> Being unable to read Moby Dick or Les Miserables is an issue.
I think the author is talking about the content of the literature more so than books being "more sophisticated" than others, whatever that means. I'm 40 and remember skimming through most of the books given to me in high school -- Les Miserables and Moby Dick included -- because I just didn't connect with them. But I read a ton on my own and was always in a bookstore or a library. I wouldn't call Les Miserables or some Dickens book any more or less "sophisticated" than what I was reading, and if kids are going to be more excited to read something contemporary, or a translation that updates things like Emily Wilson, I'm all for it.
I think the author is talking about the content of the literature more so than books being "more sophisticated" than others, whatever that means. I'm 40 and remember skimming through most of the books given to me in high school -- Les Miserables and Moby Dick included -- because I just didn't connect with them. But I read a ton on my own and was always in a bookstore or a library. I wouldn't call Les Miserables or some Dickens book any more or less "sophisticated" than what I was reading, and if kids are going to be more excited to read something contemporary, or a translation that updates things like Emily Wilson, I'm all for it.