From today's NYT -regarding the "Pandemic of Chick-lit". Until today, I thought 'Chick-lit' was a brand name for a square piece of stale gum, but it's really some sort of global cultural socio-literary phenomena. As a man, I can't help but envision such a genre as anything but a sort of exploitative, materialistic update on the old Harlequin romance bodice-ripper. It seems that my admittedly stereotype-driven guess is accurate in some cases, but not so much in others- check out what the girls in India are reading:
"Another popular chick lit title is Rupa Gulab's "Girl Alone," about "a pseudo-intellectual (named Arti) who deals with her disappointments in love with cough syrup, rock music and existential literature" ...
This sounds like my kinda woman! Although from the description given it's hard to determine if she's disappointed in love with cough syrup , rock music and existential lit, or if she merely uses these things to ease the pain of disappointment with more traditional love objects.
Take it from someone who has tried- DO NOT attempt to fall in love with cough syrup , rock music or existential literature- your love will be unrequited. It might seem great for awhile, but one day you will wake up alone in a dusty Texas backyard wondering how it all went so wrong, so fast. You will have no one to blame but yourself and the world will not care.
"Meanwhile, Scandinavian chick lit seems marked by a certain existential angst."
If you've ever staggered out of a Bergman film festival you will find this observation unsurprising.
It could be worse. Existential angst would be almost cheerful compared to what the young Japanese woman is reading:
"...darker literary fiction that deals with the "isolation and the meaninglessness of modern urban life; boredom and frustration with men and relationships and marriage, and the constraints put on women in Japanese society..."
Some sort of Nipponese neo-nihilism perhaps? I know that I have filing cabinets larger than some Tokyo apartments- I wonder if the isolation felt by the Japanese reader is an ironic by-product of the intense overcrowding? Pretty sure it is.
What's the savvy Polish bubushka reading these days?
"In Poland, chick lit often features tragic elements, like kidnapping or the specter of suicide."
Of a Polish Chick-lit best-seller: "The book has a subplot involving rape and murder"
Holy Dachau boxcars! That doesn't sound fun at all. That cough syrup romance is looking better all the time.
No wonder anti-depressants are so over-prescribed these days- look what women are reading.
So cheer up and read this blog instead. Unlike cough syrup, rock music and existentialists, it will love you back.
5 comments:
Naw, and we love you too!
It's pretty interesting. Because it's actually true whwat they're writing. Scandinavians read about being in Scandinavia. Being a girl in Scandiavia. Like, one of the most healthy and wealthy countries in propotion (sorry bout the spelling) to the amount of people. Being a girl with such a horrible life. BOOHOO. I don't really think that's the biggest problem in the world -_-
Note to Self:
1. Pour out the cough syrup.
2. Turn off the rock music.
3. Put down the Sartre.
Holy hell… NOW what do I do????
I Hate the fact that I hate hating. What? What the fuck is that even supposed to mean? I have no fuckin clue. Im just gettin over my writers block, thanks for the hateful response I fuckin hate it...
I was hating your spambot fanclub, not you! Sensitive...
No. Scotland should most certainly NOT have Hen-Lit!
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