And, to me, Nancy Drew is somewhat akin to Sweet Valley books: it's something you pass through on the way to other things. It's good when you're that age, but after that...eh, there's better young adult literature out there that adults can enjoy.
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I have a sizeable collection of the original Nancy Drew books at my father's house. Nothing wrong with Nancy Drew.
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I'm at a loss for this thread. If I loved the book I'm not at all embarrased about it, including the various "light reading" things that were great as a teenager but probably aren't considered fantastic literature. Why should any of us be embarrassed about something that we read when we were in the target audience age for which it was written?
I just can't wrap my head around this concept. It's probably because nearly every genre of media I've ever enjoyed for most of my life, sci-fi, fantasy, comics, videogames, D&D, cartoons, etc, has been considered to varying degrees and at various times been considered nerdy, odd, juvenile, not "serious", or otherwise embarrasing. So what?
quote:Originally posted by Enigmatic: I'm at a loss for this thread. If I loved the book I'm not at all embarrased about it, including the various "light reading" things that were great as a teenager but probably aren't considered fantastic literature. Why should any of us be embarrassed about something that we read when we were in the target audience age for which it was written?
I just can't wrap my head around this concept. It's probably because nearly every genre of media I've ever enjoyed for most of my life, sci-fi, fantasy, comics, videogames, D&D, cartoons, etc, has been considered to varying degrees and at various times been considered nerdy, odd, juvenile, not "serious", or otherwise embarrasing. So what?
--Enigmatic
The idea of the thread is to help people come to that realization. In order to realize that there's nothing wrong with having liked a certain book or story, one must first admit that they liked it even if it embarasses them.Think of it as AA for book worms. Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by theamazeeaz: At least the Nancy Drew books have been somewhat gentrified. They're like the classics of crap lit from the good old days. They'll probably be around long after kids have forgotten Goosebumps, Sweet Valley, Animorphs and the Baby-sitters club.
Man I loved all those books as a kid, but so did everyone else. I'm not embarressed to say I read them as a kid/preteen. But I will also say I'd probably go back and read the animorphs if given the option or if I ever found mine.
As for the Nancy Drew, my boss has this series about a girl named Cherry Aimless which parodies Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys (who become the Hardly Boys), and some other detective series. Cherry is a lesbian nurse who cares way too much about her outfit and the stories are cringingly bad, but I did enjoy them.
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I never really got into those, I was more into the Sweet Valley Kids and if there was one in between those, that set too.
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I collect the Cherry Ames books. It's been ages since I'm read one, though.
I used to be obsessed with the Babysitter's Club. However, I was in 2nd grade, so I think I can be excused. However.....
Mercedes Lackey is my second tier of comfort reading. Once I finish rereading David Eddings, if I'm still in need of comfort, I somewhat automatically go to Lackey. I don't know why, I certainly don't enjoy her. The critic in me reads her books and cringes, yet I invariably end up reading her.
And no, I'm not at all ashamed of enjoying David Eddings Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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I am not the least bit embarassed about loving the Pern books. It's a wonderful series, and there is a time and a place for fluffy happy novels like those. I regularly read them when I have a cold, for example, and my brain is somewhat limited in function. Same as the Mrs. Pollifax books. They're a delightful read. I would never call those serious fiction, but I still enjoy them.
In other words, I'm with Enigmatic.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:Why should any of us be embarrassed about something that we read when we were in the target audience age for which it was written?
That's why I'm not embarrassed to admit that Piers Anthony was my favorite writer when I was fourteen. Because, judging by his writing style, fourteen-year-old boys are exactly his target audience.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Grisham. I still love The Firm and The Rainmaker. I haven't read anything past The Partner though. He seems to like the word "The."
One book that I love dearly and yes, I even go back and reread it is Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. I adore Gone With the Wind (and have read it a zillion times) and the sap in me loves what happens in what OSC tells me is a badly written sequel. But I love it!
Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Probably the Merry series. She keeps having lots of sex all the time when they should be investigating murders and stuff. Yet, I enjoy the story and the rather pretty men for some reason, I wish she would not drag it out so much though.
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How come nobody on this thread is mentioning Auel? I know you've read 'em. You're just to embarrassed to admit it.
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: How come nobody on this thread is mentioning Auel? I know you've read 'em. You're just to embarrassed to admit it.
