Wild swan: +1634
Somewhat feeding off the discussion of which books you should have on your shelves to impress the casual observer, this is a list of books which activate terrible prejudices in me:
1. Any Harry Potter in the adult cover: you’re reading a children’s book. A very fine children’s book that has a great deal to offer adults, but a children’s book nonetheless. Accept it.
2. American Psycho. As previously stated, I don’t care how impressive/interesting/important it is, I would never sit next to anyone reading this on a train if I could possibly avoid it.
3.Meyer’s Twilight series. The general drift of my feminist queasiness about this series can be got from this article (tho it is about the film): http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/dec/04/twilight-film-vampire
4.D H Lawrence. I simply know that I won’t get on with most people who read Lawrence.
5. Jorge Luis Borges. This person is dead clever and, as strange a deduction as this may seem, a great kisser.
Latest response
Most popular response
Somewhat feeding off the discussion of which books you should have on your shelves to impress the casual observer, this is a list of books which activate terrible prejudices in me:
1. Any Harry Potter in the adult cover: you’re reading a children’s book. A very fine children’s book that has a great deal to offer adults, but a children’s book nonetheless. Accept it.
2. American Psycho. As previously stated, I don’t care how impressive/interesting/important it is, I would never sit next to anyone reading this on a train if I could possibly avoid it.
3.Meyer’s Twilight series. The general drift of my feminist queasiness about this series can be got from this article (tho it is about the film): http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/dec/04/twilight-film-vampire
4.D H Lawrence. I simply know that I won’t get on with most people who read Lawrence.
5. Jorge Luis Borges. This person is dead clever and, as strange a deduction as this may seem, a great kisser.
I generally try to keep an open mind as you can sometimes find elements of a good story and/or good characters as you sift through the enormous amounts of dreck that are published as popular fiction…
that being said…
the following are the authors who make my skin crawl…in all cases, I have read at least one of their works, and would probably not engage with another one unless recommended to me by someone I sincerely trust/respect…
1) Nicolas Sparks – He excels at writing sincere/sentimental drivel, designed to tug at the heartstrings…his characters are utterly two-dimensional which is odd when one considers the amounts of pain/trauma/heartbreak they all undergo (you would think he could add SOME emotional shading, but thus far, no luck)…
2) Dan Brown – The man is definitely not stupid – he knows exactly which storylines to explore…though his works contain ideas that are stimulating to the popular imagination, his books remain extremely poorly written and, in the end, are nothing more than sensational trash…I’m sorry, but the most interesting conspiracy theories in the world are not enough to cover up for a lack in storytelling capability (and to date I’ve read three of his books, hoping against hope to be proven wrong in my estimation of him – no luck as of yet)…
3) I have to second Kat’s choice for my third author – I have actually read the entire Twilight series (at the prompting of a much younger sister)…while the first book had its moments of sweetness, I sincerely believe that the second book (New Moon) is where Meyer peaks with her writing ability – this book has some genuinely interesting emotional turmoil and allows Bella, the main protagonist, to gain some growth/depth as a character…sadly the remaining two books sever any ties with her newfound strength and the plots cause any self-respecting woman to prepare to go toe-to-toe with Meyer…these books may be beloved by many a teenage girl, but I seriously am concerned for any adult who can read it and love it wholeheartedly without having at least some misgivings over the content…
4) Carrying on from the Meyer/Twilight theme, I have a major issue with Cecily Von Ziegesar, the author of the Gossip Girl series…why is it that popular literature written for young women is such garbage? In the 21st century, we should have better options for the next generation of women to be exposed to….
5) I have to admit there isn’t a fifth author who really stands out for me (not yet anyways) – therefore, honorable mentions for the 5th place include Augusten Burroughs (though I’m still hoping my opinion will change); Candace Bushnell (I loathe her writing, though there were elements about the television adaptations of her works that I liked) and Johann Wolfgang van Goethe (I just find him so whiny and self-absorbed – I have studied him in courses and on my own, just not a fan at all)…
I have to agree about Dan Brown. What a shame that such a fun and readable concept as The De Vinci Code had to be taken up by such an appalling writer. Yu can just imagine what a great read it would have been in the hands of someone with even a tiny bit of literary skill. Badly drawn characters, stilted dialogue, cliche after cliche in the language…but a great story. I read this, and enjoyed it in spite of myself, but would never be tempted to read anything else by the man because of his lack of talent in evvery department but plotting. Also agree re Twilight, although this one didn’t even grab me enough to gget to the end. Admitedly I’m not the target audience, but what a shame (again) that a writer who has a nationion of young readers so gripped is actually not a very good writer. I think these books do highlight hhow good Rowling is – especialy the first three books before she got a bit carried away with her own power!
I’m not sure I have a top five books that make me judge the reader, but it really bugs me that so many books have the girly, pastely, curly writing based front cover (usually with a drawing of lady shopping. Even when they are actually good books that have been shoe-horned into ‘Chick-lit’, I always associate them with some books I remember I got free with a women’s magazine which I found really boring and way too obsessed with dating/dieting etc, and not in a funny way (I did actually like Bridget Jones’ Diary despite it being mainly about these things). I now always assume that the person reading books with those covers are probably really boring and completely shopping & boy-obsessed!
First Post
RSS News
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Vimeo
LinkedIn