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Talk of the Blogs
December 2nd, 2008
I've latched onto a couple of interesting discussions taking place in the Kidlitosphere in the past 24 hours. Take a look...
- Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect asks why we read. Her question is spurred by a profoundly irritating, borderline offensive review of Twilight in The Atlantic, "What Girls Want," by Caitlin Flanagan. The column is rife with gross generalizations and ignorance of teen literature, not to mention multi-directional sexism and heterosexism. Even if I weren't a person who hates being told what I think, what I feel, what I'm like, or who I am (does anyone?), I'd still want to remind Ms. Flanagan that one person's experiences do not a broad-sweeping phenomenon make.
- Liz at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy asks what personal area of expertise results in a "fail" moment when the book you're reading gets it wrong. For me, it's dog ownership and librarianship. And, I suppose local information. (I still haven't gotten over James Howe sending that giraffe to the nonexistent zoo in Kalamazoo!)
That article really sets my teeth on edge. She says some things I can get behind, and then completely obliterates the good points with horrible generalizations and sweeping tripe and jaw-dropping ignorance. And why oh why is someone who knows nothing about current YA lit writing this article??? Good god.
Must go look at Cuteoverload to cleanse brain...
One of the other commenters at Tricia's blog mentioned that Flanagan is known for her antifeminist stance. That's all we need, right? An antifeminist who "hates YA books" writing about "what girls want" in YA books.
I'll meet you over by the puppy with the cell phone.
Yes, much better now. :)
For me it's language. I was yelling at Number the Stars because it contained a STUPID mistake on page two when Lois Lowry used German. I yelled at Jane Yolen's Brian Rose for the same reason. And then there's that IDIOT who self-published his book; his book title is in French, and he got the gender of the adjective WRONG. (I wrote a post about that one.)
If you're going to use a foreign language in your book, for god's sake have someone who speaks the language double check your usage!
Back to Cuteoverload...
LOL, we really do have our buttons, don't we?
When I write, I'm very, very afraid of getting things wrong. That's why it's good to have an expert you can ask to vet things for you. And if you don't have an expert, go find one!
But I guess it's a case of people being ignorant of their limitations. I think it was Nietzsche my literary theory professor paraphrased as saying, "You can't know what you don't know." (Though I am well aware that I know jack about Nietzsche.)