Some people hate chick lit. Some people, like this woman, take that dislike to a near pathological level:
Quite frankly their lurid pink presence on bookshop shelves irritates the hell out of me. This is a fairly irrational hatred but I will attempt to explain why I could cheerfully garrotte the publishers of such novels.
Garrotte? Don’t hear that very often. She does manage to spew some of the same old crap - you know, the favorite lines said by people who have read exactly two chick lit novels and then deem themselves experts on the genre. Speaking of cliche…
I do not dismiss these books on a snobbish intellectual level. Trashy novels are a pure, unadulterated escape from the scary world of essay crises: a temptation to which I succumb. The genre has - however - become a source of ridicule; creating clichés that tend to portray women in an unflattering or one-dimensional manner. I am pleased that women writers no longer struggle to be accepted in a previously male dominated profession, but why should a substantial portion of their success be due to novels which provoke such an exasperated reaction from readers both male and female.
Sounds a bit like a dismissal based on both snobbery and ignorance, but maybe I missed her point. At least she appreciates the craft…oh wait:
Their titles are pun filled, their heroines are the wrong side of a size 14 and have a loveable band of chums who can always be relied on but will inevitably be unceremoniously dumped when the heroine eventually gets their man. “The independent woman’s search for love”. The stereotype has become boring … even nauseating. Another chorus of “I Will Survive” anyone?
Many of these books are silly, tacky and just plain bad. One gets the sense that almost no thought has gone into their conception: the author has merely followed the rules of “Chick Lit” and not bothered to make the work their own.
I’m thinking she hasn’t signed up for my mailing list…
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What is the “wrong side of size 14″? Is that bigger or smaller?
These are the things that occupy small minds such as mine: wondering if I’m on the wrong side of a size. Sigh.
by Meljean January 28th, 2006 at 3:03 pmWhat’s up with folks like this anyway? Pontificating and beating up their gums for naught. The “crap” sells. It has a readership. Don’t hate. Leave it alone.
Get a life.
by Millenia Black January 28th, 2006 at 3:47 pm