harlequin romances

Mar 31, 2010 21:13

Yeah, I know. Am reading through my old stash of Historical (or Masquerade) Harlequins, laughing myself silly. Man, it's like the worst of ff.net ( Read more... )

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theficklepickle March 31 2010, 20:02:26 UTC
some great knight returned from Agincourt to see his lands seized and his bride taken. The book was set in the year 1412

Wow! Time travel!

My all time worst hate in pro fiction was the book about the building of the 'Mary Rose' wherein Henry VIII was talking to his shipwright about construction costs. "Do you have the figures?" he said.

Not that he would have cared what it cost anyway, but if he had he would not have asked like that!

[NB: maybe you should write your own post-Agincourt fic?]

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sua_lay March 31 2010, 22:12:08 UTC
I was really stunned because most of the stuff in the book was actually... decentish. There were people on pilgrimage, with evil worldly knights and lollards and some of the medieval feel was like straight from the Cadfael novels. And then there's that damn date.

*eyeroll*

The funny thing is, I read another ghastly romance novel from 18th century China, and though to a modern woman the whole setting of marriage sounded absurd, it was very believable considering the era, and while my inner feminist was weeping, the inner history buff was very happy.

Isn't it weird how some people get paid for writing crap, and then some just write awesome stuff in the internet for free?

Also, yes, I really should! It's not like I've abandoned poor Henry and his herald. My head is just too full of all the other boys, all fighting for attention.

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littlemimm March 31 2010, 20:24:35 UTC
:D But don't you know you shouldn't laugh because it's Teh Serious Business and you should not-so-secretly want to be the woman of the book. Because that's everything and more than you ever need in life!

(Yes, I'm still flabbergasted by that conversation. I took a few silly Harlequins from home today because I'm really in the mood for some accidental comedy. I mean, self help guides. Yes, that's totally what I meant.)

It's sad how little research goes into some fiction. You'd except writers did it but apparently it's just an option. *eyeroll*

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sua_lay March 31 2010, 22:16:59 UTC
Hmmm. I wonder what it says about me when I read slash and don't want to be either of the guys. Though I don't really buy that theory about romance novels; my own Mary Sue daydreams have rarely had anything in common with Harlequinesque 'romances'.

For one, I still have a brain in my dreams. Also, I don't think belittling and scorn are manly traits. :) Just to mention a few...

I don't get the whole laziness about fiction; I mean yeah, you don't have to remember every single footnote about whatever, and there's a difference between... Let's say a Sean Bean/Viggo fic and some High Elven tragedy about Glorfindel and Cirdan, but at least some research would be cool.

These days, you don't even have to go looking for the information. There are dozens of sites for most shows, there's Wiki and if you can't find an answer to whatever, you can just whine about it on your FL and I bet someone knows at least where to look.

Ranty rant rant.

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dlasta April 1 2010, 13:31:49 UTC
Too bad you don't have a fireplace, you could totally torch them books and be kind to your environment at the same time.

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sua_lay April 4 2010, 18:54:14 UTC
Hmmm... Nah. I'm against burning books in principle, even books that don't really deserve to be called books... :)

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