I worry more about having not ever heard of this movie before.
Eh, I think it was advertised as a chick flick, but it wasn't chick-flicky enough to grab that audience. And the rest of the world didn't see it, assuming it was a chick flick. Or something. Maybe the fact that it was 'foreign' did it in. Who knows. Anyway, by regular movie standards, it's good, and by Hornby novel standards, it's okay. (This coming from someone whose paperback copy of About A Boy hasn't shipped yet. In a few weeks, I can tell you how it measures up to the book.) If you're too lazy to Netflix it, I could mail you a cd of my Kenster version...
basically, I see it as the halfway point between romance novels and general fiction.
and... that doesn't imply bad writing to you? : ) The writing *is* generally better than romance novels, though that's not exactly saying much.
Almost always there's a lot of wailing on the main character's part about how she's empowered now, but it's gotten her nowhere because SHE CAN'T FIND A MAN, and in the end that's what makes me generally hate it as a genre.
Yeah, I love Austin and all, but... that was two hundred years ago. SURELY female-focused novels should have moved beyond marry-or-die by this point?
The more I examine my actual criteria for chick lit, the more I realize Hornby doesn't really fall into it.
Yeah, from what I've read of Hornby, his recurring theme seems to be "Crap, my life is pointless. What can I do about this?" And in About A Boy, the answer happened to involve Twu Wuv, or as close as Hornby gets to it. In How to Be Good and A Long Way Down, romance never even comes into the equation. Well, in passing, but it's not important to the end result at all. You might actually like them more.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-11-03 10:22 am (UTC)Eh, I think it was advertised as a chick flick, but it wasn't chick-flicky enough to grab that audience. And the rest of the world didn't see it, assuming it was a chick flick. Or something. Maybe the fact that it was 'foreign' did it in. Who knows. Anyway, by regular movie standards, it's good, and by Hornby novel standards, it's okay. (This coming from someone whose paperback copy of About A Boy hasn't shipped yet. In a few weeks, I can tell you how it measures up to the book.) If you're too lazy to Netflix it, I could mail you a cd of my Kenster version...
basically, I see it as the halfway point between romance novels and general fiction.
and... that doesn't imply bad writing to you? : ) The writing *is* generally better than romance novels, though that's not exactly saying much.
Almost always there's a lot of wailing on the main character's part about how she's empowered now, but it's gotten her nowhere because SHE CAN'T FIND A MAN, and in the end that's what makes me generally hate it as a genre.
Yeah, I love Austin and all, but... that was two hundred years ago. SURELY female-focused novels should have moved beyond marry-or-die by this point?
The more I examine my actual criteria for chick lit, the more I realize Hornby doesn't really fall into it.
Yeah, from what I've read of Hornby, his recurring theme seems to be "Crap, my life is pointless. What can I do about this?" And in About A Boy, the answer happened to involve Twu Wuv, or as close as Hornby gets to it. In How to Be Good and A Long Way Down, romance never even comes into the equation. Well, in passing, but it's not important to the end result at all. You might actually like them more.