The Phantom Tollbooth At 50
October 16, 2011 9:18 AM Subscribe
"You may not see it now, but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else. . . . Whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.” 50 years ago, "The Phantom Tollbooth" was published.
I recently re-read this book to see if it lived up to my childhood memories of it. It more than did.
It genuinely surprises me that this book isn't yet mentioned in the same breath as Alice in Wonderland.
posted by LSK at 9:27 AM on October 16, 2011 [5 favorites]
It genuinely surprises me that this book isn't yet mentioned in the same breath as Alice in Wonderland.
posted by LSK at 9:27 AM on October 16, 2011 [5 favorites]
Stopping halfway through the article to say thanks. This is wonderful.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:29 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:29 AM on October 16, 2011
I love love love this book. I discovered it in my elementary school library and it felt like some kind of special secret because it hadn't been checked out in ages and nobody else seemed to have heard of it.
The movie made out of it (by Chuck Jones!) is also pretty solid.
posted by hippybear at 9:31 AM on October 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
The movie made out of it (by Chuck Jones!) is also pretty solid.
posted by hippybear at 9:31 AM on October 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
Milo was a boon companion through many, many readings.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:31 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:31 AM on October 16, 2011
I'm back to report that made my day.
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:32 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by roger ackroyd at 9:32 AM on October 16, 2011
What a great book!
My sister, when she was 10 or 11, adapted The Phantom Tollbooth into a play for our homeschooling group. She found Norton Juster's address somehow and mailed him a copy of the play and asked his permission to perform the adaptation.
A few weeks later, he called our house. He told her that he didn't have the performance rights to the play, but that he had read it and really liked it. He told her that if he had the performance rights, she would have his blessing, and that he wouldn't tell anybody if she did put on the play.
Classy guy. Great book.
posted by gauche at 9:33 AM on October 16, 2011 [42 favorites]
My sister, when she was 10 or 11, adapted The Phantom Tollbooth into a play for our homeschooling group. She found Norton Juster's address somehow and mailed him a copy of the play and asked his permission to perform the adaptation.
A few weeks later, he called our house. He told her that he didn't have the performance rights to the play, but that he had read it and really liked it. He told her that if he had the performance rights, she would have his blessing, and that he wouldn't tell anybody if she did put on the play.
Classy guy. Great book.
posted by gauche at 9:33 AM on October 16, 2011 [42 favorites]
Phantom Tollbooth as a book, sort of disappointed me as a kid, but as an adult, I realized it was the first place I found the work of Jules Pffiefer--and I love Jules Pfieffer.
posted by PinkMoose at 9:34 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by PinkMoose at 9:34 AM on October 16, 2011
And... it looks like there's going to be a new movie made, coming from Gary Ross (Pleasantville).
There's not a lot of information on it, but there's enough that it's listed as "in development" on iMDB.
posted by hippybear at 9:40 AM on October 16, 2011
There's not a lot of information on it, but there's enough that it's listed as "in development" on iMDB.
posted by hippybear at 9:40 AM on October 16, 2011
One of the most memorable books of my childhood. I love it.
posted by neushoorn at 9:43 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by neushoorn at 9:43 AM on October 16, 2011
A netflix search for Phantom Tollbooth (I was looking to see if they had the old movie; they don't) brings up Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson. It is possible that Netflix is getting the words "Tollbooth" and "Menace" confused.
posted by madcaptenor at 9:43 AM on October 16, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by madcaptenor at 9:43 AM on October 16, 2011 [3 favorites]
Great, great book.
Michael Chabon had an appreciation of The Phantom Tollbooth earlier this year in the NYRB.
I hope the new movie will be 2D animation, but that's probably not going to happen.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:44 AM on October 16, 2011
Michael Chabon had an appreciation of The Phantom Tollbooth earlier this year in the NYRB.
I hope the new movie will be 2D animation, but that's probably not going to happen.
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:44 AM on October 16, 2011
My son is named Milo... not necessarily after the character, but The Phantom Tollbooth was the first association I made shortly after the name popped into my mind, and that cemented it as the Right Choice. (Other quick associations were Milo from the Descendents, Milo Minderbender, and Milo Boom... all equally positive in my mind.)
