I know at least 2 people who heard they were good, read them, and thought they were balls.
And that contributes nothing to the discussion.
But I said it anyway.
Fuck yeah.
I know at least 2 people who heard they were good, read them, and thought they were balls.
And that contributes nothing to the discussion.
But I said it anyway.
Fuck yeah.
:lol:Quoting Daniel Davis (view post)
Movie Theater Diary
I might at some point. My cousin has all the books and swears by them.
Just seems like a bit of literary elitism going on in here is all.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
That's not going to stop any time soon.
And good for us.
If I'm an elitist for demanding something more from what I read, then so be it. Sure, sometimes I like to dabble in the pulps and ghettos (lord knows my love for The Stainless Steel Rat), but I've drawn my own lines.
For instance, a girl at my work was reading Twilight and we started talking about genre fiction. Turns out, she had never heard of Theodore Sturgeon. She was keen on reading some more vampire fiction, and so I turned her on to Some of Your Blood. She instantly recognized Sturgeon's higher level of expertly-crafted prose, and his insight into human nature, and thanked me for the rec.
You're an elitist if you comment negatively on others for reading something that you yourself have not read and don't really have any right to comment on at all.
It's fine to demand more from what you read, but don't go expecting others to conform to your own view of what's "worthwhile". They could be having just as awe-inspiring an experience reading "Twilight" as you did reading "The Divinity Student", and then they may read that and just not connect with it at all.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
There are certain levels among genre fiction that distinguish between the high and low. I'm sure anyone who really enjoys reading could point out the differences between Harry Potter and Gormenghast, or Lemony Snicket and Lord Dunsany, or Koontz and Lovecraft. Sure, some lit scholars see all of these as occupying the same ghetto-space, but as genre hounds we know the differences, and many of those schollars are starting to come around - especially when Dunsany, Lovecraft, and Peake are concerned.
It's like comics. Sure, Chester Brown and Bil Keane are both comic-strip artists, but I'm sure most would recognize the differences between the two.
I won't deny my sometimes genre-lit-snobbery, but I do pride myself on my tastes in fiction; I think it is quite good and well informed. But it is the genre champion in me that wished to enlighten other people about books and authors that they may not know about. It fills me with great joy to turn someone on to a new author or book, and at the same time to discover, perhaps at another's recommendation, a new book or author.
So perhaps I am a bit elitist, but I can live with that.
Lemony Snicket is superior to most literature of any stripe.
There is an undeniable difference in the level of prose and craft between Twilight and The Divinity Student.
Would you not agree that there is a difference in the level of craftsmanship between Twilight and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or The Dunwich Horror?
Recognizing this difference and wanting to experience more of the better-written stuff is not elitist, neither is desiring for other people to experience it.
I couldn't get into his books. Reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman's style.
You haven't even read "Twilight". How do you know this?
It's apparently very well written, as is the author's book "The Host", which is her "book for adults".
Again, this seems like a "commercial, popular books are always inferior to under-recognized genre works" attitude.
Personally I'm glad books like the "Harry Potter" and "Twlight" series have gotten so many people reading again. For a while there I was worried that reading was going to die, and I largely blame the school systems for this.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Why are we talking about the books anyway? I don't really care if the books are great. The movie looks like utter shit.
Movie Theater Diary
This is a very valid point.
And I haven't seen anything from it. I've just seen other Hardwicke films.
After careful consideration over a meal consisting of hand-made pasta topped with marinara sauce made with vine ripened tomatoes and imported olive oil, eaten out of a bowl custom-tossed by a skilled artisan, off of a 500-year old, diamond encrusted fork, it occurred to me that, yes, I may in fact be a book and music snob, but I am definitely not a movie snob. When It comes to movies, my tastes are pretty silly.
Working at B&N, I have read a great deal of selections from Lemony Snicket, the Harry Potters, the Twilights, and Lovecraft. Here's how they rank:
1 Lovecraft
2 Snicket
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 Harry Potter
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20 Twilights
I've read some of the opening parts of the first book, and a synopsis of some of the others. This was enough to know.
My radar is pretty well tuned after all of these years.
Shoegaze and sci-fi? Sorry, bro, but your taste is silly across the board. :P
This sounds just like me. God knows I don't like popular books.
You're right!
Thanks for clearing this up.
I read the first Lemony Snicket book. I don't understand why adults would be excited about this series.
My list is definitive and objective.
I thought they were good fun until about number 6. Then they became absolutely brilliant.
I'm pretty sure I've seen it on some official web site before as well, so I have no objections.
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