Oh Please...

[shipperx]

ONTD has a front page article whining about adults reading YA fiction like "The Fault in Our Stars."

I've seen rants like this before and they always boil down to self-important, pretentious whinging.

Read whatever the hell you want.

Frankly, when I read rants like that I wonder what kind of insecurity the person has about themselves that they make an issue out of what they are reading -- much less what else is.  It's like they feel that there is (or should be) some sort of checklist they have to meet to be 'acceptable.'

Are they trying to impress someone?  Are they trying to pat themselves on the back?   If they read something that's for pure entertainment it's embarrassing or something?  You should spend all your free time reading Kafka?  Even if you've had a hard day at work, you should be reading Dostoevsky?

Why should anyone care?

I wonder whether such ranters are either young or pretentious. (It's ONTD so I think there's a fair amount of overlap in the potential Venn diagram for that).

Seriously, guys, once you graduate no one on earth cares what you read but you (and if you're reading for entertainment at all, you're in a statistical minority these days).   Read whatever you want for whatever reason that you want. Read high brow.  Read low brow.  Read crap.  Read classics.  Read YA. Read genre.  Read comics.  Read lit.  Read best sellers.   No one cares.

Read whatever entertains your whims and interests.  Your summer reading list isn't going to be engraved on your tombstone no matter how impressive (or not) or edifying (or not) you think it might be.

Talk about stupid, frivolous things for people to criticize in others.

Comments

[sp23.livejournal.com]

I agree with this rant 100%. Over my longish lifetime, and starting at around age 4, I've read a *lot*. I've read fiction and non-fiction and fanfic and mysteries and thrillers and true crime, and 'classic literature' and, yes, YA.

AND I'VE ENJOYED IT ALL. And I really don't care about some self-important snot getting their panties in a twist over it.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I really don't care about some self-important snot getting their panties in a twist over it.

SEriously. I don't read YA often, but I do every now and then. But YA covers a LOT of ground and sometimes it's fun and interesting.

I just couldn't wrap my mind around deciding that this is acceptable and this over here isn't. No one cares. Read whatever strikes you as something you might want to read!

[sp23.livejournal.com]

To me, it's like someone saying that watching Masterpiece Mystery! is acceptable, but watching Castle is not. Because they've appointed themselves arbiter of what is acceptable television viewing.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Children's and Young Adult books are some of the best reading out there. And frankly, if someone reads nothing but the back of the cereal box, who cares. As long as they are reading something, that's the important thing.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

someone reads nothing but the back of the cereal box, who cares

Exactly. It's not like there's a set number of books you can read so you can't 'waste' any. Read whatever you want to. There's no need to be stingy about it.

[infinitewhale.livejournal.com]

Literature, music, movies, TV, it's all the same. "Stop liking what I don't like!" sums it up, I think.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Pretty much.

Though, again, I'm bamboozled as to why anyone should care what anyone else is reading.

[rahirah]

Someone pointed out that Slate is not above printing something they know will be wanky just so they can get people to click on it. I wouldn't be surprised if ONTD wasn't the same - I mean, for both sites it means more eyeballs on the ads.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Does ONTD - stand for "Oh No They Didn't"?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's an obnoxious LJ gossip community.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Probably.

And it's not like I haven't seen almost this exact same rant before.

But it was stupid and pointless that time too.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I am just agreeing with your every word!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D

[cordykitten]

Huh... why do they care?

I read YA too just not as much (I still have two on my ereader to read), I read more New Adult then YA.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Huh... why do they care?

Exactly!

I don't read YA very often, but that isn't to say that the genre doesn't contain some interesting works -- or just plain fun works -- and why SHOULDN'T someone read them if they want to?

[jerusha]

The original article came from Slate, and it's been all over tumblr where people are mightily pissed off. I'm annoyed because I'm writing a YA novel at present, and I'm not pulling punches. I hope that both adults and kids 12+ read it.

YA is a fantastic genre, and there are some really interesting things going on right now. A lot of it is edgy, and offers better representation than a lot of books marketed for adults.

Plus, as someone pointed out, given how many women write YA, going after YA and trying to make adults ashamed of reading it is essentially going after female authors, when men write escapist books and don't get the same flack.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Plus, as someone pointed out, given how many women write YA

Yes. This is a factor. Women write a signficant part of YA and it's been sort of shoved into "female fiction" in a lot of cases and... it just really annoys me how that sort of thing happens.

