(no subject)

[shadowkat]

Playing online while watching tv again...at the moment a "Grey's Anatomy" re-run. Grey's is my comfort show.

I have all sorts of cultural things that comfort me and to be honest they are more satisfying to rely on than well, food and alcohol, although I do that too - more than I should. In that category *cough*chocolat*cough* comes to mind.

Some comfort books past and present include - the Spenser novels by Robert Parker (who I almost got a chance to see in person, but passed on it - have learned from experience that I prefer not to meet favorite writers and actors in person), Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels - which got me through the period of time around 9/11 (I read her novels like crazy on the trains and idiotically sent a fan letter about it to her site, which I wish I hadn't. Some people have foot in mouth disease, I have email in mouth disease.), Jim Butcher's Dresden series, Charlain Harris' Southern Vampire series, The Harry Potter novels, the PG Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster books, the Lymond Chronicles, and Elizabeth Peter's "Vicky Bliss" mysteries are all examples of some of my comfort reads. Also the X-men comic books. These characters speak to me, their situations, their pain, their struggle. I think the reason I adore the X-men is it is a series of comic books about characters who are misunderstood, exiled, and considered outcasts. The books are about prejudice, discrimination, intolerance, and the struggle against such things. They are about keeping one's dignity and integrity in the face of intolerance and in front of bullies. They are also about the feeling of being cast-out, different. The books I've listed above all have that in common - that idea of being uncomfortable in one's skin. Of feeling like an outsider. Of struggling to fit in. Of being different. Each of the leads is someone who is operating outside societal structure, who likes structure, but at the same time questions it, can't quite handle authority yet desires authority.
In short - the characters speak to me. Also each of the books I've listed above have very strong no-nonsense women in them - women who are not damsels, yet still feminine. Who can be the hero in their own right.

Comfort reads I define as books that do not require much thought. They don't make you bleed. They don't hurt. They won't change your mind or flip you upside down. Although that can happen. They aren't listed as "great literature" and more often than not, someone out there will tease or give you a disapproving nod for choosing to read them. They aren't in short on that academic reading list you'd get from your college professor. These are books you can more or less just emotionally fall into. The world surrounds you. You love the characters. And you do not, I repeat, do not want to come up for air. You just want to stay in this character's world for as long as possible. Curl up in it in front of a hot fire, with a mug of hot coco in your hand, while you just fall into the words. More often than not it is not the writing that makes me feel this way but the characters the writer has created, their inter-relationships, dialogue, etc.

Comfort tv shows are similar.

It's sort of like a scrumptuous dessert for the brain. Except you can eat it again and again without gaining weight or getting sick.

Anywho here's a meme:

What are your comfort reads?

Why?

Comments

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

Most of my "comfort reads" are children's books: Charlotte's Web, Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, The Phantom Tollbooth, Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, Harry Potter, The Hobbit, as well as some adult fairy tales like The Princess Bride, The Last Unicorn, Stardust, The Little Country by Charles de Lint, and The Once and Future King. Some of those, though, may not completely fulfill your definition, since a lot of them are "literature" and most of them do require thought.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Any books you like to read that don't require thought? Just fun pulpy reads?

[buffyannotater.livejournal.com]

It just hit me today that I forgot to mention Christopher Rice's books, which I devour, and I think those would qualify. They aren't exactly "comforting" per se, but they're fun and pulpy and full of over-the-top melodrama. I actually prefer him to his mother. I really like the way he writes and think he's actually quite talented. His plots, however, are always so over-the-top that they each reach the point where they become ludicrous. But like I said, I love them. And his depiction of the gay teenage boy in A Density of Souls tortured by his classmates in high school, in particular, was searingly accurate, even though most of the other characters in the novel were pretty one-dimensional. I think my favorite of his three was the second, The Snow Garden. I always feel weird recommending him, though, because there are so much about his books that are completely indefensible, and yet they're incredibly enjoyable, he has a good prose style, and is very good at true-to-life gay characters, even though the others don't usually work out quite so well.