How TV fandom, and fanfic, ruined my perfectly good hobby of reading

[indyhat]

(Yes, I wrote an essay. Weird, I know. Moving on.)

So I have some vacation time. And there are bookstores. And I spend maybe three or four hours of said vacation time just browsing the shelves, picking up books that I've heard of, or whose authors I've heard of, and checking them out: is this the kind of book I'm in the mood for?

Comments

[visiblemarket]

Huh. Maybe I should pick it up in a bookstore so I can mock it in a more informed manner know whereof I speak.

Heh, I don't think it was mocking levels of bad, but again, I haven't actually read it. I think I flipped through it once or twice. Never enough to commit.

LOL! Indeed. Heroes was retconned up the wazoo in the later seasons. Sad.

I figured with canon being so flexible I could just make more stuff up and/or design my timelines the way I wanted them to. If the actual writers didn't care, why should I?

Heh, me too. That's not to say that I'm going to write a flawless novel, ever, but when you start thinking about doing it yourself, it does give you a more critical eye.

I read a couple of teen level novels for recommendation purposes and was shocked at how...bad they were. Like just really shoddy writing. I don't know if that's a new development with YA books or just me caring more.

I'm highly amused by your slashing all these characters in historical novels.

Hey, it's canon in Maurice and...basically canon in Dorian Gray. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is...something I thought I was on my own with, but while writing a paper about the homoerotic subtext in it I actually found a couple of sources that supported my interpretation. By like actual students of English, not just rabid fangirls. I have an epic Hyde/Dorian Gray story planned. It makes sense in my head.

But the JFS book is something that's crossed my radar screen a few times, so I feel I should definitely give that a go, thank you.

I'd give Everything Is Illuminate a go first; it's better, and Extremely Loud etc is just...achy. Like not even in a good way. It just kind of crushed me. It's set right after 9/11 (in parts), so that kind of makes sense, just ouch.

Persepolis is definitely worth it. One of the best female protagonists I've seen in a while. She's definitely flawed, but in a real way. Also it may be in biography (because it is autobiographical).

I'm not even that ashamed. It's solid storytelling. Better than a lot of the chick lit out there, which is just such an annoying term anyway.

I quit back when I first started being a TA, because it was too much. I'm still a TA and all and it's not like I don't have enough to do but...I do kind of miss it. I miss making money that was my own, at least.

[indyhat]

Heh, I don't think it was mocking levels of bad, but again, I haven't actually read it. I think I flipped through it once or twice. Never enough to commit.

Maybe I should do the same ;)

I figured with canon being so flexible I could just make more stuff up and/or design my timelines the way I wanted them to. If the actual writers didn't care, why should I?

Heroes canon is a veritable contortionist ;)

I read a couple of teen level novels for recommendation purposes and was shocked at how...bad they were. Like just really shoddy writing. I don't know if that's a new development with YA books or just me caring more.

My money's probably on the latter. I'm pretty sure that getting in lots of practice at writing makes you a lot fussier about the stuff you read (in a nutshell, my current problem). And I know there's stuff on TV that I've gone back to since starting writing and just thought, "ugh, no."

I have an epic Hyde/Dorian Gray story planned. It makes sense in my head.

Awesome. I'd read it (in fact I'm a lot more likely to read it than I am the original source texts! But maybe you'll pull me into those, too).

I'd give Everything Is Illuminate a go first; it's better, and Extremely Loud etc is just...achy. Like not even in a good way. It just kind of crushed me. It's set right after 9/11 (in parts), so that kind of makes sense, just ouch.

OMG. After reading your comment, I picked up Extremely Loud in a bookshop (they didn't have Everything Is Illuminted) and before I knew what had happened, I'd read about six page. AMAZING. The only reason I didn't buy it right there was so I wouldn't have to carry it around all day. But that is SO getting bought. Thank you!

Missing money is all part of the student experience ;)

[visiblemarket]

I don't know if you've heard of cleolinda, but she does hilarious recaps of films over at m15m, and she's also done some stuff with Twilight, which is where I learned everything I need to know about Twilight. Links if you have time to spend, but they're hilarious.