The Phantom EZ-Pass Lane doesn't have the same ring to it.
posted by not_on_display at 9:45 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Phantom EZ-Pass Lane doesn't have the same ring to it.
posted by not_on_display at 9:45 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
* Boom = Bloom
posted by not_on_display at 9:47 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by not_on_display at 9:47 AM on October 16, 2011
I read this book so many times as a child that I wore the covers off two copies. Perhaps I should revisit it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:48 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:48 AM on October 16, 2011
My parents, both teachers, didn't give me the book. They just left it out in the living room. A silver-covered book on a stack of other books.
They knew what they were doing.
posted by zippy at 9:52 AM on October 16, 2011 [6 favorites]
They knew what they were doing.
posted by zippy at 9:52 AM on October 16, 2011 [6 favorites]
One of the magazines I work for just published what I think is a neat interview with Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer (self-link, but totally relevant self-link).
LSK — the comparison to Alice in Wonderland is in the opening sentence of the interview, and I think very apt.
Man, I wish I still had my copy of this book.
posted by Hadroed at 9:55 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
LSK — the comparison to Alice in Wonderland is in the opening sentence of the interview, and I think very apt.
Man, I wish I still had my copy of this book.
posted by Hadroed at 9:55 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I've never heard of it, I think I'll put it on hold at the library.
posted by Harpocrates at 10:03 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by Harpocrates at 10:03 AM on October 16, 2011
One of my all time favorite books. My brother and I would number how many times we read it on the inside of the front cover. I think we got up to 12 before we stopped counting.
posted by wilky at 10:08 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by wilky at 10:08 AM on October 16, 2011
My mother and sister gave away my autographed copy while raiding my bookshelf without permission. They have not been forgiven.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:08 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:08 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Thanks to Phantom Tollbooth, I use rigmarole in everyday conversation.
Now if my 7 year old would just get old enough to read the book. OTOH, she's mowed through the first four Harry Potter books, so she might be ready....
posted by dw at 10:09 AM on October 16, 2011
Now if my 7 year old would just get old enough to read the book. OTOH, she's mowed through the first four Harry Potter books, so she might be ready....
posted by dw at 10:09 AM on October 16, 2011
My first copy was silver too, because it was a Scholastic binding and they were doing classics in silver then.
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:09 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by seanmpuckett at 10:09 AM on October 16, 2011
It is possible that Netflix is getting the words "Tollbooth" and "Menace" confused.
This might explain how I ended up with Dennis the Tollbooth last week. It lacked both tollbooths and menacing.
Seriously, I am pretty sure I read a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth to tatters when I was a young'n.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:11 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
This might explain how I ended up with Dennis the Tollbooth last week. It lacked both tollbooths and menacing.
Seriously, I am pretty sure I read a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth to tatters when I was a young'n.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:11 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
It was a great book for a kid in the '60s and I'll recommended it to any kid today.
I was considering posting this myself and found info on a documentary being made about the book (they're raising money via Kickstarter).
Also, the movie, with its questionable substituting of Chuck Jones animation for Jules Feiffer illustration, is on YouTube in it's whole, if you don't mind Spanish subtitles.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:21 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I was considering posting this myself and found info on a documentary being made about the book (they're raising money via Kickstarter).
Also, the movie, with its questionable substituting of Chuck Jones animation for Jules Feiffer illustration, is on YouTube in it's whole, if you don't mind Spanish subtitles.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:21 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
furiousxgeorge, you might send a copy to Juster with a note about your mom & sister. He sounds nice enough to sign a new one for you.
posted by rikschell at 10:23 AM on October 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 10:23 AM on October 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
I read it in the 90s and absolutely loved it. It's one of the ones I still have cravings for occasionally.
dw: "Now if my 7 year old would just get old enough to read the book. OTOH, she's mowed through the first four Harry Potter books, so she might be ready...."
If she got through the behemoth that is the fourth HP book, she can definitely handle this.
posted by Night_owl at 10:25 AM on October 16, 2011
dw: "Now if my 7 year old would just get old enough to read the book. OTOH, she's mowed through the first four Harry Potter books, so she might be ready...."
If she got through the behemoth that is the fourth HP book, she can definitely handle this.
posted by Night_owl at 10:25 AM on October 16, 2011
There is an Annotated Phantom Tollbooth coming out? I knew I had saved my bookstore giftcard for something special.
posted by jeather at 10:30 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by jeather at 10:30 AM on October 16, 2011
Thnak you thnak you for posting. I love this book. I once gave it to a Danish friend who just christened his son Milo, and he read taught himself English by reading it. :)
posted by ruelle at 11:25 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by ruelle at 11:25 AM on October 16, 2011
We have a Milo too, and this was my first association of the name. Go Milos!
posted by carter at 11:35 AM on October 16, 2011
posted by carter at 11:35 AM on October 16, 2011
The first book I ever read in a single sitting.
