On Fiction
Dec. 13th, 2018 04:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chocolatepotThis season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is just ... not working for me? I think the problem is that everyone has become way too well-adjusted - what made this show fun over the first three seasons is that just about every character was some level of mess, and Rebecca of course made terrible decisions that drove the plot. The songs were incisive and satirical, and they're still kind of satirical but definitely don't feel like they're poking as hard. I want to see everyone end up happy and well-adjusted, but like I want them to get there in the last few episodes, not just a couple of episodes into the last season.
Also, New Greg. New Greg was a BAD idea. Combining his self-improvement (which is again something one wants to see so the character can be happy, but also removes the dark, self-loathing edge that made him interesting) with a super bland-looking/sounding actor is just ... they shouldn't have brought him back! I wanted them to be together when he left in S2, but I've emotionally moved on, so just let this unmanned ship float out into the Arctic ice, okay? Nathaniel is the man now.
So, I still think Kevin Kwan is just ... not a good writer? He's not great with differentiating character voices apart from Wonderfully Awful Eddie, and I find myself rewriting sentences in my head when I read. He also has a hard time keeping conflict going without resolving it immediately, and there's not a really clear sequence of rising/falling action. (Basically, he needs a hard-working, strict copyeditor.) But I think he really hit on something here with the circumstances of the plot!
This is the last part of the trilogy that started with Crazy Rich Asians, and brings all the threads from the previous books together (largely the first book, because the second contributed almost nothing except a) now people accept Rachel because her father is rich and b) Rachel has a hot brother who ends up in a tidy ship at the end). Shang Su Yi (Nick's grandmother) is dying, and everyone wants to know who's getting her mansion and enormous pile of money. This is a setup worthy of a Gosford Park-esque social drama, and Kwan does let it engender a lot of conflict and confusion. Su Yi gets chapters from her own perspective, with her memories of the Second Sino-Japanese War and her first love. Rachel and Nick really take a back seat, which is a good thing because they're not terribly interesting in and of themselves, and Astrid (with her horrible husband - drama! conflict!) and Kitty (drama just by herself!) get more page time. Instead of people just being socially exclusionary for the sake of it, there's real inheritances at stake (or so they think).
Continuing in the theme of social drama, we have Holly Black's The Cruel Prince. The book is definitely YA - there are strong themes of "not fitting in at school" and "which boy do I really like, and which boy really likes me" - but the Faerie setting allows for high stakes without dubious worldbuilding and serious conflict without making you go "it's just high school". Black also has the knack of describing weird fairy appearances and fashions without coming off as trying too hard to be uncanny.
The basic plot: the heroine (Jude) and her twin sister (Taryn) are humans raised in Faerie, and it's not very clear what their future will be. Jude is a fighter, practiced with the blade and bad at keeping her head down, while Taryn is quieter and more interested in integrating with this culture. They clash regularly with the magical cool kids, including Cardan, the cruel prince of the title. Jude gets pulled into the circle of one of the High King's sons and starts learning spycraft just before the High King's abdication and planned crowning of his successor, which goes horribly wrong and bloody. Jude has to figure out how to keep the crown out of the hands of people who would misuse the power kingship gives.
Cardan is a member of the fraternity of beautiful, mean, aristocratic lads who turn out to be Not That Bad because Their Families Are Abusive and they've had to Build A Protective Shell, a fraternity that probably didn't start with fanfiction about Draco Malfoy but sure feels like it today. I wouldn't quite say that he's a Draco in Leather Pants clone, but he feels quite closely related to Cassandra Claire's take, as well as original fiction siblings like Laurent from Captive Prince. This works for me, but at the same time I can't help but notice it, which pulls me out of the moment somewhat. (Unrelated, but I so wish there were a femslash version of Captive Prince.)
I couldn't help but feel like I'd relate better to Taryn as the protagonist, but I did appreciate that Black managed to write the sword-girl/dress-girl dichotomy without it feeling like she's making a clear statement about which type is better, even though Taryn makes some, uh, questionable decisions that make Jude's life harder. I need to read the companion novella The Lost Sisters, which is apparently about Taryn, and I hope she has a decent-sized part in the plot of the next two books in the trilogy.
----
I meant to write a whole bunch of Yuletide treats (since I missed the signup window), and of course I have failed. :( I have one started but I will likely not get to finish it in time. Maybe tomorrow I can really pull out all the stops and get it done? It's a really cool prompt ... at least maybe I can do it as a Madness short.
"People are going to complain about Joyce thoughtlessly!!! writing on Walky's shirt," I thought, and sure enough.
Some more answers:
When did American women begin to wear stockings and when did they switch to tights. Is there any evidence as to why?
What's the difference between an heir apparent and heir presumptive?
A bit on Jewish communities in the Catskills to round out the answers we got to a question about rich people summering
A stereotypical item of medieval women's clothing is a very tall conical hat with a wisp of gauzy cloth attached to the top. How long was this actually fashionable for?
In Lady And The Tramp, there is a line from Lady's neighbors that boils down to 'one of us has to marry her to preserve her honor' after she's been hanging around Tramp too long. Was this mindset ever widespread in the U.S. (the movie's set in 1911)?
When Isabella and Ferdinand joined the houses of Castile and Aragon, they ruled as practically equals. Was it unusual for a queen to wield such political power and influence in 15th Century Europe; and what did contemporaries write about the extent of Isabella’s power and influence over Spain?
