I don't miss high school
Mar. 11th, 2008 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liri
I've been reading a lot of YA fiction. I thought I liked YA fiction; it turns out I liked YA science fiction and fantasy. Not the same thing.
Weetzie Bat - I should have saved this for later because at least it's not depressing. It's just annoying. When I read it at 14, I didn't get it because I didn't get magical realism. Now, I get it, and I just want to smack Weetzie around. How did you THINK your boyfriend was going to react when you slept with your gay best friends so as to have a baby after he said he didn't want a kid, you STUPID STUPID WOMAN?
Stuck in Neutral - I had not expected a book about severe cerebral palsy (narrated by the kid afflicted with it) could be so funny. Then I read that the author was basing it on his son (who also has severe cerebral palsy and is unable to communicate or respond to outside stimulus) and I was just really depressed, because it seemed less like imagination than wishful thinking.
Buried Onions - The narrator does his damnedest to avoid the crime and violence of his impoverished neighborhood and earn an honest living, but is foiled at every turn byauthorial sadism bad luck. Also he has to take his aunt's cancer-stricken dog to be put down because the book's not already enough of a downer or something. Eventually he joins the Navy because if he doesn't get out of town his neighbor will probably kill him.
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Narrator has to figure out how to help his friend, who's in a mental hospital. It comes as a surprise to no one except the narrator that the horrible burns on her face and hands were deliberately inflicted by her father when she was very young. Ultimately optimistic, but it bugged me that the book insisted on being sympathetic and understanding towards a Young Christian Patriarch (a subplot) who protests abortion but pressured his girlfriend into having one. People like that should be BEATEN SEVERELY, not given a sympathetic portrayal in fiction; there are enough of them in real life, kthx.
The Outsiders - The narrative voice is what makes the book work; it's not always all that great on believability. As a former resident of Tulsa, I find the fact this book is set in Tulsa hilarious. My favorite part is where the narrator goes off on a classic American-lit "country GOOD, city BAD" reverie about how dehumanizing "big cities" are and how much better their lives would be in the country. Dude, you live in TULSA. In the MID-60s. It is not a big city! People you know ride in freaking RODEOS. (They do. I tuned this out when I read it in seventh grade because it had no relation to my life, but it's mentioned several times and it makes the "OMG TULSA" hilarity even better. I know Tulsa used to be a lot more rural - my dad used to point out how much of the land around his parents' house used to be their farm - but... RODEOS.) But unlike some of the other books read for this class, the narrative voice flows without woodenness or "now I shall drop Youth Slang into the dialog!" awkwardness, which is probably why kids reportedly still read it. I'm sure it's why I enjoyed it at 12 or 13, though I wouldn't have realized it at the time. I also didn't realize at the time it was set in Tulsa.
The Game - New Diana Wynne Jones. Not assigned for this class - you can tell because it's enjoyable, it's genre, and the main character is not male. It reads a bit like Eight Days of Luke, but defanged; there's not much of a sense of menace, sadly, and a couple of plot threads dangle. Still more fun than the assigned reading for this class, and better than, say, The Merlin Conspiracy.
Feed - Horrifically depressing dystopian SF. It reminded me of Oryx and Crake, although more distressing because it's more believable. Many of Atwood's "commercialization will be the downfall of society" touches read as slightly off-base to me, while the same such touches in this book are believable and depressing.
Sickened - Memoir of the writer's childhood with a Munchausen's-by-proxy mother. Much squicky medical detail. I don't get why this is YA, and the ending - it closes on a hopeful but not fully resolved note, which is fine for fiction but MADDENING for non-fiction - bugs the hell out of me.
Speak - Surprisingly funny novel about a severely depressed teenager who does her best not to talk all year. The triumphant ending may be a bit implausible but I practically cheered so I obviously didn't mind. The reason the narrator is depressed isn't much of a secret - I knew before I ever started reading - but I think it's supposed to be, so I won't reveal it here.
