Tuesday, November 23, 2010

I'm famous, so obviously I can write amazing novels

So I know I'm not the first critic of these celebrities turned writers, but I just had to say my part. Hilary Duff, Nicole Richie, Lauren Conrad, Pamela Anderson, and now SNOOKI from the Jersey Shore, are all "writers." Well, we all know what that means. They maybe say a few sentences in a meeting, then a ghost writer takes it from there. And these books end up on bestseller lists, maybe not at the top, but they are still there. Sometimes I hate people. Who is buying these books?

I can bitch and moan all I want about these people becoming writers and nothing will happen, but it still really bothers me. These are people who probably never grew up wanting to be writers, they just had the opportunity handed to them along with their "fame". I mean, SNOOKI? Seriously? She's famous for being on a shitty reality show on which all she does is get drunk and hook up with greasy guys. And she gets a book contract? NO. I could go off on tangents about every single one of these women, but I will not, at the risk of looking petty and immature.

I don't think I'm some amazing writer, but there are plenty of people out there who are and deserve a chance. Not Lauren Conrad, not Hilary Duff, not Nicole Richie, not Pamela Anderson, and not Snooki. They don't need the income from a book that they didn't write. Especially books with plots that are so cliche and writing that is barely a step up from high school or the Twilight series.

Come on people, skip these manufactured novels and read something worthwhile and interesting.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Bret Easton Ellis

I don't know why I haven't been posting...too much going on I guess. School, work, life in general. I also don't have anything to say right now...

Read Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis. So amazing. Also very graphic and kind of depressing, but I love his writing, because it's so distinctive. He describes certain horrible things so flippant and kind of detached, that it makes them seem more real...I don't know if I'm describing his writing accurately, but he definitely has a way of keeping me hooked and continually thinking about certain points in the novel.  

Imperial Bedrooms is a sequel to his 1985 novel Less Than Zero, which is one of my favorite books. It is narrated by Clay, the main character from the first novel, and and takes place twenty five years later. Ellis uses a post modern literary device, in that Less Than Zero was an actual novel written by a friend of Clay's in the eighties, but did not necessarily portray Clay in an entirely truthful light. This allows Clay in the present to be more fully developed and we learn more about his narcissism, sadistic and masochistic tendencies, as well as his exploitative personality that I didn't necessarily get from Less Than Zero. This Clay is extremely unlikeable, but at the same time utterly fascinating. It was a great book, but definitely not for everyone.

I just started reading The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and it's very, very absorbing, so I'll make sure to post about it soon as well.

Ta ta for now...I must go study some francais!