The Wed Reading Meme and a bit on Negative Reviews..

Hee, two weeks in a row on the right day. That's a record.

1. What I just finished reading.

The insanely popular Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - which was so dreadful that I couldn't finish it, and gave up at the half-way point. It joins a small handful of novels that I've felt this way about. All of which, have one thing in common, offensive power imbalances, sexist bordering on misogyny, and women characters that are written as too-dumb-to-be-believed. They were also, all, oddly, contemporary. My review of it, in case you are curious, can be found here. It's my own fault, I should have known from my reaction to the positive reviews and negative reviews that I'd hate it.

Speaking of negative reviews, two well-established book critics and writers commented on the need for negative book reviews in the NY Times Sunday Book Review...in article entitled "Do We Really Need Negative Book Reviews" (reminds me a little bit of a controversy a few years ago on whether we really need negative fanfic reviews. For the record, as much as I despise receiving criticism, it has over time made me a stronger writer. Also it provides both views. So I agree with the critics below.)

First from Francine Prose -

It depresses me to see talented writers figuring out they can phone it in, and that no one will know the difference. I’m annoyed by gossip masquerading as biography, by egomaniacal boasting and name-dropping passing as memoir. It irks me to see characters who are compendiums of clichés. I can’t explain precisely why a sentence like “His eyes were as black as night” should feel like an insult, but it does. It’s almost like being lied to. And it troubles me when a critic quotes “His eyes were as black as night” as an example of the author’s lyrical gifts! Needless to say, criticism is a matter of opinion. If, in someone else’s opinion, “His eyes were as black as night” is a lyrical sentence, that person is obviously entitled to enjoy a whole book of sentences like that.

I also tend to react when something about a book strikes me as indicative of an unfortunate trend. Let’s imagine that a book is analogous to a breakfast cereal, and suddenly everyone is claiming that the best breakfast cereal is the sweetest, the most brilliantly colored by toxic dyes. I’d feel obligated to disagree, even if it meant questioning a popular cereal brand or reducing its sales — even (or especially) if I had a personal interest in the future of the cereal industry.

For me, writing a negative review feels like being the child in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Few of us remember how the tale ends: The child cries out that the emperor is naked, which the emperor knows, but the procession continues anyway, “stiffer than ever.” This might cast some doubt on the efficacy — the point — of the negative review, but it also casts some light on the child in the story, who isn’t necessarily trying to expose the dishonest weavers or the hypocritical courtiers or oblige the emperor to get dressed. He just can’t help telling what he believes is the truth.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/books/review/do-we-really-need-negative-book-reviews.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

And then from Zoe Heller:

It is a mistake, then, to characterize the debate about bad reviews as a contest between humane impulses and coldhearted snark. Banning “negativity” is not just bad for the culture; it is unfair to authors. A review, however aggressively unfavorable, is generally obliged to provide supporting evidence for its judgments. It is also published under a byline, signaling to all that it is the work of one fallible human being. This seems an altogether fairer and more accountable way of dealing with a book one deems “bad” than banishing it, without explanation, from public notice. As I understand it, one of the putative virtues of the Internet age is that it has removed power from the elitist gatekeepers of yore and allowed a freer, more democratic range of voices to be heard.

2. What I'm currently reading.

Still reading The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - which continues to get better and better as I progress. I'm deliberately reading it slowly. And only before bedtime. So I can concentrate on the language and savor it. Plus it helps that the chapters are no more than 5-10 pages long. Nor is it a page-turner. So perfect bed-time reading. Highly recommend to insominacs. It's a bit like a lullaby before bed, yet a very good one.

Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas - which is Thomas's twist on Judith Ivory's novel the Beast, which in turn is a deconstruction of the Beauty and the Beast, and the Cupid and Psyche tales. Haven't read Ivory's yet, but Thomas' take is rather clever. And I adore the fact that both characters have a profound interest in Palontology and Naturalism.
Both characters are strong, smart, and flawed. The author also plays with the idea of beauty and how beauty is perceived. Plus, she has a reference to a same-sex relationship and a realistic portrayal of how it was most likely dealt with in that time period (ie. hidden with a marriage blanc or false heterosexual marriage.) Review is forthcoming, once I finish it.

Sherry Thomas and Courtney Milan are rapidly becoming my favorite romance novelists. They are a step above the rest, clever writers, who deconstruct and subvert established tropes.
I've given up on the contemporary romances for the time being.

3. What I'll be reading next?

Again too soon to tell. I'm a moody reader. But right now - I'm thinking probably either the Proposition by Judith Ivory, - which is a twist on Pygmalion, The Beast by Ivory (the book that Beguiling is a twist on) or another Sherry Thomas, but a much lighter one - Tempting the Bride, which plays with the amnesia trope.

(no subject)

1)Ugh, huge winter storm arriving at midnight tonight...heavy snow, 8-10 inches, then snow and freezing rain, and more rain. Commute is going to be nightmare.

2) Have officially gone off green apples. (Have determined crazy nutritionist is right - was causing inflammation amongst other things. Apparently another co-worker can't eat them.) But I may use carrots with the almond butter or pears. Haven't decided yet.

3) Watching the Winter Olympics, which I've admittedly not really been into lately. The pair figure skating is good...some nice jumps, and I like the music. Figure skating is basically gymnastics and dancing on ice. Since I adore dance...add ice...and it's magic. Although can get repetitive. I prefer the ice dancing, actually. Also saw some of the downhill skiing.
The theme for the Olympic music this year appears to James Bond tunes, the Addams Family and other movie scores. Interesting.

Saw the list of predictions for cancelled shows - dear ABC? If you have choose between Revenge and OUAT, please renew OUAT, which I would dearly miss. And cancel Revenge, which has become slow, frustrating, repetitive, and silly. In fact, I still haven't gotten around to watching the last two episodes.

Also while I enjoy Nashville? I prefer Once Upon a Time.

Actually there are only two network television series that I'd REALLY miss if they disappeared - Good Wife and Once Upon a Time. Which is odd, considering how many I watch. Although, I do like Sleepy Hollow quite a bit.

Not that I'm worried. The Good Wife may not be doing great in the demo ratings, but it is the only critically acclaimed network series - and the only one getting emmy nods, outside of one or two sitcoms. They are not going to cancel that. Also, OUAT has a huge fanbase and a big DVR presence. The network also likes it. It's not going anywhere either.

So far the only shows they are definitely cancelling - I don't watch. Some, I wonder how they can still be on. The Bachelor? Survivor? American Idol? But what do I know.

4) Neil Gaiman recommends A Winter's Tale and states that the trailer is misleading. The story isn't about that at all. All I know about it, was that it was filmed in Brooklyn, near my train station and based on a fantasy novel by Mark Helpren that I think I gave away ages ago, because I couldn't get into it. I walked through the movie set on multiple occasions. The area around my train station, Atlantic Avenue Terminal behind BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) is extremely popular to television and filmmakers. To date: Elementary, Person of Interest, and A Winter's Tale have filmed there.