Looking To The Future

Busy day. Spent a good deal of it at the annual Literature Seminar where I found myself listening to various presentations by students from around the island on a wide variety of literary concerns. In fact, the variety was quite remarkable, stretching from the songs of Lennon & McCartney to a paring of Joseph Heller and Thomas Pynchon, taking in Adichie, T.S. Eliot, Tennessee Williams and Salinger (in an odd combination with whoever wrote The Perks of Being a Wallflower) along the way. Not a bad range, eh, and when you throw in some intelligent commentary on the work of American painter Edward Hopper popping up alongside the Eliot you get a sense of the desire of these youngsters to really explore the wonderful world of lit and its manifold possibilities. In fact, intelligent commentary and insightful research was the order of the day, in addition to enthusiastic engagement in the texts on offer. Oh, and the usual courtesy, friendliness and good humour you come to take for granted here.

I can never quite understand why so many people of my age seem to automatically criticise the younger generation. I'd put a lot more trust in these youngsters and the possibility that they might carve out a better saner, future for the planet than I would in the 'baby boomer' generation I grew up.