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[icepixie]

British novels always, always, always contain a character having a cup of tea, which inevitably makes me want tea, which consequently leads to me going to the bathroom every half hour because caffeine is a diuretic. Sigh. But it does taste good.

Speaking of British novels...Ellen, how does it feel to be a book addiction fairy? 'Cause I remembered you mentioning Nick Hornby, and I happened to be in the "H" section of the library the other day, and somehow About a Boy found its way into my hand. I seem to remember something similar happening with the first Bridget Jones book. Are you trying to take over my brain with snarky British chicklit?

At least, I think this was chicklit. Chicklit for boys? Chicklit for girls but from a male POV? Not chicklit at all, despite concerning many of the same themes and types of character? What was it? I'm trying to categorize it, but I think it might be uncategorizable. It was good, anyway; I very nearly pulled a book allnighter last night after starting it around 10 PM, but in the end decided to quit half-way through and get some sleep.

I particularly liked the bit where Will is going on and on to himself about how very good he felt after buying the cool shoes for Marcus so the kid wouldn't get beat up at school, how it was a natural high, how it was totally changing his life, not to mention Marcus's, and then Marcus comes by the next day and the school bullies have stolen the shoes. Hornby, I think, is a man who probably feels a deep kinship with Marvin the Depressive Android. Or perhaps Murphy. Or, I dunno, any nerdy kid ever.

The fact that it wasn't a traditional love story and wasn't so girly and self-consciously life-affirming were big points in its favor, particularly as I just suffered through Practical Magic, for got knows what reason. Hoffman describes things beautifully, and for all I know writes great things outside of this book, but wow, the sugar. I was hoping for more witchcraft, less glurge. I think that might have been what kept me reading to the last freaking page, despite getting disgusted with the whole thing around page fifty.

Hmmm. What shall I read next, I wonder? Or maybe I could actually finish this neverending chapter I'm writing. That would be nice.

Comments

[alto2.livejournal.com]

My love for Nick Hornby knows no bounds. Well, okay, it probably knows one or two (like the bounds that, if crossed, would turn me into a stalker), but you know what I mean. About a Boy was my first Hornby, and is also the book/movie that taught me I should always see the movie first, then read the book--the movie itself was a fine film, but it necessarily lacks the wonderful witty narration, and therefore I couldn't help but be disappointed. I also liked How to be Good, which was written from the wife's point of view--a first for Hornby, I think.

I never would have thought to compare it to chick lit, so you've got me thinking. I just thought of it as a modern British novel that happened to be especially witty. I don't think I'd want to try to categorize it as anything more than that; I suspect my brain would start to hurt quite a lot.

I've had a copy of his newest, A Long Way Down, for a few months and really need to get off my arse and read it. He also edited a book of short stories a few years ago, one of which is by Colin Firth. I think the collection is called Speaking with the Angel, but don't quote me on that!

[alto2.livejournal.com]

Oops! I forgot Alice Hoffman! I've read Second Nature, Practical Magic, Turtle Moon, and Here on Earth. Possibly in that order (I know I have the first and last right). I saw PM before I read the book, and I think they were different enough that I ended up liking the movie more. I absolutely hated HoE, mostly because it was a thoroughly depressing book and I hated the ending (the ending is probably entirely justified in order to keep from being all Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, but it just felt incredibly oppressive to me, and it's a wonder I finished it at all).

I agree that her prose is gorgeous. It's been long enough, though (at least five years), that I don't remember whether I found it excessively sweet or not. I just know that I survived a 6-hour wait for a car inspection (gotta love New Jersey) because I'd had the foresight to bring Turtle Moon with me, very nearly un-started. I finished it by the time that ordeal was over!