Because of Tock, I still think of "killing time" as a sinful thing to do.
posted by Trurl at 12:19 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Because of Tock, I still think of "killing time" as a sinful thing to do.
posted by Trurl at 12:19 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
it looks like there's going to be a new movie made
No there isn't no there isn't no there isn't. *sticks fingers in ears* La la la la LA LA LA NO MOVIE ADAPTATION NO NO NO.
Ahem.
posted by Lexica at 12:27 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
No there isn't no there isn't no there isn't. *sticks fingers in ears* La la la la LA LA LA NO MOVIE ADAPTATION NO NO NO.
Ahem.
posted by Lexica at 12:27 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm just looked over at my bookshelf, and there's the book--the same copy I've had for thirty years.
It's sunny and cool out, and Lake Michigan is less than a ten-minute walk from here.
Time to grab a jacket and my fold-up beach chair.
posted by tzikeh at 1:47 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's sunny and cool out, and Lake Michigan is less than a ten-minute walk from here.
Time to grab a jacket and my fold-up beach chair.
posted by tzikeh at 1:47 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Probably my very favourite childhood book. I found it in what was, in hindsight, a bookstore so quaint and architecturally puzzling that i've only ever seen its like in movies since.
It was one of those swap shops, you take a book in and can swap it for another. Since the entrance was hidden away in a dingy, usually-empty little walk-through arcade, there was virtually never anyone else in there except the owner, who was always sitting behind the desk with her cup of tea.
Downstairs was the adults section - a tiny, tiny labyrinth of ceiling-high shelves. The whole thing could only have been 3 or four armwidths from side to side, so I guess the shop owner built up where she couldn't build out.
Mom used to take me here, so she would stay down there browsing, while I headed up the teensy, rickety wooden stairs to the children's section. And here's where it got a little cinematic, to my 8 year old eyes. At the top of the stairs, after the vaguely hobbit-sized lower floor, it opened up into a room at least double in height and width, filled entirely with children's books.
It had a dusty, cobwebbed antique chandelier that I loved because it showed just how high the ceiling was, which made the room feel kind of off-kilter. The lighting was a bit dim, which heightened the feeling and made rummaging through the shelves and cupboards feel a wee bit like an archaeological dig. (The dust definitely helped with that illusion)
I was a hell of a prolific reader and used to take home an entire bag of books from that room each time we visited, which was once a week. I remember I almost didn't take The Phantom Tollbooth, because it was a very old copy and the cover was quite tatty and near to falling off. But I liked the description on the back so I threw it in my bag.
The first time I read it, I remember feeling like it was a revelation and that the place and way I found it - this kind of old and magical bookstore - was exactly the right way one should come across it for the first time. (The Never-Ending Story was my favourite movie when i was young, which probably contributed heavily to that opinion.)
I must have re-read it at least 100 times since then (in fact, it's been living on my bedside table for the past month because while I am a reader, I am also a re-shelving slacker). I really enjoy the way my understanding of it has changed as i've grown but my enjoyment's never lessened. Not many books I can genuinely say that about.
Also, it spawned a lifelong predilection for using Ms Faintly Macabre (Profession: Elderly Spinster & Not-So-Wicked Which) as my fake name, in any situation where one has been required.
Man, thanks for reminding me of that place and time, Metafilter! It's been a crappy morning, all dark and rainy outside, and now I feel cheerfully nostalgic. Might go curl up on my couch with TPT, a blanket and a cup of tea. Much better.
posted by pseudonymph at 1:58 PM on October 16, 2011 [4 favorites]
It was one of those swap shops, you take a book in and can swap it for another. Since the entrance was hidden away in a dingy, usually-empty little walk-through arcade, there was virtually never anyone else in there except the owner, who was always sitting behind the desk with her cup of tea.
Downstairs was the adults section - a tiny, tiny labyrinth of ceiling-high shelves. The whole thing could only have been 3 or four armwidths from side to side, so I guess the shop owner built up where she couldn't build out.
Mom used to take me here, so she would stay down there browsing, while I headed up the teensy, rickety wooden stairs to the children's section. And here's where it got a little cinematic, to my 8 year old eyes. At the top of the stairs, after the vaguely hobbit-sized lower floor, it opened up into a room at least double in height and width, filled entirely with children's books.
