I envy, probably more than I should, the Victorians who read Dracula before it became such a part of our culture. Imagine reading Dracula for the first time, when you don't know that vampires don't show up in mirrors.
In general, about 7% of the time I regret reading books because I will never be able to read them for the first time again.
I am such an insufferable snob about literature. This is one of the things I dislike about myself (my tendency towards superiority complexes) but when it comes to books, I can't say I hope it changes. You can, of course, still be a good person and think Ann Rice is a good author. I know some people who do, and they are good people. However, they have no idea about books and thus I will probably not take them very seriously when they talk about anything text-based. Tolerance and open-mindedness will get you far, but at some point, stupid is stupid.
I am beginning to be horrified at the vast quantity of chick lit flooding the market. I like brightly-colored covers as much as the next girl, but this genre does literature and chicks no favors. It should have stopped with Bridget Jones. Or, more happily, I could have been the only person to ever have read and loved Bridget, and thus the terrible, terrible second movie would not have been made.
Sometimes I wonder about the serial. If television has replaced it entirely. I wonder if anyone will watch Friends in thirty years, or fifty. I was never a Friends fan when it was on, so I can safely say that I will not be purchasing the DVDs to pass on to my children.
PS: I love the title song. It is sappy and ridiculous and everything I love to ridicule, but I have a non-ironic love for this song, particularly as performed live by Kenny Chesney. Despise me if you dare.
2 comments:
How are you discussing your judgement of others based on literary tastes/knowledge and daring others to judge you based on your music tastes in the same breath? Knowledge of literature is no more or less worthwhile than that of music. Just because you know more about literature, you value it more, and thus use it as a mode for judgement. But I can just as easily criticize your lack of musical knowledge. Your 'at some point, stupid is just stupid' comment holds in any and all realms, you know.
I guess I'm confused as well as to how you could think people who like Anne Rice don't know anything about literature and then in the same breath praise Bridget Jones. While I actually agree with you on both Rice and Bridget, I guess I'm more of the midset that I tend to heckle the writers of said books and not the readers. I don't think my grandmother is stupid for liking The Mermaid Chair, I just think the writing was bad, you know? Either way though you are of course entitled to your opinion and to say it as loudly as you want, especiually on your own blog. So know I say this not to judge, but to give my opinion.
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