[icepixie]

I found myself irritated with the SISTERS ARE AWESOME AND YOU SHOULD LOVE YOURS EVEN IF YOU HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER message; it was overdone, IMO. Also, the "Sally's an awesome single mother! So capable! So good to her kids! But she's devoted herself to her kids and lost herself in the process...wouldn't she be much better with a MAN?" bit irked. And the conclusion, with all four of the girls realizing how wonderful family was, even though they'd hated each other just a hundred pages before, seemed very pat, especially as they all ended up with a serious boyfriend at the end as well. It was all a bit perfect for my taste.

Also, I wanted real witchcraft, dammit, not this fakey-fakey old-aunts-doing-love-potions-out-of-herbs crap. I was expecting at least a few unexplained coincidences, but there weren't even any of those.

[alto2.livejournal.com]

Good points, all. Like I said, it's been a while, so I don't have any concrete memory of it, but I did prefer the movie. I recall feeling vaguely disappointed by it, but no real sense of why. That may well be it, though, because that sort of thing would have annoyed the hell out of me, too.

:-\

[icepixie]

I didn't even know AaB was a film.

I never would have thought to compare it to chick lit, so you've got me thinking. I just thought of it as a modern British novel that happened to be especially witty.

Probably that is more what it ought to be called. I think the cover blurb made me think "chick lit" because it's all, "Trials of single parenting in this modern society! Single people over thirty looking for love! Lots of wit!" which kinds of screams the genre to me. But it's not, really, I suppose...I dunno. Maybe it's just that the same person who recommended him to me also recommended Bridget Jones, so somehow the two became linked in my mind.

[alto2.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know AaB was a film.

Yup. Came out maybe...five years ago? Hugh Grant and Toni Collette. I watched it a few days after finishing the book, which I don't recommend. Wait a few months so the language isn't so fresh in your head, and it should be better. I should watch it again and see what I think of it now.

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know AaB was a film.

You should definitely see it, unless you're one of those rabid anti-Hugh-Grant people. It's not up to novel standards, of course, but it's worth watching.

Maybe it's just that the same person who recommended him to me also recommended Bridget Jones, so somehow the two became linked in my mind.

Muahaha, I corrupt your brain! Hornby is definitely the darker, maler version of Helen Fielding. (I almost wouldn't call Fielding "chicklit," anyway, because to me chicklit implies bad/careless writing, and I think the Bridget Jones books are anything but, despite appearances.)

At least, I think this was chicklit. Chicklit for boys? Chicklit for girls but from a male POV? Not chicklit at all, despite concerning many of the same themes and types of character? What was it? I'm trying to categorize it, but I think it might be uncategorizable.

...Dudelit? The thing I love about it is, it takes a chicklit premise and then adds... reality? Like, the kind of reality where you get kicked a lot while you're down, and people point and laugh? Except cool? Jabbing the snarky pins of reality into the happy shiny bubbles of relationship
fantasies, yay!

Are you trying to take over my brain with snarky British chicklit?

Yes! Finally, you notice! : D And yet, I cannot take credit for the ability of Hornby to jump off shelves and into hands. I'm just the enabler messenger.

I have to... go... now... and do something entirely unrelated to rereading certain books...

[icepixie]

You should definitely see it, unless you're one of those rabid anti-Hugh-Grant people. It's not up to novel standards, of course, but it's worth watching.

Hugh Grant's okay. He doesn't actually make much of an impression on me, to tell the truth, although I know I've seen him in stuff. I worry more about having not ever heard of this movie before. Unless it was super low-budget, that tends to spell bad things.

Muahaha, I corrupt your brain!

Evil person.

Hornby is definitely the darker, maler version of Helen Fielding. (I almost wouldn't call Fielding "chicklit," anyway, because to me chicklit implies bad/careless writing, and I think the Bridget Jones books are anything but, despite appearances.)

It implies bad writing? For me, it's categorized almost solely on the basis of what the plot revolves around; basically, I see it as the halfway point between romance novels and general fiction. In other words, at the core it's a romance, or is possibly about romances that go wrong, but it can afford to have subplots not related to love and the writing is generally better. 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.