It had a dusty, cobwebbed antique chandelier that I loved because it showed just how high the ceiling was, which made the room feel kind of off-kilter. The lighting was a bit dim, which heightened the feeling and made rummaging through the shelves and cupboards feel a wee bit like an archaeological dig. (The dust definitely helped with that illusion)
I was a hell of a prolific reader and used to take home an entire bag of books from that room each time we visited, which was once a week. I remember I almost didn't take The Phantom Tollbooth, because it was a very old copy and the cover was quite tatty and near to falling off. But I liked the description on the back so I threw it in my bag.
The first time I read it, I remember feeling like it was a revelation and that the place and way I found it - this kind of old and magical bookstore - was exactly the right way one should come across it for the first time. (The Never-Ending Story was my favourite movie when i was young, which probably contributed heavily to that opinion.)
I must have re-read it at least 100 times since then (in fact, it's been living on my bedside table for the past month because while I am a reader, I am also a re-shelving slacker). I really enjoy the way my understanding of it has changed as i've grown but my enjoyment's never lessened. Not many books I can genuinely say that about.
Also, it spawned a lifelong predilection for using Ms Faintly Macabre (Profession: Elderly Spinster & Not-So-Wicked Which) as my fake name, in any situation where one has been required.
Man, thanks for reminding me of that place and time, Metafilter! It's been a crappy morning, all dark and rainy outside, and now I feel cheerfully nostalgic. Might go curl up on my couch with TPT, a blanket and a cup of tea. Much better.
posted by pseudonymph at 1:58 PM on October 16, 2011 [4 favorites]
The Valley of Sound section was in one of my reading textbooks in elem. school, but was the only part of it I read until high school, thanks to my older sister (whom I've mentioned before).
I have a purloined copy of The Dot and the Line somewhere, too.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:29 PM on October 16, 2011
I have a purloined copy of The Dot and the Line somewhere, too.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 2:29 PM on October 16, 2011
This book and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass were my perennial elementary school rereads. They've all aged well.
Thanks for this!
posted by clavier at 2:47 PM on October 16, 2011
Thanks for this!
posted by clavier at 2:47 PM on October 16, 2011
The Phantom Tollbooth is, sentimentally, my favourite book of all time. Ironically, it's one of the very few books that I found because of a movie (as I'm usually someone who insists on reading the book first); my family was taking a trip to Florida when I was a small child, and while we were getting ready to go to the beach, we turned on the television and there was the movie. I fell in love and refused to leave until it was over, and, upon discovering there was a book, expressed my dire need to own it. I have probably read it at least thirty times in the twenty intervening years between then and now; I can't fully credit it with always wanting to major in English and to write (and now, teach), but it was a book that fully jibed with my sensibilities both then and now. There was such fun to be had with language, which was a concept my family always held in high esteem. The joy I got from another adult who seemingly thought the same way I did about knowledge and words was unparalleled.
When I had finished high school and went off to college, I was having a great time but was a bit lonely initially. I came back for winter break and for my birthday, my friend Claire, who has been my friend since we were six, gave me a new copy of the book. You'd better believe I took it back with me.
I've had three laptops and named them all for writers who inspire me, because I'm a big nerd. The first one was Robertson (Davies), the second Tennessee (Williams). The one I'm typing on I got for grad school, and I was trying to figure out what to name it.
I was shocked that it took me until my third laptop to think of Norton. It was perfect. Thanks, Mr. Juster, and Mr. Feiffer. Now I should stop being as sentimental as a Humbug and grade some essays.
posted by ilana at 3:00 PM on October 16, 2011
When I had finished high school and went off to college, I was having a great time but was a bit lonely initially. I came back for winter break and for my birthday, my friend Claire, who has been my friend since we were six, gave me a new copy of the book. You'd better believe I took it back with me.
I've had three laptops and named them all for writers who inspire me, because I'm a big nerd. The first one was Robertson (Davies), the second Tennessee (Williams). The one I'm typing on I got for grad school, and I was trying to figure out what to name it.
I was shocked that it took me until my third laptop to think of Norton. It was perfect. Thanks, Mr. Juster, and Mr. Feiffer. Now I should stop being as sentimental as a Humbug and grade some essays.
posted by ilana at 3:00 PM on October 16, 2011
This is one of the books that I am both looking forward to and apprehensive about sharing with my kids -- because what if they don't like it? (In retrospect, I realize that my father was really crushed when I turned out to like alien-and-spaceship books rather than the castles-and-magic ones he enjoyed growing up, and even at the time I felt bad about not finishing Elidor.) Left out on the coffee table it is, then...
posted by No-sword at 3:56 PM on October 16, 2011
posted by No-sword at 3:56 PM on October 16, 2011
I loved this book. I didn't know it was fifty years old, though I'm sure my sister would get a kick out of hearing that. I think I'll have to track down a copy. It's been a surprisingly big part of my life.
