tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post6197373551948501281..comments2023-08-15T05:06:03.233-06:00Comments on The Writing Sisterhood: Falling in Love Again: Recovering the Magic of Fiction ReadingThe Sisterhoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09889577041903181315noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-17960830325533680622012-08-17T15:00:59.372-06:002012-08-17T15:00:59.372-06:00This was Fan-tas-tic. I couldn´t have expressed it...This was Fan-tas-tic. I couldn´t have expressed it better. A 21-year old that says "Holy Cow" after she sees her first penis! A virgin who is taken roughly and experiences just a bit of soreness! Tepid sex scenes. Any bodice-ripper author could do it better and more romantically. But now I know the purpose of 50 Shades. It should be read outloud to somebody else. Great excersize to show how crappy it is.<br />Thank you!Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-75411257392750277602012-08-17T14:48:15.986-06:002012-08-17T14:48:15.986-06:00This is a review of Fifty Shades, and it's pro...This is a review of Fifty Shades, and it's probably the funniest book review I've ever read:<br /><br />http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10818853-fifty-shades-of-greyStephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02187854108656107958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-42136618275456799102012-08-16T10:08:11.142-06:002012-08-16T10:08:11.142-06:00I think the more cynical we become, the more we lo...I think the more cynical we become, the more we long for things that move us, even if they are srt in a fictional world.Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-78101545890716641352012-08-16T10:02:43.792-06:002012-08-16T10:02:43.792-06:00I had to think a bit about your question. Like Ste...I had to think a bit about your question. Like Steph, I'd say that The Hunger Games really immersed me and I just had to finish the trilogy, even though by the middle of the third book I began to get tired of the characters. But it was one of a few trilogies I've ever finished. I don't even have much interest in finishing the Millennium trilogy of Larsson's after reading the first book!<br /><br />Another book that I just finished reading and found fascinating is The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. I didn't think I'd like it when I picked it up, but it's so vivid with what went on in Josephine Bonaparte's life during the French Revolution and before she ever met Napoleon. Her name wasn't even Josephine. It's actually the first in a trilogy and now I really want to read the other two! <br /><br />I'm usually very surprised by the books that thoroughly transport me, which is kind of nice. Ones I hope will, do not. Ones I don't think will, do.<br /><br />Although a bit cynical at times, I can still find books that capture my interest. That's a good thing!Mary Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09429769115085903305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-35286001547337556942012-08-16T09:27:29.344-06:002012-08-16T09:27:29.344-06:00I am trying not to be judgmental but I have read S...I am trying not to be judgmental but I have read Shades first chapters (I couldn´t go on, because it was so dreadful). Not only it is awfully written, it is bad Erotica (it´s not even fine porn!)<br />What raised Martin to the Twilight/Dan Brown sphere is still a mystery to me. When Game of Thrones came out, Martin was an established science fiction writer, and yet GOT wasn’t a bestseller. Clash of Kings was the first book in the saga to make it to The New York Times List.Even crtiics weren’t so crazy about it. Martin didn´t get a Hugo Award until Storm of Swords. In fact, someone at the Washington Post said (about GOT) that the characters were one-dimensional and the imagery “less than memorable” (burn him!) <br />I have to confess that I have subjected ASOIAF to Te Manual´s test...and it has failed on some accounts. Too many POVS, too many characters, backstory galore, etc. Who cares? I revere it!<br />Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-92166942035341284322012-08-16T07:58:01.168-06:002012-08-16T07:58:01.168-06:00It's so heartening that Martin's books hav...It's so heartening that Martin's books have achieved such a passionate following, isn't it? Because they are NOT insipid or badly-written. I haven't read 50 Shades of Gray and have zero interest in doing so, but I am told by those who have read it that the writing is appalling. Worse than the worst writing they have ever read ... it started as Twilight fan-fic, apparently, which tells you something. And sometimes we writers get this sinking feeling that if we want our stories to catch fire, to become a phenomenon like that, we have to write mindless crap. It's like a Faustian bargain: if you sell your writerly soul, you will achieve bestsellerdom. That doesn't make a lot of sense on the face of it, but you look at Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer and you begin to wonder.<br /><br />But George RR Martin doesn't write crap. His writing is perfectly fine. It's not James Joyce, but he knows the craft. AND, he raises interesting moral and political questions; he makes you think. I could not say that about Twilight.Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02187854108656107958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-617472469242418952012-08-16T07:55:14.024-06:002012-08-16T07:55:14.024-06:00So you have truly recaptured the love affair. Not ...So you have truly recaptured the love affair. Not only did you love The Hunger Games, but it led you to love a subgenre. I cannot find that with ASOIAF, I am not into historical fiction set in the Middle Ages, Epic Fantasy bores me to death. What I love in Martin' saga are the characters (some) and the fact that they could exist in any historical period even in modern times.Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-43260807698176333152012-08-16T07:47:52.814-06:002012-08-16T07:47:52.814-06:00Well, this was indeed a guilty pleasure read, thou...Well, this was indeed a guilty pleasure read, though not quite at the 50 Shades level. :) It was "Divergent" by Veronica Roth, one of the current bumper crop of YA dystopian novels. I love these stories. I was just as swept away by the Hunger Games and by Lauren Oliver's Delirium series. (So far, anyway; only two of that series have been published.) Although "YA dystopian" is a genre, and therefore we see plots that follow somewhat predictable patterns, we have somewhat predictable characters, and the writing is not nearly as important as the story, I still love it. I definitely feel transported to another world. And they usually raise interesting moral questions, too. And you and I share a love of George RR Martin! Those are books you fall in love with. (If you like them, you love them; if you don't like them, you hate them.)Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02187854108656107958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-29192641334677393132012-08-16T07:43:26.735-06:002012-08-16T07:43:26.735-06:00I know, Sister Lorena, but I want to add something...I know, Sister Lorena, but I want to add something to what Sister Steph said. We, aspiring writers, want to grip our audience´s attention, we want to own our reader´s imagination, and we want they to carry our characters in their hearts and brains. But how could we, if we have forgotten what it´s like?<br />There is something I believe I said to you in our last “literary chat”. No matter what great story runs around inside my head, there is no use in writing it when nobody else cares to read it. The reason why I am so bound to Song of Ice and Fire, is because there are millions of readers all over the world that are hooked on that story just like I am and my blog has become a meeting place for at least a quarter of a fraction of that fandom. There are million of people all over the world who are in love with Martin´s work, who wants him to write another book and who will read that other book. All those are great ingredients for falling in love with fiction.<br />Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-56595161366739258792012-08-16T07:31:23.739-06:002012-08-16T07:31:23.739-06:00First of all, Sister Stephanie, I am curious to kn...First of all, Sister Stephanie, I am curious to know which novel gripped your attention. In fact I’m curious to know what sort of literature can take people out of these worlds. That must be something so personal that varies from individual to individual. I’m sure there are people who are hooked on the 50 shades. That shows you that falling in love with a book has little to do with masterful style. I confess that among my best-loved books are several bodice-rippers! (Blush). And there are recognized masterpieces that fail to move me (more blushes).<br />Don’t worry, we read you even when you are zonked!<br />Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-38751639307286088562012-08-15T21:52:36.848-06:002012-08-15T21:52:36.848-06:00Sister Malena,
It's been so long since I'...Sister Malena,<br /><br />It's been so long since I've completely lost myself in a novel or film! It's ironic that we become writers because we love fiction, yet when we learn the mechanics of storytelling, that candid relationship with books is one of the first things we lose. Being analytic has both its advantages and disadvantages. Like Steph says, we learn to appreciate good fiction, but also, we become picky and cold. I imagine it must be similar for magicians. Once they know all the tricks, it must be hard for them to be impressed by another illusionist.<br /><br />I crave to "fall in love" with a novel again the way you have done with Game of Thrones! Lorenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17848249911635132594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-20635524268398059672012-08-15T21:33:47.438-06:002012-08-15T21:33:47.438-06:00Heh. I meant, the former kind of writer, of course...Heh. I meant, the former kind of writer, of course. The unforgettable kind, not the amateur kind. I should not respond to posts when it's bedtime and I'm zonked!Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02187854108656107958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-43436748901115945202012-08-15T21:30:27.856-06:002012-08-15T21:30:27.856-06:00This is such a perfect week for you to post this! ...This is such a perfect week for you to post this! I have been lost, joyously lost, in a novel this week. I've been reading it and listening to it via audiobook, and wandering around with my head in the clouds as the characters and story take over. It's absolutely a love affair, only one that doesn't cause problems IRL, yay! :) (Unlike most love affairs.) Now that I am done with the novel, I mourn. It's over! :(<br /><br />It's my greatest wish that I could evoke such a reaction on my own readers ... to have my story get under their skin so they can't put my book down; so they miss it when it's done.<br /><br />Generally, learning The Manual (to borrow your term) hasn't really killed the joy of reading in me, except in one respect: amateur writing is now off the table for me. I am a far pickier reader, in that I see the big mistakes and I can't get past them: grammar issues, head-hopping, bad dialogue, wobbly character development ... these will throw me out of a story perhaps more than they did before I learned about them. Mediocre writing is less tolerable. But I have so much more appreciation for excellent writing now than I did before I entered the game! I now know how brutally hard it is even to complete a novel, much less pull together a book with a solid plot and consistent character development. Someone who can do that has all my respect, a deeper respect than I'd have given them a decade ago.<br /><br />The divide between the unforgettable book and the amateur one is so vast ... I can hardly think of a story in the middle anymore. Is it just me? I feel like stories fall on either end of the extremes, and hardly ever gather around the "meh, it was OK" middle anymore. And I can tell within the first few pages which kind of book I'm facing. I just can't sort out how to propel myself to the latter kind of writer!Stephaniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02187854108656107958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-35558609369196144742012-08-14T06:43:00.295-06:002012-08-14T06:43:00.295-06:00Dear Sister,
I can’t blame rejection letters (to b...Dear Sister,<br />I can’t blame rejection letters (to be honest, I only got three before I gave up on the querying process) and I can’t wholly blame “the Manual” for depriving me of the magic of reading. My post is really a cautionary tale, because I had been disenchanted before. My literature studies made me too involved in stylist observation and left me no time for plot-enjoyment, my librarianship courses made me too aware of racism, sexism and other inconvenient subjects in fiction. In sum, if we forget that a novel’s main purpose is to provide us with a good tale, we cannot really enjoy literature.<br />Is there a book(s) that has taken you so out of yourself that reading it became an unforgettable experience?<br />Malenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764070340451077376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3266371808927804670.post-41106677340260753352012-08-13T16:25:42.460-06:002012-08-13T16:25:42.460-06:00*sniffs*
You brought a tear to my eye, Malena, and...*sniffs*<br />You brought a tear to my eye, Malena, and I sincerely mean that! I completely understand your struggle to enjoy fiction when you seemed to become more and more cynical of the writing and publishing process. Sad to say, but once a writer understands the real uphill battles of the publishing industry, it tends to lose a lot of its luster. And that to me is such a tragedy. There is so much beauty in creating a story, that to have it shot down in a mere matter of seconds through a form rejection email causes one to lose heart.<br /><br />I'm glad you've found your way back to the love of reading fiction once more!Mary Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09429769115085903305noreply@blogger.com