Bein' controversial

[honeylocusttree]

Comments

[roque_clasique]

This is a very painful post for me to read.

For one thing, MOST books (even genre books!) have as their focus love, relationships, family drama and interrelationships -- relationships between characters is basically what fiction is all about. All male authors write about these topics, too. And sorry, you've never read a family saga? What exactly is your definition of "family saga"? Supernatural, for example, is a family saga. As is To Kill a Mockingbird

I actually enjoy the chance to have exactly this sort of discussion ;)

[honeylocusttree]

Hah, well you know it's in my nature to have unpopular opinions. I'm always happy to share them because, well, mostly people don't do that sort of thing in order not to create controversy. But I make posts like this because they generate discussion, and they can be an opportunity to learn. I always get a broader perspective. So...on that note:

What exactly is your definition of "family saga"?That's like one of those stories about generations doing...whatever it is they do. Like it starts with a couple and then their kids and then their kids after that. A lot of them seem to be 'moved to America' stories. There are a lot of those, and frankly I don't get the appeal. I mean if they were generations of like, assassins or ninjas or something I might read it, but it tends to be more mundane stuff. People love that stuff (judging by how many are out there) and I just. Don't. Get it

Re: I actually enjoy the chance to have exactly this sort of discussion ;)

[claudiapriscus]

Oh my goodness, I have more recommendations for you. Okay. so originally I was going to append this to my last comment, because I remembered Briar Rose by Jane Yolen that you might like, which isn't exactly magical realism, but is a story about a woman surviving the holocaust framed through the fairy tale she tells her grandchildren (and through which she made sense of what she experienced). But the comment about explosions and action/comedy has inspired me to push my current favorite author (for the sheer fun): Karen Chance, who writes books that are basically urban fantasy action comedies with a hefty dose of history fangirling. (I like history fangirling.)

Re: I actually enjoy the chance to have exactly this sort of discussion ;)

[honeylocusttree]

I used to love Jane Yolen, though I haven't read her in years. But i respected the gravity of her writing. That could be interesting! (I was a big reader on all Holocaust and Hiroshima fiction when I was a kid.)

And everything is better with explosions. Everything.

*notes Chance*

Re: I actually enjoy the chance to have exactly this sort of discussion ;)

[claudiapriscus]

Honestly, her writing style frequently is, "hmm, so my characters are being chased by two antagonistic groups through a casino, and now the two groups are fighting each other in addition to trying to kill the characters, and their battle accidentally disturbed the zombie floor show act, and zombie elvis is now trying to gnaw on the unsuspecting norms, and now there are the Graeae wading into the mess and happily joining the slaughter...hmm, this is getting too dull. You know what this scene needs? Some explosions. And some unexpected time travel."

Re: I actually enjoy the chance to have exactly this sort of discussion ;)

[honeylocusttree]

yes good

Clearly I should've been reading this ages ago.

[honeylocusttree]

As far as the sexist thing goes, it's probably true--I'm one of those people who was never close psychologically to the girls around me. So I never developed a real sense of emotional attachment to the cultural ideas that shape a lot of accepted female behavior. In all fairness, I don't have any real love for male behaviors either--in general people confound me. But I have to wonder, what is it about female writers that I can consider reading a book by that person and then not find the subject matter being written about interesting, once I've read the blurb on the back? And I don't have an answer for that. But it seems to be a theme

[roque_clasique]

Unfortunately, this is NOT an unpopular opinion by any means, but rather quite mainstream. I'm not sure why you think it's controversial or radical, except that you're posting it directly to a female-dominated literary space (your fanfiction blog), which is probably a less welcoming environment to this opinion than, say, a room full of men

[honeylocusttree]

Well it's not that I reject them for being girly, it's that I reject them for their content, and they happen to have female authors. It's a conundrum.

Fave books

100 years of solitude
the big sleep
name of the rose
bridge of san luis rey
catch-22
maus
night (elie wiesel)
all the names
watership down
focault's pendulum

(it's tough because most of my faves are genre fiction, so I had to think hard--otherwise that list would include several post-apocalypse novels, lotr, etc.)

I tend to favor magical realism, so anything like that would be good. I remember I read an Isabel Allende YA book a while back, but didn't find it thrilling.

[sparrow_lately]

Our lists of favorite books are startlingly similar.

[honeylocusttree]

A-are you me??

My genre fiction list includes things like Alas, Babylon, Riddley Walker, and the Last Unicorn (because I was shocked by how amazingly good it is. Seriously.) Oh, and if you get a chance, The Way Station is actually a really good read. Also Stalker might need to be on there someplace.

Science fiction that sticks around for 50 years is always worthwhile, it seems.

[sparrow_lately]

I'm picky about sci-fi and a big fan of historical fiction (even when it's not as good as it thinks it is--I'm talking about The Book Thief :P). That said, I'm always down for some Bradbury.