After talking to my Dad at the weekend about my verdict on Jumper the movie, I found I had a hankering to read the book again. Partially because it's a good book but mainly to get rid of the movie stuff in my head and reaffirm characters and events as first seen in my mind's eye. So naturally I head along to ye olde trust local library but it wasn't there. Not phased (because it's a small library and it's easy enough to interloan between different branches in my borough) I hopped on to the catalogue only to find that it wasn't there. As in they don't have it. I consider this a crime in itself but it just gets down right weird when you find out that they do have Reflex, the sequel. I think you will join me in saying, "WTF?!" Now I'm annoyed because I want to read it, and in typical fashion, now that I can't get it I really want to read it but I don't want to buy it because Dad has a copy in Oz so it would be like doubling up. So annoying.
I will, at this point, direct you to one of my Dad's blog entries which kinda relates to all this in that it's about reading. If I were to brutally sum up, I'd say it's about how your environment effects what you read and personally I think it's a pretty interesting thing to think about. Why do we read what we read? Sure, partially it's personal but saying that it's influenced by how we were brought up and what books our parents like and what mood were were in or what stage we were at in our life when we came across a book is indeed a major factor. I know that my sci-fi/fantasy predilection arose because my Dad just so happened to be the one who seemed to recommend books to me and it's taken off from there. I don't know why the sci-fi/fantasy genre isn't more popular really because when you're a kid, it's all vivid imagination and fairy tales so surely it's easy to slip in to that genre. Sure, it seems that there are more of that genre around for younger children these days (Harry Potter, Spiderwick, Lemony Snickett, even maybe His Dark Materials) but I don't remember ever having a shortage of it growing up although the only 'young adults' sci-fi/fantasy I can think of right now is Diana Wynne Jones... As far as I'm concerned, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, David Eddings.. they're all more heading towards teenage reading as opposed to hitting kids around 8-12 when they should be reading for themselves but need something maybe not so heavy. Actually I can't believe I'm writing that because I know that I at least was an exception to this rule. I'd read The Chronicles of Shannara by the time I was 9* and probably the first two series of David Eddings'. Once I got in to reading there was pretty much no stopping me. By age 10 I had read most fantasy books my friends only seemed to be coming across in highschool. That sounds like I'm bragging which is totally not the case, just probably a combo of 'habituation' and my own OCD personality. Ooh Jane Yolen was also good and I only came across Anne McCaffrey in my first year of highschool. But I digress. A point I wanted to raise in relation to this is that due to Harry Potter's popularity, more children are (apparently) now looking towards other books in the fantasy genre and this probably wouldn't have happened before.
Another case of people influencing you to genres you may never have looked at before is (and here I have the good grace to hang my head in shame) the romance genre. In my 2nd year at uni, one of my flatmates discovered Joanna Lindsay and before we knew it, the three of us were cycling them around the flat. I can't remember my first Mills and Boon but I think it was when I was staying at a friend's place when we were housesitting for her parents. Her Dad reads M&B but she had never previously touched them, being of the opinion (rightfully) that they were literary trash. Well one night I had run out of books so and glancing along the shelf saw a M&B. Having already started the slippery slope down the romance 'novel' path, I picked one up out of curiosity. When my friend saw me reading it I got no end of hassle and I didn't really bother to defend myself apart from saying that they were light and fluffy and more than slightly laugh-at-them funny. And because of me, a few months later, my friend confessed to having gotten hooked. Another case of circumstance and people leading someone on to a genre they would never have glanced at twice.
And when you think about it, it happens all the time really. We read books that people recommend, even if they're not what we might normally read because we know the person and respect their opinion so are willing to 'give it a go'.
And that's all I have time for now. Ciao.
*I have clear memories of huddling up in the middle of my parents large bed. (Their bed because my sister was probably asleep and because they were probably watching tv and I like reading in quiet but also because their bed because it's comforting and to be honest, some parts of those Shannara books scared 8yr old me shitless. Didn't stop me though...)
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3 comments:
"... they don't have it. I consider this a crime in itself but it just gets down right weird when you find out that they do have Reflex, the sequel. "
You've been to the library when you were in Dunedin I assume. ;) In any series of SF or fantasy books they will not have the first one, but will have *some* of the following books in the series, but no two consecutive books at the same library.
lol, I really dislike the library here, although I went to it recently to get something by H.P. Lovecraft. I don't know how much he wrote, but they had two books by him, and one based on his notes and outlines for a novel. Maybe I was over-estimating the attractiveness of his books to the rest of the population (to those who are not me) but I thought there would be more.
Jumper was a truly terrible movie.
It was which is such a shame because the books are great.
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