Letters to the Editor – The New York Times
This content was originally published by on 7 April 2017 | 11:00 am.
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RICHARD MARGOLIN
CHERRY HILL, N.J.
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To the Editor:
David Orr perpetuates the mistaken notion that Dylan is the first songwriter/musician to win the Nobel literature prize. In 1913, the prize was awarded to the Bengali songwriter/poet/playwright/novelist/artist Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-Western Nobelist.
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The book that made his reputation in the West, and for which he was awarded the Nobel, was “Gitanjali,” a collection of more than 100 songs composed by Tagore. Since the lyrics were not published with music (though Tagore composed music for over 2,000 songs), they were called poems by Western critics, despite the translated title “Song Offerings” printed on the title page of the English edition of the book.
Tagore wrote so many songs (and yes, he also was a musician) that they became a musical genre in themselves, rabindrasangeet. Two of his songs were chosen as the national anthems of India and Bangladesh. A century after his Nobel, Tagore’s songs are sung throughout the Indian subcontinent by rich and poor alike. I hope Bob Dylan will be humbled by being the second songwriter to win the Nobel Prize.
JOHN MCGUIGAN
BLOOMINGTON, IND.
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To the Editor:
Here’s a song for David Orr:
Yer jealous of Dylan that’s fer sure.
You say: You, too, could write a
poem
But it ain’t no good without
proper form.
Well, David, you can criticize.
But Bobby’s won the Nobel Prize.
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ADAM CHRISTING
LA HABRA, CALIF.
The writer’s forthcoming book is “Bob Dylan Can Change Your Life.”
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‘Lower Ed’
To the Editor:
Your review of Tressie McMillan Cottom’s “Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy” (March 12) missed the book’s key flaw: Cottom universalizes the experience of Atlanta-area, mostly African-American, low- and middle-income students to conclude that all students make a “savvy” choice to enroll in high-cost, low-quality colleges, and she glosses over the role consumer fraud plays in these choices.
What we Senate staff members saw in our 2012 investigation, and what we see now resolving complaints and providing legal assistance at the nonprofit Veterans Education Success, are students who have been lied to about the real cost of tuition and loans taken out in their names, the quality of education offered, the school’s accreditation, their eventual job prospects and eligibility to work in licensed occupations, and more. These lies are also why state attorneys general and federal agencies are suing for-profit colleges.
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Cottom’s focus on student choice leads her to discount the importance of the Education Department’s job placement data and the gainful employment rule’s data-driven limitations on the worst-performing programs.
CARRIE WOFFORD
CHEVY CHASE, MD.
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Hair in the Age of Trump
To the Editor:
Nice interview with Chris Hayes (By the Book, March 19). But why draw him with the part in his hair on the right? He’s a lefty — 100 percent.
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JAMES MORRISON
PORTLAND, ORE.
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The Book Review wants to hear from readers. Letters for publication should include the writer’s name, address and telephone number. Please address them to books@nytimes or to The Editor, The New York Times Book Review, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018. Comments may also be posted on the Book Review’s Facebook page .
Letters may be edited for length and clarity. We regret that we are unable to acknowledge letters.
Information about subscriptions and submitting books for review may be found here .
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A picture caption on Feb. 26 with a review of “Jonathan Swift: The Reluctant Rebel,” by John Stubbs, included an erroneous date with the engraving of Swift. The engraving represents him circa 1740, not circa 1800. (Swift died in 1745.)
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