quickie book report
Title: Prep
File Under: High-quality, "deep" chick-lit.
My Thoughts:
Okay, first of all, please don't judge this book by its cover. From the pink and green ribbon belt that splashes across Prep's cover, you'd think it was a preppy socialite's daily journeys: Went to A&F. Bought jeans, ribbon belt. Went to Lacoste. Bought 12 collared shirts. Went to golf club. Tanned.
However, as I have already explained to far too many people, this book is Lee Fiora's usually cynical, never pretensious or high-society, musings and inner-thoughts on her life at a PREP school. I whole-heartedly agree with the critic who said this book's narrator was a female version of Holden Caulfield.
Lee Fiora--rather, Curtis Sittenfeld--is so engaging for not only her writing, but for her sheer wisdom. So much is taught and obsevered, so many human truths analyzed and described and illustrated through Sittenfeld's incredible mastery of the extended similie. She paints pictures not of images, but of issues, thoughts, and, most notably, human tendancies.
For me, this wisdom, along with the adult-looking-back-on-high-school voice that is sometimes used, is why Sittenfeld has gained so much attention, and why her book has stood out among the rest. Though, as you all know, I love Megan McCafferty, Sittenfeld's wisdom and pensiveness make the book more mature. Remember that part of Charmed Thirds when Jessica remarks about "enjoying life right now" when she's the ocean; remember that wisdom and insight there? That permeates nearly every page of Prep. I guess I'm trying to say that though it is an extremely enjoyable read, it isn't brainless. You start thinking a little. (Gasp!) This is a beach-read, but not even a close relative of (shudder) Gossip Girl. It's deep.
Perhaps I liked this book best because it is told by Lee Fiora (the protagonist, if we can call her that?) looking back on her high school years. You know that we'll eventually find out what "happened" to Lee. This, for me, was so reassuring, not to mention page-turning. In a year from now, I'll be done with high school, and know what college I'll be head to. Hell, I'll be two months away from living on a college campus. But, I have to wait my time out, suffer through college essays and applications, and oh, live my senior year out before I find The Answers. But with Lee Fiora, you know that if you read two more hours, you'll have all the answers to satisfy your impatient nature. The "plot" was finding out where Lee's life would lead, because my own is not already written down and bound neatly into a trade-paperback book. However, in a year's time, I'll be able to scroll back through all these entries, and all those to come, and see how, my life, too, had its own "plot" and its own page-turner tendancies.
Too bad I can't just snuggle up on the couch a few hours and see how it's all going to go down. I guess I, like all of you, will just have to wait and see.
File Under: High-quality, "deep" chick-lit.
My Thoughts:
Okay, first of all, please don't judge this book by its cover. From the pink and green ribbon belt that splashes across Prep's cover, you'd think it was a preppy socialite's daily journeys: Went to A&F. Bought jeans, ribbon belt. Went to Lacoste. Bought 12 collared shirts. Went to golf club. Tanned.
However, as I have already explained to far too many people, this book is Lee Fiora's usually cynical, never pretensious or high-society, musings and inner-thoughts on her life at a PREP school. I whole-heartedly agree with the critic who said this book's narrator was a female version of Holden Caulfield.
Lee Fiora--rather, Curtis Sittenfeld--is so engaging for not only her writing, but for her sheer wisdom. So much is taught and obsevered, so many human truths analyzed and described and illustrated through Sittenfeld's incredible mastery of the extended similie. She paints pictures not of images, but of issues, thoughts, and, most notably, human tendancies.
For me, this wisdom, along with the adult-looking-back-on-high-school voice that is sometimes used, is why Sittenfeld has gained so much attention, and why her book has stood out among the rest. Though, as you all know, I love Megan McCafferty, Sittenfeld's wisdom and pensiveness make the book more mature. Remember that part of Charmed Thirds when Jessica remarks about "enjoying life right now" when she's the ocean; remember that wisdom and insight there? That permeates nearly every page of Prep. I guess I'm trying to say that though it is an extremely enjoyable read, it isn't brainless. You start thinking a little. (Gasp!) This is a beach-read, but not even a close relative of (shudder) Gossip Girl. It's deep.
Perhaps I liked this book best because it is told by Lee Fiora (the protagonist, if we can call her that?) looking back on her high school years. You know that we'll eventually find out what "happened" to Lee. This, for me, was so reassuring, not to mention page-turning. In a year from now, I'll be done with high school, and know what college I'll be head to. Hell, I'll be two months away from living on a college campus. But, I have to wait my time out, suffer through college essays and applications, and oh, live my senior year out before I find The Answers. But with Lee Fiora, you know that if you read two more hours, you'll have all the answers to satisfy your impatient nature. The "plot" was finding out where Lee's life would lead, because my own is not already written down and bound neatly into a trade-paperback book. However, in a year's time, I'll be able to scroll back through all these entries, and all those to come, and see how, my life, too, had its own "plot" and its own page-turner tendancies.
Too bad I can't just snuggle up on the couch a few hours and see how it's all going to go down. I guess I, like all of you, will just have to wait and see.