and i hate movies too
Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 @ 2:30 p.m.

I've been reading more and sleeping less. And because I trust Ryan's friend Jamie I bought Jennifer Government and slept three hours.

Jenni Gov was a dystopian story about corporate government...and other mildly uninteresting things. I was unhappy to recognize at the end of the book that the only important part was the insert Jefferson quote. Maybe Max Barry should have waited until his 30th birthday to write it, or until he had some maturity or education or scope. It was lukewarm and I am disappointed.

Jamie's a smart dude. We share opinions. It wasn't Jamie's fault the book was rough: i think the blame could easily rest on the shoulders of the publishing company. There's plenty of fuel for that fire.

a) Eragon was recommended by Booklist and People and Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and described as an excellent teen version of Lord of the Rings. And whoever said that clearly either hadn't read the Lord of the Rings, or assumes teenagers are really, really stupid. Point the First: poor comparative skills.

b) I started into Dark Angel. And then suddenly--what the fuck? A huge unnecessary, unprecedented, and unannounced graphic lit-porn section. Point the Second: censorship in all the wrong places.

c) I hate self-indulgent writing. Point the Third: I hate self-indulgent writing.

Either I need better critics, more blind luck at the library, or an overhaul of the entire literary system. Where are the Huxleys and Tolkiens, or even the Brontes (because the original can at least claim they bored and confused us first) of our time? Who are these frauds and why are they being published?

Am I so old? Am I so angry?