Sunday, June 03, 2012

Ketchup

Finishing "The Stand" for me is like moving to a different city.  Not the arrived at part, but the leaving part.  I always feel a little bit sad when I'm done with it.  I finished it this morning on the elliptical at the gym, and still had like five minutes to go.  It's too dramatic of a novel to just move on to the next one, so I pretty much put my head down and grieved a little bit.  Seriously.  I bet people thought I was tired.  I wasn't that tired.

I've read "The Stand" roughly ten times over the years, but it's been a while since I'd read it last; it hasn't changed.  The only thing I will say is that back when I used to read it, I liked (loved) each and every one of the characters (the good guys anyway; the bad guys I felt pity for) as if I'd known them forever.  This time around, after about ten years, I have to say that if I met Frannie now, we wouldn't be friends.  She whines.  And the crying!  I mean, I realize you're pregnant with a baby that may or may not be immune to the plague that killed 99% of the population, leaving you to fend for yourself while you follow a dream character that becomes the figurehead for all that is good and God-like while you essentially WALK from Maine to Colorado, but come on.  Lighten up a little bit.  That damsel-in-distress gig may have worked on 34-year-old me, but it's not working on 46-year-old me.  At all.

Anyway, grieving done, I moved on to the new John Irving, which, after reading a couple of reviews (seriously, my attention span is getting shorter and shorter when it comes to things like that) kind of seems like it isn't a me kind of book.  But then I have to remember that I really do love John Irving and I'm not being true to my author favor by not reading it.  So I started it this afternoon while trying to work up a nap that didn't take.

I was almost talked in to reading that whole "Fifty Shades" situation but decided, upon reading a review, against it, and here's why:  The reviewer didn't like it because it sounded like it was written by a teenager.  I can handle a lot of things, but I cannot handle bad writing.  And if I read what everyone else on the planet seems to be reading and raving about, and the writing was bad, well, nobody wants to hear me rant and rave about the education levels in the United States again.  I powered through the "Twilight" crap and "The Hunger Games", yes, but at least the WRITING was okay.  Content is nothing if the writing is bad.  I won't subject myself to that.  So don't try to talk me into fifty shades of anything.

I've had the last week off, went to Ontario from Saturday to Tuesday, had a fabulous homecoming, and then proceeded to shop every single day for the rest of the week.  I am pretty sure I'm broke now.  But I have some fun stuff.. It'll be good to go back to work, back to routine, back to structure.

Oh and I quit smoking.

6 Comments:

At 3:38 AM, June 04, 2012, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yay on the smoking!

I have to say....one reviewer said the writing was bad? Wow. One, huh? I love to read - always have several books going, and am almost done with the 3rd Fifty Shades book. One thing I've thought from the beginning is the author writes well. Given the storyline, she keeps the banter clever and engaging.

Not to mention it's the best sex to come down the pike (no pun intended) in years.

Might wanna re-think not reading them. I'd have thought you a person who'd not be swayed by anything other than your own experience. Just sayin'.

Jean

 
At 6:23 AM, June 05, 2012, Blogger JJ said...

DANG it, Jean...

 
At 3:28 PM, June 05, 2012, Blogger Marita said...

Just read the damn book! :)

 
At 3:29 PM, June 05, 2012, Blogger Marita said...

Just read the damn book! :) Maybe I can't say if it's well written or not, but it's an easy read. And the sex keeps the pages turning. I mean, what's the worse?

 
At 3:18 PM, June 06, 2012, Blogger Marita said...

Ok, so I didn't think the first comment posted. Yeah, um, it did.

 
At 7:05 AM, June 09, 2012, Blogger JJ said...

Yeah see I have to moderate the comments or the Korean robots have a hey day on my blog and it pisses me off. Sorry Marita.

 

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