That's Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequels, right? It's been a while since I've read them, but as I recall it went something like this. 1st book: Book good. Cavemen funny. 2nd book: Decent story. Ayla domestics all animals which would later become pets. Tiring but sweet mutual-"I love him/her but he/she doesn't love me" romance. 3rd book: The fact that these two people are inventing pretty much everything is getting ridiculous. Ayla learns the problems of "open relationships" and "friends with benefits" 4th book: Long, boring descriptions of flora and fawna as they travel over what I assume would later become North Dakota, punctuated by sex scenes where Auel sees how kinky she can get while not getting more explicit than "flower" metaphors. 5th book: Finally out. Nobody cares.
posted
Jean Auel? Meh. I read Clan of the Cave Bear and enjoyed it. Then I tried reading the second book, became bored with it, and never finished. And that's as far as I ever got into her books.
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Right on, Eni. I'm right with you on the synopses.
The first book kind of promised that her half-breed kid would be the future of humanity, but after she up and left, that was all we heard about him.
I read the rest to see what would happen, but the series went beyond the neato caveman stuff to a kind of soft-porn romp through the wilderness, and I got disgusted with the whole mess.
quote:Originally posted by mackillian: Anyone else remember the boxcar children?
YES!!!! I loved those books! My brothers and sister and I used to pretend we were them, but we had to make up another one, because there weren't that many kids in the book.
kwsni- It's not so much embarrassing that I liked Marguerite Henry books, but that I still have them, along with other "pre-teen girl obsessed with horses" books.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Heynow, I LIKE Auel! Of course, I do skip over all the "long, boring descriptions of flora and fauna" because they are exactly that. And I just scoff at the fact that Ayla is the only one who can figure out all of these inventions. But I seem to read in a perpetual state of suspension of belief, so it works LOL
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Cor loves Elizabeth Moon. I think she would kill you for mentioning her in this thread.
-o-
Not that I love, but that I somewhat enjoy: RObert Asprin's Phule series, and Alan Dean Foster's Flinx series.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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There you go. Goody sounds more like the Auel books fit the title of the thread for her. I didn't bring them up because I've read them but apart from the first one, maybe two I can't say I "loved" them. The 4th one especially killed it for me. You could skip about every other chapter and not miss anything. The point of a lot of it seemed to be "Hey look at all the research I did for this book! I know things about plants!"
One has to keep in mind though, at the age I was reading them I was more likely to bookmark the dirty bits than scoff at them.
quote:Originally posted by Enigmatic: The 4th one especially killed it for me. You could skip about every other chapter and not miss anything. The point of a lot of it seemed to be "Hey look at all the research I did for this book! I know things about plants!"
posted
I remember really likeing the Auel books in college, at least the first 2, but they went downhill after that...
I've got some originals of the Nancy Drew books, and I loved them, but after I finished those and started reading more recent ones I lost interest in them... because Nancy was so helpless. I read an article years later that they had changed them at some point so that Nancy was always needing to be rescued by Ned or whatever his name was. In the originals she was cool... fixing her own car, and all sorts of independent stuff like that.
Posts: 239 | Registered: May 2004
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quote:"Hey look at all the research I did for this book! I know things about plants!"
That sounds a lot like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Now, I like Jules Verne a lot, but the underlying theme of that book seemed to be Verne saying, "I know the Latin names of a lot of fish! Also, I wrote a story!"
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Clan of the Cave Bear was ok, but why did she make the Neantherthals so... backwards when it came to females and stuff. They did bury the dead and put flowers in their grave. And, Valley of Horses started off good until she bought that stupid spear napper into the story. He was so dumb. All he was good for was deflowering virgins and making spears! Aya could tame animals, make herbs and do all of this awesome stuff. She could have done better than him.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Edgar Rice Burroughs!!! Tarzan! John Carter! Tars Tarkas! The Incomparable Dejah Thoris! Pellucidar! Venus! They virtually all have only one plot (gorgeous heroine goes missing, amazing hero rampages to the rescue) but wonderful reads, great action, heaps of fun.
Posts: 867 | Registered: Dec 2003
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" *wonders why someone would be embarassed to admit they enjoyed L'Engle* "
I am wondering why anyone would be embarrassed about reading anything, sorry.
I would be embarrassed if I did not read, that's about it.
I have enjoyed a great many of the "embarrassed by" books mentioned on this thread. I guess I am wicked uncool. Well, I already knew that, actually. It is still good to have reminders.
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"Dear Mr. Henshaw" is a fine book. It is sweet and sensitive and I'd be proud to admit I liked it.
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