It's been a busy week.
Also, New Greg. New Greg was a BAD idea. Combining his self-improvement (which is again something one wants to see so the character can be happy, but also removes the dark, self-loathing edge that made him interesting) with a super bland-looking/sounding actor is just ... they shouldn't have brought him back! I wanted them to be together when he left in S2, but I've emotionally moved on, so just let this unmanned ship float out into the Arctic ice, okay? Nathaniel is the man now.
So, I still think Kevin Kwan is just ... not a good writer? He's not great with differentiating character voices apart from Wonderfully Awful Eddie, and I find myself rewriting sentences in my head when I read. He also has a hard time keeping conflict going without resolving it immediately, and there's not a really clear sequence of rising/falling action. (Basically, he needs a hard-working, strict copyeditor.) But I think he really hit on something here with the circumstances of the plot!
This is the last part of the trilogy that started with Crazy Rich Asians, and brings all the threads from the previous books together (largely the first book, because the second contributed almost nothing except a) now people accept Rachel because her father is rich and b) Rachel has a hot brother who ends up in a tidy ship at the end). Shang Su Yi (Nick's grandmother) is dying, and everyone wants to know who's getting her mansion and enormous pile of money. This is a setup worthy of a Gosford Park-esque social drama, and Kwan does let it engender a lot of conflict and confusion. Su Yi gets chapters from her own perspective, with her memories of the Second Sino-Japanese War and her first love. Rachel and Nick really take a back seat, which is a good thing because they're not terribly interesting in and of themselves, and Astrid (with her horrible husband - drama! conflict!) and Kitty (drama just by herself!) get more page time. Instead of people just being socially exclusionary for the sake of it, there's real inheritances at stake (or so they think).
Continuing in the theme of social drama, we have Holly Black's The Cruel Prince. The book is definitely YA - there are strong themes of "not fitting in at school" and "which boy do I really like, and which boy really likes me" - but the Faerie setting allows for high stakes without dubious worldbuilding and serious conflict without making you go "it's just high school". Black also has the knack of describing weird fairy appearances and fashions without coming off as trying too hard to be uncanny.
The basic plot: the heroine (Jude) and her twin sister (Taryn) are humans raised in Faerie, and it's not very clear what their future will be. Jude is a fighter, practiced with the blade and bad at keeping her head down, while Taryn is quieter and more interested in integrating with this culture. They clash regularly with the magical cool kids, including Cardan, the cruel prince of the title. Jude gets pulled into the circle of one of the High King's sons and starts learning spycraft just before the High King's abdication and planned crowning of his successor, which goes horribly wrong and bloody. Jude has to figure out how to keep the crown out of the hands of people who would misuse the power kingship gives.
Cardan is a member of the fraternity of beautiful, mean, aristocratic lads who turn out to be Not That Bad because Their Families Are Abusive and they've had to Build A Protective Shell, a fraternity that probably didn't start with fanfiction about Draco Malfoy but sure feels like it today. I wouldn't quite say that he's a Draco in Leather Pants clone, but he feels quite closely related to Cassandra Claire's take, as well as original fiction siblings like Laurent from Captive Prince. This works for me, but at the same time I can't help but notice it, which pulls me out of the moment somewhat. (Unrelated, but I so wish there were a femslash version of Captive Prince.)
I couldn't help but feel like I'd relate better to Taryn as the protagonist, but I did appreciate that Black managed to write the sword-girl/dress-girl dichotomy without it feeling like she's making a clear statement about which type is better, even though Taryn makes some, uh, questionable decisions that make Jude's life harder. I need to read the companion novella The Lost Sisters, which is apparently about Taryn, and I hope she has a decent-sized part in the plot of the next two books in the trilogy.
----
I meant to write a whole bunch of Yuletide treats (since I missed the signup window), and of course I have failed. :( I have one started but I will likely not get to finish it in time. Maybe tomorrow I can really pull out all the stops and get it done? It's a really cool prompt ... at least maybe I can do it as a Madness short.
"People are going to complain about Joyce thoughtlessly!!! writing on Walky's shirt," I thought, and sure enough.
Some more answers:
When did American women begin to wear stockings and when did they switch to tights. Is there any evidence as to why?
What's the difference between an heir apparent and heir presumptive?
A bit on Jewish communities in the Catskills to round out the answers we got to a question about rich people summering
A stereotypical item of medieval women's clothing is a very tall conical hat with a wisp of gauzy cloth attached to the top. How long was this actually fashionable for?
In Lady And The Tramp, there is a line from Lady's neighbors that boils down to 'one of us has to marry her to preserve her honor' after she's been hanging around Tramp too long. Was this mindset ever widespread in the U.S. (the movie's set in 1911)?
When Isabella and Ferdinand joined the houses of Castile and Aragon, they ruled as practically equals. Was it unusual for a queen to wield such political power and influence in 15th Century Europe; and what did contemporaries write about the extent of Isabella’s power and influence over Spain?
It's been a busy week.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-17 07:39 am (UTC)(Another complaint: any high-end jeweler of any salt would know better than to ask a woman about the piece of jewelry her husband bought WITHOUT HER.)
I also found it tiresome that 40% of the words in the book were brand names. I think it's the best example of a book better suited to be a movie than a book, since so much of it is about appearances and impact. But while I enjoy rags-to-riches stories and shameless materialism, I do not enjoy that form of conspicuous consumption that clearly makes none of these people happy.