Wednesday 30 July 2014

Good books/ Bad books- part 6

Now I'm getting a head of steam and I'm going to take on some books that are modern favourites, but they are "bad books- in my opinion".
I have said that "one person's pleasure is another person's annoyance".  Here are my annoyances:
"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
   Horror of horrors!  Children killing children!  And the killing is made into a reality show!  Horror of horrors!
   And most of my grandchildren read this book!  Horror of horrors!
   And here is the real shocker!  My oldest granddaughter wanted me to read it so that we could go to the movie!  Her grandfather bet her $100.00 that she couldn't convince me.  And here's the real shocker!  I read it!  And she got $100.00!

   I read it because I had to see for myself what was attracting so much attention.  I still don't know.  My grandchildren have tried to explain it to me, but they obviously read a different book!   Is it the 'generation gap'? Are they immune to the violence?
   The Hunger Games takes place in Panem, after the destruction of North America.  Panem consists of a wealthy capital surrounded by 12 poor districts.  The 13th District had been destroyed because of a rebellion.  As punishment, every year, one boy and one girl, ages 12-18 are chosen by lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, where they kill each other until one remains.
Katniss, age 16, offers to replace her sister and ends up victorious.
   I found the book extremely distressing!  The premise is so distressing!  Horror of horrors!


"50 Shades of Grey" by E.L.James
  Yes, I read that too!  How stupid am I?  An aquaintance convinced me this time, so that we could discuss it.  She was no young chicken herself!  And she loved every book of the series!  Well, we did discuss it and had absolutely no common ground.  I found it abusive and pornographic, but she was smitten by Christian.  This gal reads only vampire books and the positive characteristics of Christian appealed to her.  Christian is gorgeous, super-wealthy, a concert pianist, and a pilot.  But, but, but...when Anastasia tries to get away from him, he follows her.  Can you spell 'stalker'?

The author of this book is 49 and describes this book as her midlife crisis, full of her fantasies.  She was a studio manager's assistant in England when she became fascinated with the twilight series.  She wrote on a website using Twilight characters.  Then she changed the names and made it into a book - in fact, 3 books.  And I read all three!

Anastasia, university student, meets Christian Grey when she interviews him for the school newspaper.  She becomes completely befuddled, trips, studders.  She is a virgin and he introduces her to BDSM.
Christian has no idea of 'love', only control.  Because Anastasia is smitten, she signs a paper saying she will tell no one.  This is a problem because girls need to talk over relationships.
There is another paper that Christian would like her to sign - agreeing to different 'tortures'.
This is the first of three novels and it ends up with Anastasia leaving him.  I would have been happy for the series to end there, although I have to admit that the third book was the best.  More plot, less porn.
One reason that I agreed to read this book is because it is hugely popular!  I have had many conversations trying to figure out what has attracted mostly women to this book.
I am distressed by the message that love is worth putting yourself in danger.  Christian is very controlling and worse than a stalker.  He finds out her banking information as well as every other detail about her and knows where she is at all times.  Is it popular just because it's quirky?  Or because porn has become mainstream?  And the movie is coming!


"Paradise" by Toni Morrison

"They shoot the white girl first.  With the rest they can take their time".  This is the first sentence of the book.  The novel begins and ends with a massacre.  Ruby, Oklahoma is the location of tension between the women in town and the women living at the convent outside of town.
  The story travels back and forth in time and includes supernatural aspects.  I read the book twice and still couldn't understand it.
  Oprah bought the movie rights and I saw the movie with two other women but none of us could figure it out.
  Oprah loves Toni Morrison but her writing is beyond my understanding.



"419" by Will Ferguson

I have enjoyed books by Will Ferguson, but this book was a great disappointment for me!
It has four storylines that do not weave well together.
Laura Curtis' elderly father is caught in a 419 scam and kills himself.
Amina (didn't learn her name until chapter 47) wanders through a sand storm, while she is pregnant.  Why?
Winston, in Nigeria, is the 419 scammer.
Nnamdi comes from the Niger Delta and explains the horrendous workings of the oil industry there. He meets and tries to help Amina.
Laura goes to Lagos and does, in fact, retrieve some of the money taken from her father.
And the storylines do come together somewhat.
But there was too much description, too much confusion of plot, and no characters that I cared about.
I couldn't bear to keep reading in places, and so, I skimmed the deadly parts.

Other readers loved these books.  I did not- too much violence, confusion of plot, darkness.

So now I'll go back to reading "Little House on the Prairie" which is perhaps where I should have stayed!
Stay tuned for more horror stories!

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