And I totally understand targeting YA as a potential genre to write. It covers so, so many things and is a very active -- and expansive -- part of the market.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Probably a frustrated writer, who is either unpublished or B list and not making any money.

I saw similar rants online about 50 Shades of Grey from literary writers who were pissed off that that book made millions while theirs didn't.
Jealousy or Envy is called the green-eyed monster for a reason.

Although there's a lot of pretentious book vultures/snobs hanging about the internet...who are an entirely different story.

[queenofattolia.livejournal.com]

Well, I objected to 50 Shades because it's absolute junk and I think no one should read it, but that's just me, and I certainly wouldn't literally OR figuratively snatch it out of anyone's hands. If someone wants to deaden his/her brain by reading crap books, by all means have at it.

I thought the same about the Twilight books, and, I'm sorry to say, about TFiOS, which I thought was precious and facile in the extreme. Its literary pretensions ended with the title. I mean, c'mon - who's NOT going to cry over pretty dying white kids who are also snarky and brave? As A.O. Scott said in his review of the film, it's the Love Story of its generation.

But that said, anyone who wants to read it should read it, just as I reserve the right to read any book I please, even if I'm not in its "target audience." Some of the greatest books I've read in the last 15 or 20 years have been YA books: Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series, Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, practically everything by Diana Wynne Jones but particularly Howl's Moving Castle, Hexwood and her crown jewel Deep Secret, Robin McKinley's Sunshine, etc. etc. I dare anyone to pry them out of my hands. Go on - TRY.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

50 Shades is...well... Bwhahahaha!

I enjoyed TFiOS. It broke no new ground, but it was an enjoyable read (and didn't have anything quite so dumb as "Love means never having to say you're sorry.). Sure, it's overpraised. But it's an enjoyable book, all in all.

I'm just gobsmacked by the article writer's attitude that there should be some sort of restriction on what people read as if they cannot read whatever they want for any reason they want. I've been known to finish absolutely terrible books either out of hate-reading or dogged determination. And, hell, sometimes I ENJOY crap. Crap can be fun.

It's not like there is a set number of book one is allowed to read in ones lifetime so you had better make every one count.

I just didn't understand why someone else should care if someone reads any kind of genre or quality that they happen to be enjoying. There's no one checking our reading lists!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

There are tones of issues with 50 Shades, but if someone wants to read it, why should anyone else care? Laugh at it and read the funny websites it inspires.

People can read whatever they want. It's not like we have a finite lifetime supply that we cannot afford to waste a few... or several... or a lot.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I think that's the problem with a lot of negative reviews and book rants - is people cross the line from stating why they didn't like something to oh, ghod, how can anyone read this piece of crap - they must be stupid or ignorant or whatever.

When writing a negative review, snark or a rant, you (generally speaking) have to be careful not to demean, criticize, or insult the people who are enjoying the books or tv shows or movies. Because you really don't know why they are enjoying them. Or what they are focusing on. It all goes back to that discussion we had about how differently people think or read or perceive things? Just because it seems horrible to you, doesn't mean it does someone else. I have to keep reminding myself of that - whenever I run into someone who loved The Twilight series. I don't get it. But does it matter? They loved it. And often it wasn't for the reasons I'd think.

50 Shades is actually what made me aware of that. I enjoyed the book, but I read it differently than everyone else did. I read it as a satire of the new adult genre. The whole contract bit in the beginning was hilarious - but I also negotiate and write contracts for a living. Everyone else focused on the silly sex scenes, the repetitive bits, and the whole inner goddess. While I was focusing on the absurdity - and finding it highly amusing. So, it really does depend on what you focused on, your mood when you were reading it, what you read last, what was happening in your life at the time, and what you do for a living. All those things come into play.

So when you write a rant or a review - you need, I think, to be careful to take all of that into account, and not project your dislike of the book onto others. ie. Respect the people who enjoyed it, don't belittle them or make them feel inferior. Which is easier said than done. It's a mistake I've admittedly made at times - with the aforesaid Twilight series.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I read any genre I feel like, and yes sometimes I will pick up a YA book like The Hunger Games or The Fault In Our Stars if it's something that's getting a lot of buzz and attention, who cares

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

Sometimes you read things just for entertainment. Or sometimes you read things for curiosity. Sometimes you read something to mock the hell out of it. There's no set limit on what you can read or how much you can read. Who gets to assign the 'acceptable' lifetime reading list? And why should anyone care?