When I was young, a family friend came over nearly every night for a couple of years to read to me after my parents' divorce. This was one of the first 'real' books I'd had read to me, along with Wind in the Willows and Charlotte's Web, and is pretty much one of the reasons I love reading so much. It helped that David, the family friend, had such a perfect voice for reading, and was clearly just as excited to be reading as I was to be read to.
And growing up in Kalamazoo, if you go out towards Gull Lake, there's an actually Milo Road. I had always thought, in kind of an idle fantasy, that if I needed to start over, to just leave everything behind, someday I'd go back to Kalamazoo and drive down that road, and just keep going.
I told my dad about this, the last time I was home before he died, the last time I saw him out of a hospital bed. And he didn't really get what I meant. I was saving that road in case one day I needed it, and I kind of hoped I'd never actually see what was at the end of it. So there we were, out in his car, driving around Kalamazoo, and he says, hey, let's go check it out. I kind of asked him not to, but he said it would be fun. We went out to where ever it was, and took the left turn onto Milo Road. It wasn't life changing, I didn't have a moment where everything changed. There was, however, a fantastic ice cream shop down the road.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:33 PM on October 16, 2011 [7 favorites]
When I was young, a family friend came over nearly every night for a couple of years to read to me after my parents' divorce. This was one of the first 'real' books I'd had read to me, along with Wind in the Willows and Charlotte's Web, and is pretty much one of the reasons I love reading so much. It helped that David, the family friend, had such a perfect voice for reading, and was clearly just as excited to be reading as I was to be read to.
And growing up in Kalamazoo, if you go out towards Gull Lake, there's an actually Milo Road. I had always thought, in kind of an idle fantasy, that if I needed to start over, to just leave everything behind, someday I'd go back to Kalamazoo and drive down that road, and just keep going.
I told my dad about this, the last time I was home before he died, the last time I saw him out of a hospital bed. And he didn't really get what I meant. I was saving that road in case one day I needed it, and I kind of hoped I'd never actually see what was at the end of it. So there we were, out in his car, driving around Kalamazoo, and he says, hey, let's go check it out. I kind of asked him not to, but he said it would be fun. We went out to where ever it was, and took the left turn onto Milo Road. It wasn't life changing, I didn't have a moment where everything changed. There was, however, a fantastic ice cream shop down the road.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:33 PM on October 16, 2011 [7 favorites]
One of the things I loved most about going to my paternal grandparents were the stacks of books all over the house. Grampa let me take home whatever I wanted( because he'd owned the Pickwick publishers still sent him review copies; he also spent a good deal of time going to thrift stores to mine their shelves.
One day he had a copy of PT on the coffee table and suggested I read it. I was a bit reluctant ( maybe because of the way Tock glowered on the cover), but Grampa told me to read the first few pages and see how I liked it. I was hooked.
I think my favorite part is how the Dodecahedron introduces himself.
posted by brujita at 4:52 PM on October 16, 2011
One day he had a copy of PT on the coffee table and suggested I read it. I was a bit reluctant ( maybe because of the way Tock glowered on the cover), but Grampa told me to read the first few pages and see how I liked it. I was hooked.
I think my favorite part is how the Dodecahedron introduces himself.
posted by brujita at 4:52 PM on October 16, 2011
I was nine or ten, in fourth grade, and our friendly, cosy, intelligent, generally marvellous school librarian Mrs Sidorski read it out loud to the class.
Chroma conducting the sunrise is my favourite part, as well as what Cacophonous A. Discord's middle initial stands for.
One of my new cats came with the name Milo. He is a good cat, and learns fast.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:16 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
Chroma conducting the sunrise is my favourite part, as well as what Cacophonous A. Discord's middle initial stands for.
One of my new cats came with the name Milo. He is a good cat, and learns fast.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:16 PM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]
I no longer have the copy I read as a kid. A few years back, however, I bought a new copy. Can I just say that the book is every bit as rich and funny now (as a jaded adult of 40+) as it was then? Better, perhaps, because I'm sure I got about one pun in four when I read it as a kid ("Goes without saying"? Has anything mroe sublimely perfect ever been written in the English language?)
