Get a higher education
By Jane Muhlstein
If the six books I bought last week for one class are any indication, I should be impressed that my fellow students are reading anything not included on a syllabus. I know I should just keep my mouth shut.
I should, but I won't.
Call it snobbery, but the only thing that depresses me more than the fact that "The Da Vinci Code" is still number one on the New York Times best-seller list is the number of my friends who have it listed as one of their favorites on The Facebook.
I read "The Da Vinci Code." I was even entertained by it. But it should not be an intelligent college student's definition of great fiction. We don't have much free time, and there are many worthy things to be read, so make the most of the few leisure books you get to each year. It's time to raise the bar on what we consider quality literature.
Now, I am an equal-opportunity snob. This applies to movies and music just as much as it does to books. I'm not going to lie and say that "Mean Girls" isn't one of my favorite movies or that I'm not incredibly excited that I have tickets to the U2 concert this weekend.
But if you haven't seen at least one movie with subtitles, or downloaded a song by a band that has never been on MTV, in recent memory, you're missing out.
And because stepping it up on cultural exposure is easier said than done, I am including a few choice suggestions, courtesy of the Scene staff.
Books
* "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth
* "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
* "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
* "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Kidd
* "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris
Movies
* "Downfall" (in theaters)
* "Millions" (in theaters)
* "The Crime of Father Amaro" (on DVD)
* "Control Room" (on DVD)
* "Born into Brothels" (in theaters)
Music
* "Indian Summer" by Carbon Leaf
* "Mind, Body, and Soul" by Joss Stone
* "Ex-Girlfriends" by Low Millions
* "Aha Shake Heartbreak" by Kings of Leon
* "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy
* Contact Jane Muhlstein at (408) 554-4546 or jmuhlstein@scu.edu.