Losing Touch

[poliphilo]

The older you get the harder it is to keep abreast of contemporary culture and ideas. Scan a person's bookshelves and you can tell at a glance when exactly they stopped thinking (or so an archdeacon of my acquaintance once said). This article offers a diagnosis and an excuse. The guy who wrote it is only in his 40s but he's already reached the stage where he'd rather watch Peter Cushing for the "n"th time than Benedict Cumberbatch for the 1st.  

I lost interest in pop music in the 90s. I stopped keeping up with the movies about five years ago. I'm happier with Edwardian novelists than I am with contemporary ones.  I still sort of keep up with what's happening on TV- but that's because it takes so little effort. 

I tell myself I need to get a grip. 

Comments

Failing to keep up

[methodius.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean (I think). I recently read a blog post that, in effect, accused me of dumping on the young, and therefore being irretrievably old (well I am, aren't I?). My response is here Popular culture, celebs and values | Khanya, in case you are interested. And I'd be interested in knowing whether that's the kind of thing you have in mind.

I recently read a book that some of the younger generation are raving about ("Whiteness isn't what it used to be") and thought it was crap. I find that the only recently-published books I read are Swedish whodunits.

Re: Failing to keep up

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

What an interesting debate.

No, I'm not talking about the world going to the dogs (though of course it always is) more about it having left me behind. I'm not judging popular culture, simply saying I don't grasp it anymore.