Today is the 70th anniversary of the movie premiere in Atlanta.
Oh, no, oh, no! Spontaneous poetic exclamations. Lord, spare me college boys in love.
Dr. Walsh ,'Potential'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Ginger - Dec 15, 2009 1:41:46 pm PST #10665 of 28370
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Hil R. - Dec 15, 2009 1:52:32 pm PST #10666 of 28370
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Somewhat random question: How important is it to you to like the characters in a book in order to like the book? I've had a few conversations lately where I've said I liked a book and someone else replied, "Oh, I hated it -- the main character was such a bitch" or "Ugh -- that main character was a horrible person." And I was kind of stuck in, "Well, yes, but they're entertaining horrible people." I can think of lots of books that I love where I'd probably strangle any of the characters if I had to actually interact with them for more than five minutes, but I still say I love the book because I love watching what happens to these horrible people or how they do their horrible stuff. In several of these cases, the person said, "I hated that character," and my response was a confused, "Were we supposed to like her?"
Connie Neil - Dec 15, 2009 1:57:07 pm PST #10667 of 28370
brillig
I dislike books where the unlikeable person is the focus of the book, because I've get better things to do than spend that much time with someone I don't like.
Scrappy - Dec 15, 2009 2:05:51 pm PST #10668 of 28370
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
If they are unlikable but entertaining I will enjoy reading about them. The guy in High Fidelity is a jerk for a good part of the book, but he is fun to read about, for example. Sherlock Holmes would be another example.
brenda m - Dec 15, 2009 2:12:27 pm PST #10669 of 28370
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
And I was kind of stuck in, "Well, yes, but they're entertaining horrible people."
That I can live with. I've started and not finished too many books recently where I was more like "I wouldn't want to spend two minutes around these people in real life, I'm not doing that on the page either."
§ ita § - Dec 15, 2009 2:14:00 pm PST #10670 of 28370
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I'm looking forward to partaking of American Psycho in one form or another, and I understand there's no liking to be had there. I also liked A Clockwork Orange and there's no feeling for Alex until possibly the end.
flea - Dec 15, 2009 2:41:32 pm PST #10671 of 28370
information libertarian
I could never watch Seinfeld because everyone annoyed me so much. Not that that was a book.
erikaj - Dec 15, 2009 2:59:59 pm PST #10672 of 28370
Always Anti-fascist!
I don't know...in some cases, but not always. Sometimes it's how they tell it.
Steph L. - Dec 15, 2009 3:03:50 pm PST #10673 of 28370
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
I could never watch Seinfeld because everyone annoyed me so much. Not that that was a book.
That's why I couldn't watch The Inside. As much as I wanted to get behind a Minear project, I found everyone on that show impossible to like.
I'm trying to think if there are any books that I read willingly in which I disliked the main character, or more than 1 character. I find almost all the characters in Wuthering Heights very unlikeable, but I had to read that for a class.
JZ - Dec 15, 2009 3:08:22 pm PST #10674 of 28370
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Most of the characters in Vanity Fair are either loathsome or contemptible (some, of course, are both), but Lordy it's a fun read.