Sorry Ladies

[wilde]

Bleachededen, I think you took it a little too seriously; I'm sure Joad isn't completely unwilling to read books by female authors. They're just saying they haven't encountered many books by female authors that they liked a lot.


I do agree with what you said (posted, whatever) though.

[Joad]

Far too seriously....

I've pointed out women that I've read that are amazing -- Flannery O'Conner being one. I'm not opposed to reading female authors, what I'm saying is that all I've found by them lately has been drivel. Of course I've read Frankenstein, but like Harper Lee it's her one great book. It was also written 150 years ago. I've read The Handmaids Tale and your synopsis sounds great, maybe I'll give it another try, but the fact that I don't remember any of it doesn't bode well for the author. I've also tried to read Ayn Rand and she is a nightmare to read.

I don't discount female authors because they have a vagina, I discount them because the ones I've read -- Emily Bronte -- are terrible. If there is a contemporary female author, within the last 15 years, that is relevant and I've missed, please let me know and I'll give her a shot. But the experience I've had is that their book will be about two childhood friends that grew apart during college because one became a lesbian, or became a single mother, or slept with the other's boyfriend at the time, and now they are trying to rekindle that friendship during a long weekend at Martha's Vineyard.

Even reading some of the book descriptions you've supplied my eyes start to glaze over -- not The Handmaid's Tale, I'm going to revist that one -- but most of them sound pretty painful. Sorry, it's just my opinion, I'm not trying to be a jerk. But I see a lot of stories about budding relationships and emotional survival, which is the flaw with women writers. Not that they touch on those subjects but that they consume them, and inevitably the story they are trying to tell.

I had this conversation this morning with a special lady friend and she said everything you said. When I asked her to name a relevant, contemporary female author she balked -- eventually she came up with the women who wrote "Precious." Then I told her to shut her pie hole and cook me some breakfast.... Dames, I tell ya! JUST KIDDING.

And please don't turn this into a discussion on the merits of poetry -- whether it's written by a male or female -- because it's all garbage, again, just my opinion. I almost became a poet and then I realized I could actually write and compose full sentences.... Sorry, that's going to get me in trouble too isn't it?

[GaryG48]

And please don't turn this into a discussion on the merits of poetry -- whether it's written by a male or female -- because it's all garbage, again, just my opinion. I almost became a poet and then I realized I could actually write and compose full sentences.... Sorry, that's going to get me in trouble too isn't it?

You got that right, Joad, you are toast

[Joad]

I'm sorry. I'm not trying to rile people up, I just can't stand poetry. I have friends that write it and go to poetry slams or whatever the hell you call them, and I've made honest efforts to get into it, but again, in my opinion, I think it's all junk.

One of my really good friends writes poetry, and she's a really cute girl and I try and be supportive of her, but eventually I got tired of pretending that the fact that she could sum up her feelings and important parts of her life in iambic pentameter was interesting. I told her, and now we laugh about it....

Really, I'm not trying to upset people....

[Suzanne]

Yeah, I think you are going to be as hard to convince as it is to turn a gay man straight.


"The Human Stain", Philip Roth, love story.

"Love in the Time of Cholera", Gabriel Garcia Marquez, love story.

"Tender is the Night", F. Scott Fitzgerald, love story

"Anna Karenina", Leo Tolstoy, love story

"Farewell to Arms", Ernest Heningway, love story

"The Crying of Lot 49", Thomas Pynchon, love story

Oh and lets not forget, "Love Story", Erich Segal

Are you repulsed by all love stories, or just those written by women? Love is a major theme running through novels, both classic and contemporary, for both sexes of authors.

Wow, listen to what you just wrote:

One of my really good friends writes poetry, and she's a really cute girl and I try and be supportive of her, but eventually I got tired of pretending that the fact that she could sum up her feelings and important parts of her life in iambic pentameter was interesting. I told her, and now we laugh about it....