Twilight - FUSHIGI YUUGI WITH SPARKLY BISHIE VAMPIRES. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING, PEOPLE. JESUS CHRIST I HATE THIS BOOK HATE HATE HAAAAAAAAAAATE. The heroine is a complete klutz who falls over when she tries to walk (srsly), half the boys in school are hot for her, all the vampires want her because she smeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllls so gooooooooooooooood (I wish I was kidding. She supposedly smells like freesia. Why they would want to consume something floral-scented is beyond me. She should smell like cookies, or bacon) and she is constantly getting into trouble that threatens life and limb from which her vampire love interest must rescue her. First he Tamahomes by putting himself between her and a car; then he rescues her from would-be rapists; then an evil vampire decides to eat her (because she smells like FLOWERS) and he has to rescue her from that. Also the vampire is all tormented and angsty because he's convinced he's a danger to the heroine. The heroine, meanwhile, at one point actuallY FAINTS when he kisses her. SHE FUCKING FAINTS. And the only TWIST this book puts on Gothy Sexy Vampire lore? They can't go out in the sunlight, not because they will die, but because they GET ALL SPARKLY. (Which blows their cover, hence they avoid it.) It would be kind of clever if it weren't so fucking OMG BISHIE. I read an interview where the author says Anne Rice is the only vampire fiction she's read. GOSH I COULD NOT SEE THAT COMING FROM FORTY MILES AWAY.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - I love this book. I saved it for a palate-cleanser after Twilight. It's hilarious and is also only the second book I've ever read (the first was Doomsday Book) that's made me cry. I'm sad that I read it when I did, because I'm not likely to read anything better before the year is up, and it's a little early for my reading for the year to have peaked. Note that all future bitching about all the books centering on guys excludes this book.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - A couple of kids who are very, very, very into music fall for each other. It's enjoyable, but... damn are they into music. I find that kind of hard to relate to anymore. At least no one dies or is horribly maimed or anything.
Annie on My Mind - One of the few books for this class that doesn't have a male main character. Because it's about lesbians. Hooray for lesbians because I'm getting sick of reading in first person about erections! Hooray for main characters NOT DYING OR BEING HORRIBLY MAIMED.
Double Helix - SF-ish suspense about gene therapy. And Huntington's Disease, which is depressing. Another male main character for no good reason at all. By this book it was starting to get on my nerves.
Fallen Angels - How is it that a book about the Vietnam War is one of the funnier and somehow less depressing of the books for this class?
Looking for Alaska - The book is written as counting down to, and then moving away from, a Big Thing that happens around the middle of the book. I suspected from the first introduction of one character what that Big Thing would be, was almost certain when a character made a remark about why she smoked, and then checked the end of the book to see if I was right. I was. This book really angers up my blood; by now I am SICK TO DEATH of books that are all about some boy and his feelings and his issues, with the female characters only secondary to all that. A couple of people call the narrator on his idealizing of Alaska, but I don't feel like he ever really realizes what he's doing, and it pisses me off.
Heavy Metal and You - ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT SOME GUY. And MUSIC. ARGH. I've never liked the way that some people make their taste in music central to their identity, though I guess it's no different from making "I like anime" or "I read a lot" or "SUM PALADIN IS 4 TANK" central to your identity. I guess I prefer people who center their identities on things I also like, and I don't care about music that much, beyond keeping annoying bits of it from getting stuck in my head. Anyway, this book got on my nerves when I wasn't boggling at the fact the book's only two or three years old, which means the kid - who's DEEPLY into, like, Sepultura and Slayer - would be maybe a college freshman now. Also, it seems like the girlfriend is two completely different people in different parts of the book.
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier hates children. And happiness. I don't think I'm kidding. I despise this book. It's not so much the "stand up to corrupt power and get the shit beaten out of you" ending, though there's that too; it's the unremitting bleakness of the book prior to that. Adult life is viewed as drab, joyless and meaningless, but the teenagers' lives are no better. The only positive interaction in the book is between Jerry and Goober, who in the end is completely powerless to help. I kept calling this book "The FUCKING Chocolate War" while I was reading it; teh boyfriend kept joking about "the Chocolate War with sex" but of course there's no SEX in this book. There's just joyless, solitary masturbation, once used as a blackmail tool, once referred to as "rape by eyeball." And I'd forgotten how much of the book was devoted to terrorizing poor Jerry before the final showdown. GOD I hate this book. I hate it worse than Twilight. Twilight was just cheesy, wooden and shameless; this book is malevolent.
With The Chocolate War done, hopefully I'm done with the most painful part of this class. Hopefully.
I wish LJ hadn't made the decision on which icons I could keep when I decided not to renew my payment. I want the Azumanga Daioh fang-kitties icon back.
Weetzie Bat - I should have saved this for later because at least it's not depressing. It's just annoying. When I read it at 14, I didn't get it because I didn't get magical realism. Now, I get it, and I just want to smack Weetzie around. How did you THINK your boyfriend was going to react when you slept with your gay best friends so as to have a baby after he said he didn't want a kid, you STUPID STUPID WOMAN?
