Trashy Literature
From the past few days I have been reading a lot of books. I went to Readings book store in Gulberg and randomly grabbed books just by looking at their titles and covers. Well on most part it was random, I did have some choices in mind. I wanted to read few books that I have not had the opportunity to read yet.
I got books like Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell, Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, and some other books. I did not know how trashy some of the books would be. When Lipstick Jungle first came out, many of my friends (girls) read it and told me to read it. It's amazing! It's a New York Times Best Seller! You have to read it! I didn't pay heed to what they were saying since even back then I didn't like it. I saw it in the book store while I was browsing the racks and bought it.
I just finished reading it today and seriously I have made a new record today. For taking the most time to read a book. Usually I finish reading a book very quickly. Even if I find a book tad bit boring, I still manage to finish it the day I bought it. Lipstick Jungle is just horrible. I have no idea how it became a best seller. Well I do know. It tries to sell an imaginative and fantasy image of women being power houses in Upstate New York and being able to do what they want. They want to have an affair, they can. They want to ride in a luxury company jet, they can. They want to take over their boss's position and become CEO, they can.
I bought Twenties Girl at the same time as Lipstick Jungle and within 2 hours, I had read the whole book. Sophie Kinsella is a gem of a writer/author. All her books are amazing with their tongue in cheek British humour. The protagonist in her novels usually has a direction. The character is well written and well thought of. If the girl's boyfriend is having an affair, she would leave him! Not wait around and be double minded like in Lipstick Jungle.
It was so bleedin' annoying to read how she is having an affair with a guy 20 years her junior and feeling guilty of having an affair and cheating on her husband, and then going back to that guy for sex because apparently the dude is her "fix". Oh and while she is with the person, she is thinking that she is not feeling anything and she loved her husband more and this fix won't be able to make her feel better for long. Oh and then dumping the guy she is having an affair with, too.
Oh my god. The whole book is about sex and money. Those two being the primary focal points of interest in the novel. The secondary focal points branching out from them. Money equates to power, sex equates to emotional hold and blackmail, and well the whole novel revolves around this. Oh and not only the annoying lack of a story, but also the character names. What the hell is Nico? The other problem with the book was that the story was a bit too fast. One minute one character is in the plane and the next thing you know, someone is in Manhattan arguing with their husband.
There were lots of flaws and plot holes in the writing too. When it comes to novels, a good book should be that whose writing arises less questions in your mind but more appreciative comments. When it comes to essays or peer reviewed articles, then yes a good article should give some food for thought and arise various questions. Lipstick Jungle arose way too many questions in my mind. It's like a jump cut in a movie. One moment something is happening and suddenly the scene changes with a jerk. The next moment something completely different is happening.
I guess I don't like to read things which are a very fantasised version of the real world and very feminist in nature. Don't get me wrong, I am a feminist but not to this extent. There is a difference between novels which are completely fantasy in nature and novels which are fantasised version of the real world. You read a fantasy genre novel with suspended disbelief in mind just like when you go out and watch movies. You know it's fantasy and it is not real. Those other types of novels just gives a false image of the world. Those are the ones that I don't like.
Having said all of this, Bridget Jones Diary was a good book and also it's sequel. I finally managed to read both of them too. Twenties Girl was amazing. Time Traveller's Wife was a good book and so was some of the other titles. I like to read well written novels. Not trashy stuff. Oh and I like to read classics too. Shakespeare is one of my favourite all time author and playwright. I also like to read poems by William Wordsworth, Percy. B. Shelly, John Keats and others. I like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and Dracula. I like Dracula the novel but the original classic Dracula, not what people are coming out with these days.
I think I should have gone in to Creative Writing or Literary Arts rather than Media and Journalism.
I got books like Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell, Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, and some other books. I did not know how trashy some of the books would be. When Lipstick Jungle first came out, many of my friends (girls) read it and told me to read it. It's amazing! It's a New York Times Best Seller! You have to read it! I didn't pay heed to what they were saying since even back then I didn't like it. I saw it in the book store while I was browsing the racks and bought it.
I just finished reading it today and seriously I have made a new record today. For taking the most time to read a book. Usually I finish reading a book very quickly. Even if I find a book tad bit boring, I still manage to finish it the day I bought it. Lipstick Jungle is just horrible. I have no idea how it became a best seller. Well I do know. It tries to sell an imaginative and fantasy image of women being power houses in Upstate New York and being able to do what they want. They want to have an affair, they can. They want to ride in a luxury company jet, they can. They want to take over their boss's position and become CEO, they can.
I bought Twenties Girl at the same time as Lipstick Jungle and within 2 hours, I had read the whole book. Sophie Kinsella is a gem of a writer/author. All her books are amazing with their tongue in cheek British humour. The protagonist in her novels usually has a direction. The character is well written and well thought of. If the girl's boyfriend is having an affair, she would leave him! Not wait around and be double minded like in Lipstick Jungle.
It was so bleedin' annoying to read how she is having an affair with a guy 20 years her junior and feeling guilty of having an affair and cheating on her husband, and then going back to that guy for sex because apparently the dude is her "fix". Oh and while she is with the person, she is thinking that she is not feeling anything and she loved her husband more and this fix won't be able to make her feel better for long. Oh and then dumping the guy she is having an affair with, too.
Oh my god. The whole book is about sex and money. Those two being the primary focal points of interest in the novel. The secondary focal points branching out from them. Money equates to power, sex equates to emotional hold and blackmail, and well the whole novel revolves around this. Oh and not only the annoying lack of a story, but also the character names. What the hell is Nico? The other problem with the book was that the story was a bit too fast. One minute one character is in the plane and the next thing you know, someone is in Manhattan arguing with their husband.
There were lots of flaws and plot holes in the writing too. When it comes to novels, a good book should be that whose writing arises less questions in your mind but more appreciative comments. When it comes to essays or peer reviewed articles, then yes a good article should give some food for thought and arise various questions. Lipstick Jungle arose way too many questions in my mind. It's like a jump cut in a movie. One moment something is happening and suddenly the scene changes with a jerk. The next moment something completely different is happening.
I guess I don't like to read things which are a very fantasised version of the real world and very feminist in nature. Don't get me wrong, I am a feminist but not to this extent. There is a difference between novels which are completely fantasy in nature and novels which are fantasised version of the real world. You read a fantasy genre novel with suspended disbelief in mind just like when you go out and watch movies. You know it's fantasy and it is not real. Those other types of novels just gives a false image of the world. Those are the ones that I don't like.
Having said all of this, Bridget Jones Diary was a good book and also it's sequel. I finally managed to read both of them too. Twenties Girl was amazing. Time Traveller's Wife was a good book and so was some of the other titles. I like to read well written novels. Not trashy stuff. Oh and I like to read classics too. Shakespeare is one of my favourite all time author and playwright. I also like to read poems by William Wordsworth, Percy. B. Shelly, John Keats and others. I like Mary Shelly's Frankenstein and Dracula. I like Dracula the novel but the original classic Dracula, not what people are coming out with these days.
I think I should have gone in to Creative Writing or Literary Arts rather than Media and Journalism.
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