really interested in literary merit and who’s only interested in promoting teen sexual activity and a debased worldview.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: ageofconsent; ageofconsentlaws; award; blume; bookreview; breakpoint; bush43; celebrateperversity; colson; corruptingminors; culturewar; doasthouwill; fiction; hedonists; ifitfeelsgooddoit; indoctrination; itsjustsex; judyblume; lengle; libertines; libraries; literature; neh; porn; sex; sexualizingchildren; softcore; teenpregnancy; teensex
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To: Mr. Silverback
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Blume received her award, not for literary merit, but for something else—promoting a worldview. By sympathetically portraying adolescent sexual relationships that are free of values (except the avoidance of pregnancy and disease), Blume did as much as anyone else to help bring the sexual revolution to the younger generation.

Precisely.

21 posted on 12/29/2004 1:50:06 PM PST by Unam Sanctam
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To: qam1
I remember the 'controversy' of Blume's books...the Me Margaret one played very strongly in my social group. Frankly, when I read it, I was utterly baffled by the tone she took...I couldnt believe that a girl was actually looking forward to something like that...so the book came across as an utter lie to me.

L'Engle, however was magical and my absolute favorite...that is, until I picked up this weirdly titled book called "The Hobbit." Forgot all about L'Engle then...

22 posted on 12/29/2004 1:50:09 PM PST by Alkhin (He thinks I need keeping in order. ~ Peregrin Took, LOTR:FOTR)
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To: stands2reason
That explains why I missed them. I prefer Bloom to L'Engle. Though I have only read "a wrinkle in time" I found it a bit bland.

The best children's book ever written: The Phantom Tollbooth.
23 posted on 12/29/2004 1:51:51 PM PST by escapefromboston (manny ortez: mvp)
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To: Mr. Silverback
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Blume received her award, not for literary merit, but for something else—promoting a worldview. By sympathetically portraying adolescent sexual relationships that are free of values (except the avoidance of pregnancy and disease), Blume did as much as anyone else to help bring the sexual revolution to the younger generation.

I don't remember all the sex in "Fudge" and "Blubber", but then again I read them near 20 years ago so maybe they have updated versions or something. ;-)

24 posted on 12/29/2004 1:58:38 PM PST by retrokitten
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To: stands2reason
You're forgetting Wifey. Made Deenie and Forever look almost acceptable.
25 posted on 12/29/2004 2:00:01 PM PST by Xenalyte (Who you tryin' to get crazy with, ese? Don't you know I'm loco?)
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To: Xenalyte

I consider Wifey her adult novel.


26 posted on 12/29/2004 2:02:48 PM PST by stands2reason
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To: qam1

27 posted on 12/29/2004 2:15:58 PM PST by t_skoz ("let me be who I am - let me kick out the jams!")
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To: Mr. Silverback

I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read "A Wrinkle in Time," but I've read almost all of Judy Blume's books. Ms. Blume works display almost schizophrenic qualities. Her books for younger readers such as "The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo," "Superfudge," "Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great" (et al) were funny & cute and I'd have no problem letting my daughter read them.

"Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" & "Forever" deal with intense subject matter (puberty, divorce, relgion, teen sex, birth control) but they are tastefully written so that a parent could read them as well and discuss the subject matter with their teens. But her adult works are simply "trashy" (ie something one would expect from Jackie Collins, not a writer of children's books). "Wifey" left a particularly bad taste in my mouth. It concerns a suburbanite housewife & mother who "finds herself" by having affairs (one with a highschool paramour, & the other with her sister's husband!) The heroine displays no remorse & is prevented from breaking up her marriage only because her boyfriend has no intention of leaving his wife.


28 posted on 12/29/2004 2:22:32 PM PST by two134711
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To: Mr. Silverback
The NEH seems to have made a good pick in L'Engle, but the NEH and the NEA shouldn't exist. Art is not a legitimate government function.

That statement is rather misleading since the NEA isn't a government entity, but rather a private organization.

29 posted on 12/29/2004 2:26:39 PM PST by Melas
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To: stands2reason
The controversy over Blume's books was always out of proportion to the content. Her books were mostly read by girls, but I picked up a copy of Deenie because there was a local move to ban it from libraries.

The controversial scene involved a young girl touching herself in the bathtub. It ran, as I recall, half a page, maybe a whole page. Couched in vague enough language that I waited the rest of the book for the scandalous stuff. That was it.
30 posted on 12/29/2004 2:26:40 PM PST by ReignOfError
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To: escapefromboston
The best children's book ever written: The Phantom Tollbooth.

Be very quiet for it goes without saying...

31 posted on 12/29/2004 2:29:30 PM PST by pbear8 (On Christmas Night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring...)
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To: Xenalyte

Wifey was a juvenile author's lone foray into adult literature. It doesn't count because it was written for adults.


32 posted on 12/29/2004 2:32:24 PM PST by Melas
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To: escapefromboston
The best children's book ever written: The Phantom Tollbooth.

Sorry my friend, but The Phantom Tollbooth is silly escapism compared to the true giants in juvenile literature: Anything by S.E. Hinton.

33 posted on 12/29/2004 2:38:23 PM PST by Melas
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To: Melas
That statement is rather misleading since the NEA isn't a government entity, but rather a private organization.

First...from the NEA website:

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts--both new and established--bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education. Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Endowment is the nation's largest annual funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases.

Second, even if the NEA were private, or didn't exist, there is no justification for bushels of U.S. tax dollars going to art. Art is a wonderful thing, but it is not one of the legitimate responsibilites of American government.

34 posted on 12/29/2004 2:40:01 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (A mike ruler, an old schooler...drivin' in my car, livin' like a star...)
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To: qam1

Thank you!


35 posted on 12/29/2004 2:40:36 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (A mike ruler, an old schooler...drivin' in my car, livin' like a star...)
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To: Melas

What did she write, besides "The Outsiders"?


36 posted on 12/29/2004 2:41:33 PM PST by T.Smith
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To: Mr. Silverback
As an adult, Judy Blume's books would be boring and silly. As a child, I loved every one of them. I was also a fan of Beverly Cleary (I had a sister, so I even got to read "Are you there God, it's me, Margaret. I didn't quite get it).

I think the author of this piece must have had a Judy Bloom book dropped on their toe, or something. Their criticism seems not to regard the age group Judy Bloom was writing for.
37 posted on 12/29/2004 2:44:47 PM PST by T.Smith
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To: RebelBanker
According to my wife, Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. is a classic "coming of age" book for girls which teaches about menarche in a gentle and understanding way.

I seem to remember it as being about a bunch of teenage girls all hoping to start their periods before the others, and one of them lying about it. It brought back a lot of unpleasant memories for me about peer pressure and bitchy girls that I'd just as soon forget.

38 posted on 12/29/2004 2:45:27 PM PST by Lizavetta (Modern liberalism: Where everyone must look different but think the same.)
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this is a crappy article in the vein of "George Washington owned slaves"

the blume books with sex in them are far outweighed by the ones that don't.


39 posted on 12/29/2004 2:51:18 PM PST by KneelBeforeZod ( I'm going to open Cobra Kai dojos all over this valley!)
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To: retrokitten

Can't even let teens read the newspaper today with journalists bragging about wanting to fellate President Clinton for his support on womens' issues.


40 posted on 12/29/2004 2:52:40 PM PST by weegee (WE FOUGHT ZOGBYISM November 2, 2004 - 60 Million Voters versus 60 Minutes - BUSH WINS!!!)
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