Stuck in Neutral - I had not expected a book about severe cerebral palsy (narrated by the kid afflicted with it) could be so funny. Then I read that the author was basing it on his son (who also has severe cerebral palsy and is unable to communicate or respond to outside stimulus) and I was just really depressed, because it seemed less like imagination than wishful thinking.
Buried Onions - The narrator does his damnedest to avoid the crime and violence of his impoverished neighborhood and earn an honest living, but is foiled at every turn by
Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes - Narrator has to figure out how to help his friend, who's in a mental hospital. It comes as a surprise to no one except the narrator that the horrible burns on her face and hands were deliberately inflicted by her father when she was very young. Ultimately optimistic, but it bugged me that the book insisted on being sympathetic and understanding towards a Young Christian Patriarch (a subplot) who protests abortion but pressured his girlfriend into having one. People like that should be BEATEN SEVERELY, not given a sympathetic portrayal in fiction; there are enough of them in real life, kthx.
The Outsiders - The narrative voice is what makes the book work; it's not always all that great on believability. As a former resident of Tulsa, I find the fact this book is set in Tulsa hilarious. My favorite part is where the narrator goes off on a classic American-lit "country GOOD, city BAD" reverie about how dehumanizing "big cities" are and how much better their lives would be in the country. Dude, you live in TULSA. In the MID-60s. It is not a big city! People you know ride in freaking RODEOS. (They do. I tuned this out when I read it in seventh grade because it had no relation to my life, but it's mentioned several times and it makes the "OMG TULSA" hilarity even better. I know Tulsa used to be a lot more rural - my dad used to point out how much of the land around his parents' house used to be their farm - but... RODEOS.) But unlike some of the other books read for this class, the narrative voice flows without woodenness or "now I shall drop Youth Slang into the dialog!" awkwardness, which is probably why kids reportedly still read it. I'm sure it's why I enjoyed it at 12 or 13, though I wouldn't have realized it at the time. I also didn't realize at the time it was set in Tulsa.
The Game - New Diana Wynne Jones. Not assigned for this class - you can tell because it's enjoyable, it's genre, and the main character is not male. It reads a bit like Eight Days of Luke, but defanged; there's not much of a sense of menace, sadly, and a couple of plot threads dangle. Still more fun than the assigned reading for this class, and better than, say, The Merlin Conspiracy.
Feed - Horrifically depressing dystopian SF. It reminded me of Oryx and Crake, although more distressing because it's more believable. Many of Atwood's "commercialization will be the downfall of society" touches read as slightly off-base to me, while the same such touches in this book are believable and depressing.
Sickened - Memoir of the writer's childhood with a Munchausen's-by-proxy mother. Much squicky medical detail. I don't get why this is YA, and the ending - it closes on a hopeful but not fully resolved note, which is fine for fiction but MADDENING for non-fiction - bugs the hell out of me.
Speak - Surprisingly funny novel about a severely depressed teenager who does her best not to talk all year. The triumphant ending may be a bit implausible but I practically cheered so I obviously didn't mind. The reason the narrator is depressed isn't much of a secret - I knew before I ever started reading - but I think it's supposed to be, so I won't reveal it here.
Twilight - FUSHIGI YUUGI WITH SPARKLY BISHIE VAMPIRES. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING, PEOPLE. JESUS CHRIST I HATE THIS BOOK HATE HATE HAAAAAAAAAAATE. The heroine is a complete klutz who falls over when she tries to walk (srsly), half the boys in school are hot for her, all the vampires want her because she smeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllls so gooooooooooooooood (I wish I was kidding. She supposedly smells like freesia. Why they would want to consume something floral-scented is beyond me. She should smell like cookies, or bacon) and she is constantly getting into trouble that threatens life and limb from which her vampire love interest must rescue her. First he Tamahomes by putting himself between her and a car; then he rescues her from would-be rapists; then an evil vampire decides to eat her (because she smells like FLOWERS) and he has to rescue her from that. Also the vampire is all tormented and angsty because he's convinced he's a danger to the heroine. The heroine, meanwhile, at one point actuallY FAINTS when he kisses her. SHE FUCKING FAINTS. And the only TWIST this book puts on Gothy Sexy Vampire lore? They can't go out in the sunlight, not because they will die, but because they GET ALL SPARKLY. (Which blows their cover, hence they avoid it.) It would be kind of clever if it weren't so fucking OMG BISHIE. I read an interview where the author says Anne Rice is the only vampire fiction she's read. GOSH I COULD NOT SEE THAT COMING FROM FORTY MILES AWAY.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - I love this book. I saved it for a palate-cleanser after Twilight. It's hilarious and is also only the second book I've ever read (the first was Doomsday Book) that's made me cry. I'm sad that I read it when I did, because I'm not likely to read anything better before the year is up, and it's a little early for my reading for the year to have peaked. Note that all future bitching about all the books centering on guys excludes this book.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - A couple of kids who are very, very, very into music fall for each other. It's enjoyable, but... damn are they into music. I find that kind of hard to relate to anymore. At least no one dies or is horribly maimed or anything.
