What is the opposite of ennoble?

 kw: book nonreview, philosophical musings

I was sad to find that I could not in good conscience finish reading two books in a row. I wrote a very rare pan of the first book a few days ago. The second one, I won't even mention the title, but only say it was a collection of short stories, one of the many "best of" anthologies. If it does represent the best, the stories are a far cry from the poor-to-middlin' stories of just a few years ago.

Out of about ten stories I attempted to read, I read the entirety of only six. The other four are degrading. The six I did finish had no conclusions worth mentioning. The lead characters got nowhere. Most of them I could call the epitome of people whose lives "don't matter", in recent parlance.

What has happened to authors who might write about a total loser, yet either uplift the loser in some way, or show why not (think of classics such as Grapes of Wrath), or, as a tragedy, make it clear how the person engineered his or her own downfall (Shakespeare was a master of this). Instead, what did I see? Depictions of losers who start nowhere, go nowhere, learn nothing, waste my time as a reader, and leave me feeling sad.

A writer is an entertainer. Do you think "entertainment" should make you feel bad? Where are the entertainers who ennoble their audiences? Even knowing that some of the folks "out there" are total losers, can you give such persons hope that, if a shred of virtue remains, improvement is possible? The writers of this collection apparently assume that such total losers are the norm, so "When in Rome…" I assure you, they are not the norm!

In the realm of one of the best known of Aesop's Fables, the industrious Ant stores provisions for the winter, while the indolent Grasshopper sings away the summer and starves when autumn comes. Aesop stopped his story short. In actuality, all of us Ants wind up taking care of numerous Grasshoppers, so some at least will survive the winters of life. If Ants didn't outnumber Grasshoppers, eventually nobody would survive.

The book of Proverbs in the Bible speaks of someone so indolent he starves because he can't summon the will to bring food to his mouth. The food is available, even within reach. Grasshopper is too kind a word… And I remember a story of a prophet who fell into despair, and wandered into the desert to die. God would have none of it, and sent an angel. How did the angel wake the prophet from slumber? It kicked him in the ribs!

So, authors, either ennoble your audiences or kick them in the ribs. But demean and degrade them or wear them down with depictions of unnaturally clueless folk who are wasting the space they take up.