tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post2982197992641105384..comments2023-10-28T01:00:43.874-07:00Comments on The Book Frog: Oprah and Me (and You)Rebecca Glennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11497012798954379217noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-22739850507435100332010-12-10T06:15:16.758-08:002010-12-10T06:15:16.758-08:00So.
500 pages is pretty fat and juicy, even if no...So.<br /><br />500 pages is pretty fat and juicy, even if not as fat as some of the others. <br /><br />Tale of Two Cities not a Victorian novel? Okay, it's historical...whatever. <br /><br />Celine better than Dickens? I'm rolling my eyes, Sir Freeque.<br /><br />Millions and millions of readers? I'm not quoting anybody's figures. However, I am basing my hyperbolic statement on my own personal anecdotal evidence. I've been in the book business since before Oprah's first book club, and I can attest to the fact that she drove books to the bestseller list--where they stayed for extended periods of time--which never would have come anywhere near it.<br /><br /><i>One Hundred Years of Solitude</i> is pedestrian? Oh, to have the magic and beauty in my life that you do, if you find that work run-of-the-mill and predictable! <i>Anna Karenina</i> is not one of the most beautiful, sweeping love stories ever written?<br /><br />Oh, Brent.<br /><br />No more absinthe for you. You're on black coffee now.Rebecca Glennhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11497012798954379217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-66422484841304178352010-12-09T20:34:50.893-08:002010-12-09T20:34:50.893-08:00Oh, go get an absinthe and read some Celine. Would...<i>Oh, go get an absinthe and read some Celine. Wouldn't want you to be tempted by something as deliciously juicy as a couple of big fat Victorian novels.</i><br /><br />Oh <i>really</i>!<br /><br />Celine kicks ass, I'm hear to say, over 90% of Oprah's picks any day! Give me <i>Journey to the End of Night</i> and <i>Death on the Installment Plan</i> <i>anyday</i> (and give me my absinthe, yeah, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!) ;-) and some bon bons too.<br /><br />Oh dear, pardon my pedantry (actually, <i>don't</i> pardon it, okay? because your Celine blast has riled me up something FIERCE and got me feeling OH SO FAUX SNOOTY!), but, um, <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> my dear Becky, even though written <i>by</i> a -- <i>the</i> -- Victorian author, is not a Victorian novel per se; but rather, an historical and didactic novel surrounding the events of La Guillotine (1793, I believe, pre-Victorian). And, nor, sadly, is it big or fat; in fact, it's one of Dicken's shortest novels ever, under 300 pages. And <i>Great Expectations</i> is one of his shortest novels too, roughly 500 pages. Oprah essentially picked the two <i>easiest</i> Dickens' novels to read for her Club, and I'm supposed to <i>applaud</i> her for that? For being <i>easy</i> on her gullible audience with her <i>easy</i> breezy picks? Applaud her when I know that <i>David Copperfield</i>; <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>; <i>Little Dorrit</i>, <i>Bleak House</i>; <i>Nicholas Nickleby</i>; <i>Dombey & Son</i> are all 800-plus page novels (big and fast, yes!), and all Victorian staged, and all <i>superior</i> in literary craft and story compared to the two books Oprah picked? Granted, her picks aren't <i>bad</i> picks necessarily -- I do love <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> -- but they're just so <i>predictable</i> ... like what you'd predict your High Sch. teacher would have you read.<br /><br />It's Oprah's predilection for predictable choices I chafe at. Note I'm not calling the <i>books</i> she picked predictable, but her selections predictable, and just not that interesting, for a well read reader like myself (and others). Her pics are so uniformly Lit. 101 whether it's English, or Latino, or Classics, or African-American, or contemporary. Frankly, I find her picks pedestrian and boring; I've already been there done that, Oprah! and I suspect many of her readers have to, but since Oprah said we should read it (even though I've already read it) I guess I better read it again because Oprah's Oprah and Oprah knows best!<br /><br />Your anecdote of the timid lady coming to you and asking for the Oprah pick is touching, yes, but these figures of "millions and millions" of book buyers coming into the store because of Oprah sounds hyperbolic to me. Contrived. I'd like to know who's quoting those numbers and whether they're coming from her camp or from an objective data source that has actually tracked the Oprah Cult as its entered bookstores these last 15 years.<br /><br />In a nutshell, I think the good she's done for readers and booksellers has largely been overhyped, just like anything Oprah does: hype hype hype. I'd wager over half her audience are readers that don't need her to make recommendations.<br /><br />Great post nonetheless, Becky, and you know I love you even if this comment irritated you. And remember, you have the power over these contrary opinions, you don't have to post them!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13736768855641666746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-89447357558956793832010-12-08T00:17:49.282-08:002010-12-08T00:17:49.282-08:00I agree - no eye-rolling for someone who has made ...I agree - no eye-rolling for someone who has made reading books a mass movement. I follow Oprah's book club and have read and enjoyed some titles, and some others are languishing on my to-read list.<br />More power to readers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-70615587482466165972010-12-08T00:15:54.757-08:002010-12-08T00:15:54.757-08:00I agree, no eye-rolling for someone who has done s...I agree, no eye-rolling for someone who has done so much to make reading a mass movement. I've been following her book club and have read and enjoyed some of the titles. Many others are still languishing on my to-read list.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-58454137682532420612010-12-07T12:44:40.586-08:002010-12-07T12:44:40.586-08:00Nicely put. *sigh*
I guess I'm one of the ey...Nicely put. *sigh*<br /><br />I guess I'm one of the eye rollers, but my gripe is more towards people I know that read books because Oprah said so. I figure, I read 80-100 books a year from a wide spread of authors, cultures and genres; I talk about them, rave about them, blog about them - so there's a part of me that gets a little peeved when good friends of mine will read Oprah Book Club picks but never take my suggestions on recommendations. I'll bet you can understand my frustration that people I've known for decades won't take my word on what they might enjoy reading but will pick up a book because of a celebrity endorsement. I'm not saying her choices aren't good (I read and loved <i>Night</i> several years before she mentioned it) but I think there's also something to be said for the quality of personal recommendations over those given to the masses. <br /><br />But in terms of promoting literacy for the general populace, yes, I'll give props to Oprah. ...But maybe I'd prefer to take her advice if she had a book blog. ;)lisa :)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11429572773434109490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-19835673189390054902010-12-07T03:41:27.884-08:002010-12-07T03:41:27.884-08:00Well said!Well said!Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18053033021483581140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4170629471427858872.post-51611912025839761562010-12-06T19:49:23.930-08:002010-12-06T19:49:23.930-08:00Bravo...I'm still a fan too, and I think her b...Bravo...I'm still a fan too, and I think her book club was one of the best things to happen for lovers of the written word...it got people to read. And anything that does that gets my vote!!Angeliquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16390888264309430243noreply@blogger.com