Heroes canon is a veritable contortionist ;)

LOL. It stabbed me in the back and went over my head to do it ;)

Awesome. I'd read it (in fact I'm a lot more likely to read it than I am the original source texts! But maybe you'll pull me into those, too).

Heh. We'll see if I ever finish...anything.

Aww, I'm glad you enjoyed what you read of Extremely Loud. It's very well written and it's wonderfully structured.

[indyhat]

Oh, I know of Cleolinda :) In fact I just went looking to see if the "Titanic in 5 minutes" I read a good 10-15 years ago was one of hers, but the internet doesn't seem to think so. (Don't bother looking it up, I think hers are better; this was before the internet raised the bar on funny.) My brain is mush today so maybe I'll have a little peek.

LOL. It stabbed me in the back and went over my head to do it ;)

One of my favourite West Wing moments :)

We'll see if I ever finish...anything.

I hear that! I have a September challenge deadline (doable, right?) and a challenge deadline in two weeks for which the characters won't shut up and I can't get them to have the scene I want them to have. >.

[visiblemarket]

It might have been, she has one in her book, and a couple of those were on the internet and got pulled.

It's a good one. I'm actually watching an Amy clip right. *laughs* This one.

Ouch. I keep meaning to go somewhere to write, outside of my house, because seriously, all I do here is sleep.

[indyhat]

Ah, okay. This would have been, like, 1997, 98 or so? So who knows? :)

OMG, I love that clip. I can't ever watch it without laughing =) Alison Janney is wonderful.

You say that like it's a bad thing?

[visiblemarket]

I'd go find it right now but I'm lazy ;)

I miss those moments when Alison Janney got to be comedic; they were few and far between the last seasons of TWW. After that I looked up some Ainsely moments. Namely when she's dancing in the office and meets the president, and then when she wants to pee and meets the president.

Heh, the going out or the sleeping? I'd enjoy both things. Except my mother is here at the moment, and, well, this is what it feels like to have her around.

[indyhat]

Pretty much anything involving Ainsley is comedic. I love her!

And, uh, I meant sleeping, but feel free to interpret it whichever way suits ;)

Kitten getting spanked: eep! Sorry ... I hope things run more smoothly!

[visiblemarket]

Speaking of living with my mother, I just got offered the option to rent my apartment for just the semester, which they didn't let me do before, which is the reason I literally just finished moving out of there today. *sigh* And now I have to decide by, like, tomorrow whether I want to move back in.

[indyhat]

Oh man! They live to taunt you. >.

[visiblemarket]

My parents are...letting me decide. But I seriously don't know; I don't really feel like moving all my stuff again, and I'd kind of come around to the idea of moving back here, especially since like a good little Mexican girl I fully expect to live here once I get a job and stuff. So...yeah. I don't know. I'd almost rather that money get saved/spent on law school should I get in or on a car should my crappy one break down.

But if I say no then I'm going to spend forever regretting it, whenever I get impatient with my parents and don't want them nosing around my stuff or my activities.

[indyhat]

*snerk* Just lost several minutes to Cleolinda's various Twilight shenanigans. Much of it had seeped into me from the ether, but there were some things I didn't know. Sparkling? WTF?! *despairs*

[visiblemarket]

You didn't know about the sparkling?! Did you know Edward was a redhead? Because clearly that's the best part.

[indyhat]

I didn't know about the sparkling. (I haven't discussed the book with anyone IRL and it's not a corner of fandom I usually go near ;) Heh, I didn't know about the red hair. Except: whuh?

[visiblemarket]

It's one of the most baffling parts of the whole thing. "Skin of a killer", etc. The red hair was a surprise to us all; apparently it's mentioned in the new companion book she's put out (with proceeds going to the Red Cross, naturally). Recap here.

[indyhat]

Good f'n grief, that (novel, not recap) reads like the worst pile of self-indulgent fanfic EVAR. Seriously, how are people INTO this shit?