The more I examine my actual criteria for chick lit, the more I realize Hornby doesn't really fall into it. You're totally right below in that he takes a typical chick lit premise and inserts reality.

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

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.

[icepixie]

...You haven't read About a Boy yet? Really?

Hmmm. I am very lazy. I could do with some Kensterized goodness, if you wouldn't mind...

and... that doesn't imply bad writing to you? : )

Not particularly. For me, writing quality is a different metric than the one I'm using to categorize things as "romance," "chick lit," and "general fiction." Bad writing happens to have a strong correlation with romance novels, but correlation isn't causation and all that.

But that's just my personal take on it.

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?

*sigh* Apparently not. That's why I read sci-fi.

I just finished A Long Way Down. It was...okay. Not bad. But if I'd read it first, it wouldn't have inspired me to pick up anything else by him. I'm halfway through How To Be Good, and it's a bit better, but I'm taking a break from it right now and I'm not sure when I'll get up the initiative to finish it.

AaB was funnier than both of these, which is I think why I liked it more. Maybe?

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

Bad writing happens to have a strong correlation with romance novels, but correlation isn't causation and all that.

Yeah, yeah, but the end result is the same: steering clear of those shelves in bookstores. Ugh.

I just finished A Long Way Down. It was...okay. Not bad. But if I'd read it first, it wouldn't have inspired me to pick up anything else by him. I'm halfway through How To Be Good, and it's a bit better, but I'm taking a break from it right now and I'm not sure when I'll get up the initiative to finish it.

Odd. Maybe it's just that I'm really attached to his books on a personal level, and not just on a literary, aesthetic level. I've never read anyone so articulate about depression, and his writing has helped me understand my own depression better. Oh well, I guess his books might be a niche market. Much like his sense of humor. Alas.

AaB was funnier than both of these, which is I think why I liked it more. Maybe?

AaB was freaking hilarious. I mean, Will could be seen as a ridiculous caricature, except for the fact that he was lying through his teeth a lot. I think part of what's great about Hornby is his ability to write brutal honesty (and brutal not-so-honesty) in a really funny way. I thought about taking it to read on the bus to work, but decided not to, because I couldn't laugh as hard as I wanted to on a bus. Yeah, AaB isn't nearly as dark as HtbG or ALWD.

[icepixie]

Yeah, yeah, but the end result is the same: steering clear of those shelves in bookstores. Ugh.

But chick lit is shelved with general fiction! You can't steer clear of it! (...Unfortunately.)

Maybe it's just that I'm really attached to his books on a personal level, and not just on a literary, aesthetic level.

Perhaps so.

AaB was freaking hilarious. I mean, Will could be seen as a ridiculous caricature, except for the fact that he was lying through his teeth a lot. I think part of what's great about Hornby is his ability to write brutal honesty (and brutal not-so-honesty) in a really funny way.

I could see that.

[rowdycamels.livejournal.com]

My love for Nick Hornby knows no bounds.

*GASP* A real, live, Nick Hornby fan! I'd given up hope of ever finding one! As Becca can tell you, I've been preaching The Gospel That Is Hornby at my friends for months, but she's the only one that's fallen for it so far.

You should go read A Long Way Down RIGHT NOW. It's even better than How to be Good. Absolutely brilliant. I've never seen depression written that well, or that hilariously. I read it while traveling on the first day of the "Oh no, your travel-size shampoo is suddenly a terrorist plot!!" uproar, and it's the most fun I've ever had while stuck in an airport.

[alto2.livejournal.com]

OMG, the man is brilliant! It's an absolute joy to read his prose. And being the Anglophile I am, the sheer Britishness of his writing is an added bonus. I haven't read Fever Pitch yet, either, though I'm still irritated that they turned it into an American baseball movie. Bah!

it's the most fun I've ever had while stuck in an airport.

Well, with that endorsement, how can I possibly say no? I'll move it up in my to-be-read pile :)