on "Chick Lit" books
Oct. 13th, 2009 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avreliaI remember there was a meme going on and as a part of it I was asked about my opinion on chick lit genre. I answered then that I like the books but hate the name "chick lit". Now I came to the conclusion is not the "chick lit genre" as it is, but as I want it to be: a light, fluffy and humorous story centered on a female protagonist - or several protagonists, with or without a romantic subplot. In fact, there are some books that fit this definition that I liked, "English as the Second Language" by Megan Crane, for example. And those I hate to call "chick lit".
The most of it though, seems to be all about brand-names, shoes, shopping and glamorous life of whomever, and I am desperately bored just to leaf through them at the bookstore. Of course, one may always said that 80% of every genre - or mainstream literature is crap, but in the case of chick lit they do represent the essence of the genre for the public. When we think about fantasy, we think about "Lord of the Rings", when we think of "Chick lit" we think "Devil Wears Prada". Which is telling, right?
So, I think I should put it this way: I love light and witty books about women, I don't like "chick lit".
In my travels I saw "Nanny Diaries" - the book, not the movie - for $1 and bought it, figuring that it won't be a big loss if I don't like it. I mean, here is another shining example of the genre, and maybe it really is as good as it is popular. No, I didn't like it. I haven't even finish it - though I did check the ending. There are so many reasons why I disliked it, and they all covered by hundreds of one- or two-star reviews on Amazon. To be fair, there are much more positive reviews there.
So what did I hate?
First of all, the story seemed to be a string of anecdotes, that are probably funny to those "in the know" - the nannies, etc, but for me they felt flat and boring, bordering on terrifying.
The desire to call child abuse was also very strong, and it was hard to laugh at a suffering child.
I understand that many details about the work of a nanny in the New York's rich society or somewhere else are quite true. I mean, just recently I read that now the Tibetan nannies are in vogue, as if a nanny is an accessory, not an employee and a human being. And it would probably all make for a great book of essays, but as a book of fiction, a story it is a lousy one.
the characters are flat or nonexistent. I mean we had the protagonist girl, her friends and family, her romantic interest, her evil employers, and none of them look more than a shadow puppet. Nothing but cardboard cutouts. I can't even remember enough of them to make more precise complains. They have no history, to depth, no other sides, not even names. In terns of there story structure it also don't work - the atrocities are piling up, but there is no payoff. none. Nanny gets fired and she leaves, asking the mean clod parents to love their precious son. It might be true to life, but as a fiction story it doesn't fulfill its promise to a reader. when one makes a child and the readers suffer for 300 pages, there should be some kind of catharsis. Or, again, it should have been a documentary...
and yet, madly successful. Makes one wonder, doesn't it?
The most of it though, seems to be all about brand-names, shoes, shopping and glamorous life of whomever, and I am desperately bored just to leaf through them at the bookstore. Of course, one may always said that 80% of every genre - or mainstream literature is crap, but in the case of chick lit they do represent the essence of the genre for the public. When we think about fantasy, we think about "Lord of the Rings", when we think of "Chick lit" we think "Devil Wears Prada". Which is telling, right?
So, I think I should put it this way: I love light and witty books about women, I don't like "chick lit".
In my travels I saw "Nanny Diaries" - the book, not the movie - for $1 and bought it, figuring that it won't be a big loss if I don't like it. I mean, here is another shining example of the genre, and maybe it really is as good as it is popular. No, I didn't like it. I haven't even finish it - though I did check the ending. There are so many reasons why I disliked it, and they all covered by hundreds of one- or two-star reviews on Amazon. To be fair, there are much more positive reviews there.
So what did I hate?
First of all, the story seemed to be a string of anecdotes, that are probably funny to those "in the know" - the nannies, etc, but for me they felt flat and boring, bordering on terrifying.
The desire to call child abuse was also very strong, and it was hard to laugh at a suffering child.
I understand that many details about the work of a nanny in the New York's rich society or somewhere else are quite true. I mean, just recently I read that now the Tibetan nannies are in vogue, as if a nanny is an accessory, not an employee and a human being. And it would probably all make for a great book of essays, but as a book of fiction, a story it is a lousy one.
the characters are flat or nonexistent. I mean we had the protagonist girl, her friends and family, her romantic interest, her evil employers, and none of them look more than a shadow puppet. Nothing but cardboard cutouts. I can't even remember enough of them to make more precise complains. They have no history, to depth, no other sides, not even names. In terns of there story structure it also don't work - the atrocities are piling up, but there is no payoff. none. Nanny gets fired and she leaves, asking the mean clod parents to love their precious son. It might be true to life, but as a fiction story it doesn't fulfill its promise to a reader. when one makes a child and the readers suffer for 300 pages, there should be some kind of catharsis. Or, again, it should have been a documentary...
and yet, madly successful. Makes one wonder, doesn't it?
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-15 01:17 am (UTC)Oh well!
no subject
Date: 2009-10-20 10:43 pm (UTC)In any case, there are quite a lot of books that I do like in this genre. I happened to find them by happy accidents.