Unpopular Literary Opinions

[chonies]

Re: On the Road. I didn't realize it's coming out as a film soon. That news is kind of neutral, but in the meantime? Terrence Howard is in it, which means I extra won't be seeing it. I love it when I can tie threads together! Yay!

[BinkyBetsy]

May 5, 2011 12:10:04 GMT -4 @tversky said:

Ha. I was just thinking The Bell Jar may be the female equivalent to On the Road

You know, when She's Come Undone was first out, I honestly thought it would fill that spot, perhaps even unseat TBJ. I don't get why it's so despised. I don't think it's awesome, but put it this way: if someone like TBJ, why shouldn't they like SCU?

[chonies]

Jun 3, 2011 21:21:22 GMT -4 BinkyBetsy said:

May 5, 2011 12:10:04 GMT -4 @tversky said:

Ha. I was just thinking The Bell Jar may be the female equivalent to On the Road

You know, when She's Come Undone was first out, I honestly thought it would fill that spot, perhaps even unseat TBJ. I don't get why it's so despised. I don't think it's awesome, but put it this way: if someone like TBJ, why shouldn't they like SCU?

I haven't read SCU since it was newly out in paperback, but my immediate reactions are because it was written by a dude (and therefore a reader can't extra-identify with the tragic semi-autobio story of Sylvia Plath or the whatever story of Jack Kerouac), and because she fat, and I think she's poor. Additionally, the Oprah taint might adversely affect teens--Oprah can never be as cool as your friend's cool older brother with marked up binder who drives a vintage Woody or something.

I had to look up the story, because all I remember about the story was the depression and then her family member being taken out in a toll booth accident, which is also the type of detail that makes the story seem kind of strange.

I remember not liking it very much at the time, but I might give it a reread.

[Smilla]

Mary Oliver is boring. She's the poetic equivalent if (S)norah Jones.

[chonies]

I love, love, love the first Bridget Jones. I was way underwhelmed by Edge of Reason. I am extremely ambivalent about the third installment, which will be out in August.

[sardonictart]

I'll echo Chonies' sentiments. Adored the first one, disliked the second, can't generate enough interest to read the third.

[Smilla]

There's going to be a third Bridget Jones? I'm perversely thrilled to know that.

[narm]

I don't know if this is unpopular per se, but I don't know where else to put this:

My hub bought me a Kindle, yay! So in addition to downloading all the free classics, I purchased the collected short stories of Flannery O'Connor. I had read a few things before, and liked them. I also was interested in reading her stories as Bono (one of my faves) had said in an interview that when he was writing the lyrics for The Joshua Tree, he had been reading a lot of O'Connor's work. That album is a masterpiece to me, and quite instrumental (hee) in my coping with one of the hardest years of my life. Bono totally lifted whole phrases, that wee Irish scamp.

Anyway, I know that is a lot of backstory (hee, again) but here's my deal: So far, the stories are freaking littered with the N word. LITTERED. I mean, lousy with the damn thing. It's jarring to me. It's gotta be out of trying to prove how ugly racism is, right? Like the nerd I am, I spent more time reading up on her and she was championed by several desegregationists/influential writers of her time. She was also a deeply religious person, from most accounts, that appeared to write about injustice, blah blah. Plus, St. Bono. I like her writing. But the word- it's ubiquitous throughout two stories so far, and I lose my place each time. I don't think the F word or the C word could take me out of the story so bad. I remember Mark Twain using it, but seriously not this much. It really bothers me. I know historical context and all that.

[Queena]

I know everyone loved it, but I couldn't finish 50 Shades of Grey. Didn't keep my attention long enough. I also got so tired of the repetitive phrases over and over again. I couldn't even read it long enough to find out what made Christian the way he was. I also could never read Twilight or Harry Potter.

[narm]

I didn't even try 50 Shades of Grey. I also never read Harry Potter, Twilight, Eat Pray Love, Anne Rice, Hunger Games, DaVinci Code...I think I am stubborn.