So someone posted about the bad writing in The Historian, and the Grumpy Old Bookman linked and now, boy and girls, it is all out WAR! Just take a browse through the comments. I do tink everyone needs ta buy demselves a bottle of cop on.
And because today is Monday, and Luna Nina says:
- Alone::
- Science::
- Deposit::
- Faithful::
- Tender::
- Chocolate::
- Homework::
- Tamper::
- Friend::
- Wire::
I say
- Alone:: ashes in the fridge. See, now I’ve got to explain this one. ALONE is the name of a group that helps the elderly. It was set up by a fireman sometime, and in our religion book in 5th class the foundation story was told. And the teacher had one of the boys read it. Only he read ashes in the fireplace as ashes in the refridgerater. Cue much laughter.
- Science:: biology
- Deposit::account
- Faithful::feckless
- Tender:: young
- Chocolate:: Dairymilk
- Homework:: no more
- Tamper:: evidence
- Friend:: in need
- Wire:: bird on a / trap
Alone:: wolf
Science:: GOD
Deposit:: account
Faithful:: rendition
Tender:: is the night
Chocolate:: mmmmmmmmm
Homework:: GROAN
Tamper:: proof
Friend:: D
Wire:: less
Alone:: shark
Science:: monkeys
Deposit:: Return
Faithful:: loyal
Tender:: Love Me
Chocolate:: good song, good dessert, good movie
Homework:: sucks, glad I no longer have any
Tamper:: tweak
Friend:: psychic
Wire:: we doing this?
Nine Moons! Love the wolf!!!
Good lord, read those Historian comments and people are pretty nuts! Don't know that I agree with the whole good reader/bad reader argument. I would be the first to be dressed down by a literary critic for loving books like Dracula and Tale of Two Cities and also loving Conan stories, The Stainless Steel Rat books, etc. I like to think that I am a discerning reader but that definition really only means that I know what "I" like and what books I think are good in meeting my desires at the moment. I read for the love of reading and can tell if things are really off, but I sure don't go into a book looking to read it critically for errors, etc. That would make me a bad reader by their definitions but certainly not by my own. There are few books that I have read that I haven't finished but I also like to believe that I put a good deal of thought into what I read before hand and tend to pick out things I know I will end up enjoying. Quite the flame war going on over there Fence, thanks for pointing it out.
Carl I think you have the right way of reading a book. If you like something then you like it, why look for errors?
If however you are one of those people who don't really look but still spot the mistakes then you don't get to enjoy trashy novels. Which is a pity, imo.
Good lord indeed! I swear I could feel my ears burning after I read that thread. It's the usual good reader/bad reader-good writing/bad writing war again.
I concur that reading should be enjoyed by all. However, I was confused: why are these lit crit types trying to dissect bestselling books? Like trying to do an examination of The Da Vinci Code. You normally don't expect lit standards, right? Of course I'm sure there are bestselling books that are also literary fiction but isn't life too short to read a book and then complain vehemently that you wasted your life doing so? Time would be better spent reading a better book I think.
Well, now all the wind is out of my sails, because I was looking forward to reading The Historian, not having read review one about it before today. I guess I don't feel so bad now, being #101 on the waiting list at the library… BTW, I gave up on Jane Smiley entirely; I think it was a fluke she won the Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Acres, which was *yawn, okay. My new fave is Haven Kimmel. She looks about 14 on the back cover; geeeez. She's an amazing writer, which is totally depressing.
Banzai I think that the people giving out were moaning about this huge advance that she got and why couldn't they make money ;)
Kelly, don't be put off by the flame war. Loads of people loved it. But in the mean time enjoy Kimmel, the name is familar but I've never read anything by her.
Agree with Banzai Cat. Why look for literature where literature is not? What is wonderful is when you think something's going to be a trashy romance/sci-fi/fantasy thing, but you find that it's written well and has great characters which lift it above its humble roots.
Given a choice between people reading NYT bestsellers like Dan Brown's stuff or not reading at all, I'd plump for the former, every time.
# Alone:: scary
# Science:: experiment
# Deposit:: dough
# Faithful:: religious folk
# Tender:: buttons
# Chocolate:: bunnies
# Homework:: need to do it
# Tamper:: lock
# Friend:: bestest
# Wire:: computer
Alone:: all the time
Science:: department
Deposit:: money
Faithful:: dog
Tender:: love
Chocolate:: bar
Homework:: due
Tamper:: with
Friend:: o' mine
Wire:: tap