Annie on My Mind - One of the few books for this class that doesn't have a male main character. Because it's about lesbians. Hooray for lesbians because I'm getting sick of reading in first person about erections! Hooray for main characters NOT DYING OR BEING HORRIBLY MAIMED.
Double Helix - SF-ish suspense about gene therapy. And Huntington's Disease, which is depressing. Another male main character for no good reason at all. By this book it was starting to get on my nerves.
Fallen Angels - How is it that a book about the Vietnam War is one of the funnier and somehow less depressing of the books for this class?
Looking for Alaska - The book is written as counting down to, and then moving away from, a Big Thing that happens around the middle of the book. I suspected from the first introduction of one character what that Big Thing would be, was almost certain when a character made a remark about why she smoked, and then checked the end of the book to see if I was right. I was. This book really angers up my blood; by now I am SICK TO DEATH of books that are all about some boy and his feelings and his issues, with the female characters only secondary to all that. A couple of people call the narrator on his idealizing of Alaska, but I don't feel like he ever really realizes what he's doing, and it pisses me off.
Heavy Metal and You - ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT SOME GUY. And MUSIC. ARGH. I've never liked the way that some people make their taste in music central to their identity, though I guess it's no different from making "I like anime" or "I read a lot" or "SUM PALADIN IS 4 TANK" central to your identity. I guess I prefer people who center their identities on things I also like, and I don't care about music that much, beyond keeping annoying bits of it from getting stuck in my head. Anyway, this book got on my nerves when I wasn't boggling at the fact the book's only two or three years old, which means the kid - who's DEEPLY into, like, Sepultura and Slayer - would be maybe a college freshman now. Also, it seems like the girlfriend is two completely different people in different parts of the book.
The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier hates children. And happiness. I don't think I'm kidding. I despise this book. It's not so much the "stand up to corrupt power and get the shit beaten out of you" ending, though there's that too; it's the unremitting bleakness of the book prior to that. Adult life is viewed as drab, joyless and meaningless, but the teenagers' lives are no better. The only positive interaction in the book is between Jerry and Goober, who in the end is completely powerless to help. I kept calling this book "The FUCKING Chocolate War" while I was reading it; teh boyfriend kept joking about "the Chocolate War with sex" but of course there's no SEX in this book. There's just joyless, solitary masturbation, once used as a blackmail tool, once referred to as "rape by eyeball." And I'd forgotten how much of the book was devoted to terrorizing poor Jerry before the final showdown. GOD I hate this book. I hate it worse than Twilight. Twilight was just cheesy, wooden and shameless; this book is malevolent.
With The Chocolate War done, hopefully I'm done with the most painful part of this class. Hopefully.
I wish LJ hadn't made the decision on which icons I could keep when I decided not to renew my payment. I want the Azumanga Daioh fang-kitties icon back.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-12 12:53 am (UTC)...oh. I thought that going to mean it was good. Or at least amusing to read. ^^;;;;;;;
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-12 01:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-12 01:11 am (UTC)I think I read Annie on My Mind, but I'm not sure if I'm confusing it with another book on roughly the same subject by the same author.
I am very disturbed by the idea of FY with Sparkly Bishi Vampires. To the point that I'm going to go read some 12K 'fic now to cleanse my brain. If you feel like doing the same, I've found a few new good ones recently...
Don't recall the title, but it's Youko/Rakushun and therefore yay.
New Perspectives.Rakushun runs into Youko in En. Also yay.
SojournShoukei visits Rakushun in En. Not Youko/Rakushun, but still good.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-12 02:23 am (UTC)I should probably edit to clarify that horrible maiming is less of a risk in these books than the deaths of relatives and close friends, but there's enough anguish being thrown around that I would not be shocked by maimings either.