Comments on: Not naming books I hate

By: Nikki

Nikki — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:14:11 +0000

Moby Dick…no easy read..long, difficult, still fascinating. Short spurts of reading and a little latte at you-know-where (named after Captain Ahab’s first mate) helps to ease the pain.

By: Rene

Rene — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:29:44 +0000

Jennifer: do please say something about The Teen Vampire Novel That’s Sweeping The Nation. I haven’t read it, but I bought it for my sister’s birthday. (She’s not a teen! But she likes vampires!)

I recently picked up a book by a Respected Author I had heard speak and only made it halfway through before abandoning it. I’ll try another, though, because he was funny in person.

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:24:15 +0000

Did I mention Sherlock Holmes? I did not. I have no idea what you’re talking about.

By: Jaye

Jaye — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:35:06 +0000

Sherlock Holmes is wonderful. C’mon…Sure, the stories are formulaic but still look what he did for the (now mostly stale) mystery genre. He’s compelling and develops over the course of the stories.

Never made it through Moby Dick, though.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:35:18 +0000

Smart move. I got some massive complaints from an author one time…oy.

I won’t say a dang thing about The Teen Vampire Novel That’s Sweeping The Nation, either.

By: Sherwood

Sherwood — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:33:15 +0000

*Watching as hordes of Melville scholars rumble up, glasses joggling, briefcases flapping…ducking as they hurl deconstructed postmodern white papers in your general direction*

By: mensley

mensley — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:58:56 +0000

“Esquimaux!”

My wife the American Lit scholar recently read Moby Dick for an advanced class, and she utterly shares your contempt for it.

Now if you brought the hate for Jane Austen she might get scary. Okay, not scary, but certainly astonished and vexed.

By: Delia

Delia — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:29:27 +0000

Maybe in Australia Am. Lit. scholars aren’t scary. I’ve met a few here that would give you pause for thought.

I rather like Moby Dick–all those great whale-oil extracting tips–but I don’t mind if you don’t. Mileage varies. I couldn’t read Ulysses, not even if it was ever so. And Hemingway just makes me hate men, so I try to stay away from him. Also, boring.

Hey, this dissing Dead White Authors is fun!

By: Justine

Justine — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:21:51 +0000

Serafina Zane & Cat: I’m not scared of you or your ninjas. No fear at all! Moby Dick is the most boring novel of ALL TIME.

By: cat sparks

cat sparks — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:17:54 +0000

But I scare you, right? I’m coming up there to slap you round for dissing the big fish book.

By: Serafina Zane

Serafina Zane — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:19:57 +0000

Obviously you have not encountered the fearsome American Lit ninjas. Fear them. They have copies of Moby Dick, and man, that book is HEAVY. Not a piece of literature I’d like upside the head.

By: El

El — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:44:23 +0000

I’ve never been able to get through Moby Dick, though I tried more than once.

Some years ago, I saw an interview on TV with Ray Bradbury, who wrote (cowrote? not sure) the script for the movie. He couldn’t stand it either, until he HAD to read it to do the script. I think he said he skipped around all over the place and came to love the book.

I have bought a new copy. I have from time to time considered whether now is the time to try that technique to see if I like it better.

I’ve never been able to convince myself to do it….

By: PixelFish

PixelFish — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:40:56 +0000

I’m guilty in the past of a few snarky reviews. I have a couple of books I love to hate, a couple of books I love madly despite being horribly flawed (wherein I talk about them the way you talk about family members with crazy habits that you love anyway), a handful I used to love but realise sucked, and a bunch that I thought sucked until I grew old enough to appreciate them. Recently, one author talked about a series that I had long ago dismissed, but reviewed them in such a way that made me rethink the series and how I regarded it.

But sometimes I just loves me the snark a little too much. Perhaps your policy is best, but I haves the guilty pleasures.

By: Kenina

Kenina — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:16:24 +0000

I’ve met too many fangirls for my liking. Some literally say “I will convert you.”
Okay, here’s a joke I made up while talking to my sisters over dinner:

Q: How do you get two fangirls to stop talking?
A: Shoot both of them, because a fangirl will just talk to herself.***

“…chiseled body….porcelain skin….coal black eyes…inhumanly beautiful….hypnotic eyes… SQUEAL!!!one!!!1!”

***Not to be applied to real life scenarios.

By: Justine

Justine — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:06:26 +0000

Ishmael: You SO don’t scare me.

By: Ishmael

Ishmael — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:55:59 +0000

I love Moby Dick. I know where you live. At least I know what cities you live in, and that should be enough to be scary.