Jane Austen tries her hand at advertising: [link]

Eeeeeeeevil.

Pure and unadulterated.

I, too, am gobsmacked by the book shop manager thinking it odd that you are an eclectic reader. That's pretty bloody pathetic, imho - I mean, fine, s/he isn't one, but to find it odd that a fellow book store employee has broad taste in books... pathetic.

Lockwood is the narrator. I always felt Withering heights would be a good story, but seeing it through Lockwood/Nelly Dean drove me fucking nuts. As did the stableman's accent.

If I used emoticons, this would be the moment when I inserted a wee sadfaced emoticon, because I loved the hell out of Wuthering Heights. And I was actually pretty damn delighted by Joseph's dialogue, (although I appreciate that you wouldn't have the same reaction I had) because that is EXACTLY how people speak in my town - but one so rarely sees the dialect in print. It gave me a warm little glow of nostalgia/regional-patriotism (is there a word for that?) a bit like watching Sean Bean being interviewed on telly. I was all: "My People!" (Which is hilariously inappropriate of me, being so very generic-middle-class expat Brit, and NEVER having had a Yorkshire accent myself.)

I've not read Atonement, but I recently read On Chesil Beach and really didn't love it. But that wasn't just about an unsympathetic narrator.

It's years and years since I read The Aeneid, but I do remember finding it pretty difficult to give a shit about Aeneas after he'd left Dido in the lurch and she'd topped herself. I realise that The Big Macho Mission To Found Rome was supposed to be the point, but I still pretty much thought he was a weasel from that point on, and that he and the future Romans could all bugger off. He and his gods totally screwed Dido over. (Possibly I'd have a different take upon rereading today - I was sixteen at the time.)

I loathed American Psycho and its protagonist with every fibre of my being, and continued reading it to the end in the vain hopes that I would find some closure. I absofuckinglutely did NOT need to harbour the image of (seriously, don't read the whitefont if you're squeamish/haven't read the book) him jamming a pipe up the vagina of one of his victims, and sticking a starving rat into said pipe, and watching while the rat had a field day chowing down on the inner organs of the still-living girl.

Seriously, I didn't give a shit whether the narrator was reliable, unreliable or what the hell ever; I just wanted him (and indeed the writer, who had created and shared that scene) to vanish in a puff of smoke forever and ever and ever amen. It's the only book I've ever recommended people not to read. I don't think I'd do that now, mind you, but at the time I found the experience of reading it so thoroughly unpleasant that I sincerely wished I'd never plucked it from a shelf in the first place - and that's odd, because I adore Iain (M) Banks, and his books are frequently gruesome and Minear-ishly brutal.

Er - sorry, that post was rather more expletive-laden than neccesary, wasn't it? I seem to be developing a Tourettes-like level of cursing in my downtime, now that I'm back at achool - seven hours of being wholesome a day and having "crazypants!" as my strongest expletive does seem to result in mighty upsurge in my swearing levels once there are no small children in my immediate vicinity.

t sheepish

Heh, Fay-- I know what you mean about the swearing. I come back from writers' conferences and Lewis practically has to duct tape my mouth shut until I relearn how to speak around the kids. Although he has his moments too-- he's just never aware of them.

And I think Bret Easton Ellis absolutely delights in pushing the envelope from that standpoint, whether it advances the story or not. It's one reason I'm not at all crazy about him as a writer-- I don't think he's concerned about overall story arc so much as he is about finding a way to go from shocking scene to shocking scene, if that makes any sense?

I loathed American Psycho and its protagonist with every fibre of my being

And yet, it managed to become a hilarious movie. Granted, nowhere near as graphic as the novel, and the filmmakers definitely made it obvious that he was probably only doing things inside his head.

"Do you like Huey Lewis and the News?"

ION, I know I should know who Nelly Dean is, but I'm totally blanking. Sigh. Senior moments are coming a tad early, methinks.

ETA, Google is my friend, and, yes, beating her to death with a shovel is just about right.

yesterday a guest expressed surprise that I could tell her about the movies we are showing. Later I heard someone ask a cashier, "what's that movie about?" and she said, "er, um, here's a paper you can read about it." and handed the guest a synopsis. We have been showing this movie for a month and the cashier stands next to that synopsis every time she works box office. You'd think just once she'd get bored enough to read it. I felt like asking her, "what would you think if you went to a restaurant and asked your waiter what a dish was like and they told you to read the menu?" but I thought that might come across as mean.

As those of you who have seen my house know, I will read anything that stands still long enough. I tend to buy nonfiction, usually on sale, because if takes me longer to read and I get library guilt. I get my mysteries and the like from the library. Of course, if really like a book, I'll buy it when it comes out in paperback. This is so that if I'm ever trapped in my house for two or three years, I'll have something to read.

I don't read much contemporary "serious" fiction, because I like something to happen in a book. If I wished to dwell on inner insecurities, I have plenty of my own. I have not read many romances, mostly because I find it easier to believe in monsters than romance. It is not because of any disdain for the genre, though.

In the absence of other reading material, I have read cereal boxes, assembly instructions, automotive catalogs, dictionaries, encyclopedias and the occasional MSDS.

I think I've drawn the line at stereo instructions.

I think I've drawn the line at stereo instructions.

Nope, I've gone down that road.

I have read cereal boxes, assembly instructions, automotive catalogs, dictionaries, encyclopedias and the occasional MSDS.

This is me.