I know I'm not easy, and Hyne knows just what a royal pain in the ass I can be about certain things. One of them is books. Sure, I always tell people that if you'd like to make me happy, and I mean, REALLY make me happy, get me a book. Thing is that it seems the world is being poluted with all kinds of crappy books lately. Hyne knows I've read a few "I gonna cry and commit suicide because it's so craptacularly B-A-to tha-Dizzle" books, and they were my fault (the crimes you commit and witness for a bit of gay literature) but then there are books that you should KNOW they are not good. Harry Potter, for instance, it's the case of a book that starts nicely, continues a little strained and then goes practically copy-pasting stuff from Fanfiction.net. Dude, really. Too bad the theft wasn't on the good fics. Then again, a series of book written for fickers.
Then there's the Twilight books, which are "Mary Sue got into Harlequined-Interview with a Vampire" and goes baaad, baaaaaad, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I never got around to read the books since I run out SCREAMING from the theatre... and there's a roomfull of people in Budapest who can testify. (Went exclusively to see Robert Pattinson, but after that movie I don't wish to ever see him again.) It's amazing how editorial houses and writers are capable of printing and selling low class crap and label it as "teen literature" or "children literature". Why? Kids and teens are not entitled to a bit of quality? Are kids and children the cultural wastebasket where you throw everything that's not nearly good enough for the average customer? Well, that could explain why each generation is more stupid than the one before it.
Then again, there are stupidizing books for the masses as well. I was--- well, for some reason a friend of mine thought I would be delighted in receiving a book written by Deepak Chopra. I wish I were in Hungary, so at least I could use that book in winter to feed the fireplace. I've got something titled "Golf for enlightment". I decided to read it just to please my friend, but it's so hard to read!!! Each sentence is an insult to human intelligence. It's written also for the people that's not used to read. Short sentences and filled with commonplaces. "Life is a miracle and every minute has a miracle. Yes, the miracle of life! Have you experienced unexplainable coincidences? Well, they are no coincidences, they are miracles!" The book manipulates and drives around the gullible reader, eager for a change in its miserable, pitiful life. But for someone with at least a few functional neurones, able to make a connection between A and B its an outrageous scheme. Can't wait to get rid of this crappy book.
I know, I know, you don't get rid or give away things that you receive as gifts, but this one is too much crap for me to keep.
---- ^_^ Done. Shimmy Gin just got me a victim, or maybe I should say a "receptor". Some people actually fall for this crap.
I know everybody likes different kinds of books... well, those who read. I'm not a deep and philosophical reader, au contraire, I like novels and books that touch sensitive topics and have something new, something that takes them away from any commonplace, either because they start there and twist it around the axis or because they delve into something one else would have dared (which is why I found homoerotica fascinating for a while). Like I say sometimes to Kari, I want a book that tells me "something I don't know" and something I'd like to know about. Give me something that triggers my curiosity.
When it comes to books, here are some pointers you may consider to reduce the chance of buying garbage:
1. Classics are a good place to start. They are classic for a reason, after all.
2. Nobel Prizes not necessarily are good.
3. Read the covers. If part of the story is on the back cover, there are chances that the book is good. If not, the book probably is crap (unless it's a classic and the story is so well known you don't really need an introduction to it).
4. If the book has comments and reviews on it... it might not be that good. If they have to advertise it that way is because something is not right. If the comments are for unknown sources, the book is 100% bad.
5. Look for the book in an online store where you can read the comments. Go for the worst comments. If the comments are punctual about a feature of the book, and doesn't simply say "this is crap", the book might really be bad. Then again, consider whether the things the bad comments say are important for you or not. Then, if many bad comments mention the same crappy feature, the book is 90% sure to be bad.
6. Before buying a book you are not sure about, try lookng it up on line, read a few pages, loan it from a friend, local library and check it out. It might save you a lot of money and a lot of headaches with literature that should be reserved for liting up fire or wiping asses.
There's a saying that goes "you are what you eat". I believe that "you are what you read".
Then there's the Twilight books, which are "Mary Sue got into Harlequined-Interview with a Vampire" and goes baaad, baaaaaad, baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. I never got around to read the books since I run out SCREAMING from the theatre... and there's a roomfull of people in Budapest who can testify. (Went exclusively to see Robert Pattinson, but after that movie I don't wish to ever see him again.) It's amazing how editorial houses and writers are capable of printing and selling low class crap and label it as "teen literature" or "children literature". Why? Kids and teens are not entitled to a bit of quality? Are kids and children the cultural wastebasket where you throw everything that's not nearly good enough for the average customer? Well, that could explain why each generation is more stupid than the one before it.
Then again, there are stupidizing books for the masses as well. I was--- well, for some reason a friend of mine thought I would be delighted in receiving a book written by Deepak Chopra. I wish I were in Hungary, so at least I could use that book in winter to feed the fireplace. I've got something titled "Golf for enlightment". I decided to read it just to please my friend, but it's so hard to read!!! Each sentence is an insult to human intelligence. It's written also for the people that's not used to read. Short sentences and filled with commonplaces. "Life is a miracle and every minute has a miracle. Yes, the miracle of life! Have you experienced unexplainable coincidences? Well, they are no coincidences, they are miracles!" The book manipulates and drives around the gullible reader, eager for a change in its miserable, pitiful life. But for someone with at least a few functional neurones, able to make a connection between A and B its an outrageous scheme. Can't wait to get rid of this crappy book.
I know, I know, you don't get rid or give away things that you receive as gifts, but this one is too much crap for me to keep.
---- ^_^ Done. Shimmy Gin just got me a victim, or maybe I should say a "receptor". Some people actually fall for this crap.
I know everybody likes different kinds of books... well, those who read. I'm not a deep and philosophical reader, au contraire, I like novels and books that touch sensitive topics and have something new, something that takes them away from any commonplace, either because they start there and twist it around the axis or because they delve into something one else would have dared (which is why I found homoerotica fascinating for a while). Like I say sometimes to Kari, I want a book that tells me "something I don't know" and something I'd like to know about. Give me something that triggers my curiosity.
When it comes to books, here are some pointers you may consider to reduce the chance of buying garbage:
1. Classics are a good place to start. They are classic for a reason, after all.
2. Nobel Prizes not necessarily are good.
3. Read the covers. If part of the story is on the back cover, there are chances that the book is good. If not, the book probably is crap (unless it's a classic and the story is so well known you don't really need an introduction to it).
4. If the book has comments and reviews on it... it might not be that good. If they have to advertise it that way is because something is not right. If the comments are for unknown sources, the book is 100% bad.
5. Look for the book in an online store where you can read the comments. Go for the worst comments. If the comments are punctual about a feature of the book, and doesn't simply say "this is crap", the book might really be bad. Then again, consider whether the things the bad comments say are important for you or not. Then, if many bad comments mention the same crappy feature, the book is 90% sure to be bad.
6. Before buying a book you are not sure about, try lookng it up on line, read a few pages, loan it from a friend, local library and check it out. It might save you a lot of money and a lot of headaches with literature that should be reserved for liting up fire or wiping asses.
There's a saying that goes "you are what you eat". I believe that "you are what you read".
1 comment:
^_^ La verdad es que "papel rules".
Hay clásicos que son difíciles de leer, como los de Marcel Proust, pero de verdad, son un buen lugar para irse dando una idea de lo que a uno le gusta. De ahí uno se va por otros libros, conoce otros géneros y va adquiriendo perspectiva y criterio.
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