August 08, 2004

Chick Lit Author round table. So - frivolous froth, or 'valuable social commentary and great literature' ?
posted by Plegmund 20 years ago
  • want 2 bone first one second column but I might be just drunk. Oh, valuable social commentary and great lit. Definately great lit. Wait does proust count.
  • These types of books aren't new, only the vocabulary used to describe them has. I see them (and their predesessors) as a kind of bridge between romance novels and literature. Hopefully they'll get a few readers to cross the gap. Something like Danielle Steele > Bridget Jones > Possession. At least that's my hope.
  • Almost every writer at the table said Jane Austen was the first ChickLit writer they read. So, they see at least the possibility of literature in ChickLit itself (Austen = valuable social commentary and great literature, no doubts). That said, Marian Keyes (who I'll admit to liking quite a bit, great for planes and doorstops both) called it when she said ChickLit as a genre was essentially marketing, and little else.
  • I like chick lit. Fun, quick reads. Doesnt mean I don't enjoy more serious lit, Catch-22 is one of my all-time favorites. But I also love the Princess Diaries. I just read what I like, screw categories.
  • Also, has anyone else noticed a lot of so-called chick lit is written in the form of the heroine's diary?
  • That's just sad attempts to cash in on the success of BJD - just like there's a heck of a lot of new children's fantasy around that's frightfully similar to Rowling's.
  • >cough< Jane Eyre >cough<
  • I wonder why 'Chick Lit' didn't emerge in the 1970s or even 60s (even if only as a marketing label). I suspect the reason is that in those days writers would have felt obliged to give their stories at least a superficial 'message', whereas now we're more relaxed about books that are just entertaining (In fairness, I haven't actually read all these authors, so I might be doing some of them an injustice.)
  • forks, Jane Eyre isn't ChickLit, it's crap lit. It's almost as overrated as Wuthering Heights. /personal incendiary opinion
  • I prefer The Well of Loneliness. It's fully hot. *picks sudden irruption of blood from handkerchief, calls Satety Monitor*
  • *calls Preview Monitor*
  • I have actually been doing a little research/prcatice on this whole hangover situation over the summer. I have found two things that work Prickly Pear Cactus and N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) The NAC you can buy a any health food store. The combination of these two supplements and a 32 ounce gatorade before bed has all but rid myself of hangovers.
  • whoa wrong thread all together... excuse my interference.
  • And here we are, with The Well of Loneliness Hangover Cure right in front of us. Now wot do we do, read it or take it?
  • I find Chicklit extremely depressing. The heroines in them often have more or less realistically drawn problems, which are then solved in a completely unrealistic, unconvincing way. A reader with similar problems who happened to relate to the character is left feeling cheated, because there are no such fairy tale endings for her, and she hasn't been given any realistic example or ideas for coping with similar issues. I like a good, fun read, but I've pretty much sworn off these books, as they don't qualify.
  • Screw the pink covers - I'm getting sick of all the foot/high heel/leg covers. Yeesh.