She's a really cute girl? What does cuteness have to do with writing? Why did you even put this sentence in? There is something going on here with you my friend.

You got tired of pretending and you had to tell her; tell her what? Tell her that her poetry stunk, told her that her outlet for her feelings was trivial?

You told her and now you both laugh about it?
Are you really sure she is laughing about this? Or maybe she is cute and dumb. Because you are really starting to sound like an elitist bacon maker.

[oblivion]

Actually, you are indeed attempting to provoke. So far, you have stated that women writers aren't worth anything (which is meant to provoke a reaction from at least half of the members of this forum), followed by the statement that poetry (by inference, in all countries, all centuries) is a bunch of junk and only written by people who cannot write full sentences.
In order to voice your opinion and be able to freely insult, you add disclaimers ("not trying to upset people", "not trying to rile people up", "I respect the ladies", "Just Kidding",etc).
I am amazed that a person who claims to be a lover of books (obviously not literature) does not appear to be receptive to the worlds books offer the reader.
I, for one, in the gallimaulfry of provocation you have presented us with, am forced to reach the conclusion that for all intents and purposes, you are mainly interested in provocation, convinced you are correct and others are wrong, seem to judge books by their author--dividing them into male and female-- and not their content. You are a very biased person. Do we have a new type of fundamentalism here?

[Joad]

Well, she's my wife now, and I happen to find her adorable and cute. I never told her her poetry was terrible, I told her that I didn't find poetry very interesting. I explained that my time spent going to poetry slams was my way of hanging out with her because I think she's a doll. I told her poetry wasn't my thing -- that I find it to be pretentious and not very enjoyable to read or listen to. And yes, now we laugh about it because she thinks it's sweet that I went to these things that I loathed for her. She respects that I hate poetry, and doesn't force it on me. She hates John Steinbeck, I don't go ballastic over it. It's her opinion, as misguided as it may be, ad I respect that.... It's part of a discussion, which I thought happened on discussion forums...

I'm not upset that bleachededen hates Steinbeck, that's her opinion, as much as I disagree with it. The difference is I can have an emotionally detached conversation and take recommendations on which female authors to read, while most people just seem to get upset that I generally don't like female authors.

While you'll never change my mind about poetry -- hey, at least I despise it across the board, both females and males -- I've never claimed that I wouldn't read female authors, I just asked for good ones, which I haven't been able to find. I've said I'm going back to read The Handmaid's Tale. Do men write crap? Absolutely. But in my experience, female authors put out far more crap then men.


I think all you broads need to loosen up... That was a joke. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love the ladies... It's just that the ones I've read have mostly been crap...

[wilde]

Time Traveler's Wife is a good love story written by a woman. It gets melodramatic a bit in the second half though.

And Nicholas Sparks, a male author, writes a lot of love stories... (Dear John, The Notebook)


As for poetry... it's all a matter of taste. I can't say that I hate it, but I find it difficult to sit down and read a book of poetry (I haven't even read all of Oscar Wilde's poems yet ). I do like epic poems though; any that tell a story, really.

[seespotrun2008]

Throughout this discussion you have been degrading to women as a general group and then apologize for it. Sort of like a Jon Stewart, "no disrespect." I agree with oblivion that you are trying to be provocative. I am not going to bother with a list of women writers because you have already made a generalization and have decided what you think of the talents of every single woman in the world. How many women are there in the world? How many women writers are there in the world? And would you say something similar along the lines of I do not like books written by black people, white people, asian people followed by, “no disrespect”. You may not think you are being prejudice and you may not mean to be. However, I’m sorry to inform you that you are being prejudice, judgmental, and sexist, “no disrespect”. I am not “loosening up” about the prejudice of an entire group of people.

[Suzanne]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love the ladies... It's just that the ones I've read have mostly been crap...

Then I will consider that anything I write in response to your comments will be regarded as crap too.

See ya around