Re: Hapworth
Jake McHenry (seymour@ktis.net)
Tue, 18 May 1999 18:55:56 -0500
And God be thanked that some of the more precocious and intelligent children
are not more like the small baby Stewie from that new animated sit-com.
(Although I do find him to be more funny than most things I know. And that
Rex Harrison voice. Whew.)
-Jake
----- Original Message -----
From: <LOBSTER911@aol.com>
To: <bananafish@lists.nyu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 1999 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: Hapworth
> Everyone is saying they want kids to be kids, but after reading Hapworth I
> identified so much with Seymour when he was seven from the time when I was
> seven. Also, I was ahead of Boo-Boo in literacy. So aside from writing
> style, I don't think his portrayal of children is that unrealistic.
Children
> are usually not credited with the competence they deserve. I remember in
> third grade thinking to myself. "I feel completely conscious in my mind.
I
> am not a clueless and unreflective little being as eight year olds are
> usually thought of as." In not so many words. Every year I'd check myself
> and when the third graders started to look very young, I remembered that I
> thought when I was eight. Don't sell children short, they're smarter than
> you are.
> -MW