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 5:42 PM on October 16, 2011
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 5:42 PM on October 16, 2011
Somehow in my crazy, endless reading of childhood, I had managed to skip this book. I finally read it for the first time a few months ago -- what a delightful read. I'm sorry to have missed it as a kid, but thankful to experience it as an adult.
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 7:33 PM on October 16, 2011
posted by JustKeepSwimming at 7:33 PM on October 16, 2011
Whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.
And the majority of people you know will care less. And will treat you like you're some kind of brain or something.
In American history, at least, 'learning something new' only means the beginning of even more resistance.
But do press on. Because it can and usually does make a difference. By some mysterious, unexplainable agency, and only after the usual cycle of ridicule, blame and regrets.
posted by Twang at 8:55 PM on October 16, 2011
And the majority of people you know will care less. And will treat you like you're some kind of brain or something.
In American history, at least, 'learning something new' only means the beginning of even more resistance.
But do press on. Because it can and usually does make a difference. By some mysterious, unexplainable agency, and only after the usual cycle of ridicule, blame and regrets.
posted by Twang at 8:55 PM on October 16, 2011
In American history, at least, 'learning something new' only means the beginning of even more resistance.
Do you mean, in the subject of American history, or do you mean throughout American history?
Because many many great men from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison would prove you wrong about the idea that anti-intellectualism has been a current throughout American history... It's actually only been in the past half-century or so that we stopped venerating people with learning and science. It largely started during the Red Scare and then forward into the era of the counterculture, as a way of discrediting all the thinking types who were going against the grain and threatening the establishment.
posted by hippybear at 4:05 AM on October 17, 2011
Do you mean, in the subject of American history, or do you mean throughout American history?
Because many many great men from Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Edison would prove you wrong about the idea that anti-intellectualism has been a current throughout American history... It's actually only been in the past half-century or so that we stopped venerating people with learning and science. It largely started during the Red Scare and then forward into the era of the counterculture, as a way of discrediting all the thinking types who were going against the grain and threatening the establishment.
posted by hippybear at 4:05 AM on October 17, 2011
I don't remember the first time I read it. It's on the list of books I try to read once a year or so. It helps me keep my philosophical bearings. I read it out loud to high schoolers once. They appreciated it almost as much as elementary student would.
posted by Hactar at 9:41 AM on October 17, 2011
posted by Hactar at 9:41 AM on October 17, 2011
I recently re-read this book with my wife out loud and it catapulted to the number one all time greats.
I gave it to my son who is an avid reader at age 9 and he read it in one sitting. What a wonderful book, thanks for the post.
Henry
posted by silsurf at 9:48 AM on October 17, 2011
I gave it to my son who is an avid reader at age 9 and he read it in one sitting. What a wonderful book, thanks for the post.
Henry
posted by silsurf at 9:48 AM on October 17, 2011
It's been great to hear everyone's stories about this amazing book. Thanks for sharing. I, too, read my first copy to literal shreds when I was younger. It got to the point where my copy was just a pile of loose pages. I would read it by picking one page from the "to read" pile and then after reading I'd place it in the "read" pile.
Years later I was working in a bookstore when a woman came up to the cash with "The Phantom Tollbooth" in her hand. "Oh, that's a great book!" I enthused. "It's one of my all time favourites!" This woman shot me a disdainful look. "I'm buying it for an eleven year old," she said. I didn't say, "Adults can love this book too, Lady." I turned on my best retail grin and said, "I'm sure the eleven year old will love it." And I'm sure the eleven year old did.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 1:08 PM on October 17, 2011
Years later I was working in a bookstore when a woman came up to the cash with "The Phantom Tollbooth" in her hand. "Oh, that's a great book!" I enthused. "It's one of my all time favourites!" This woman shot me a disdainful look. "I'm buying it for an eleven year old," she said. I didn't say, "Adults can love this book too, Lady." I turned on my best retail grin and said, "I'm sure the eleven year old will love it." And I'm sure the eleven year old did.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 1:08 PM on October 17, 2011
I still have my copy from when I was a kid in the 70s. I know exactly where it is.
My partner has never read the book; think I'm going to get it out right now so she can change that.
posted by bink at 7:40 PM on October 17, 2011
My partner has never read the book; think I'm going to get it out right now so she can change that.
posted by bink at 7:40 PM on October 17, 2011
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posted by introp at 9:26 AM on October 16, 2011