Without getting too much into it, because at this point its painfully boring....I wanted to share something that has come up recently because I decided to join an online dating site. It is great in many ways, but mostly ridiculous. It has however, forced me to acknowledge that all things aside (because all stakes are aside on the internet), there are a few ultimate, non negotiable literary deal breakers for me. Certain authors, books, ideas will make me click away from a page faster than you can say deux ex machina.
1. Chuck Palahniuk
Explanation: Maybe you read him in high school and thought it was really profound and shocking and so deep. Maybe even on a certain level you engaged with his sick and challenging portrayal of contemporary masculinity. However, no one past the age of 17 should respond to these stories. So the conclusion is, you haven't read anything since you were 17 (which is fine, just be up front) or you have awful taste anyway or you hate women.
2. Ayn rand
Explanation: Not Neccessary
3. Catcher in the Rye
Explanation: A variation on #1, if this still resonates with you more than anything you've read since, you aren't paying attention.
There are the obvious dissuasive markers of bad taste: "books?", Dan Brown, Bukowski, Fante...but nothing approaches deal breaker status quite like those three.
What are yours???
1 comments:
You had me laughing out loud. My eye jumped right from your title to your list. When I saw your comments on Catcher in the Rye, I thought "That's just like when I used to look at online dating profiles..." And then I start from the beginning and see that that is exactly what you are writing about. So funny. I read Rye as an adult and liked it, but I too used a similar litmus test. Whenever someone had Rye or Gatsby or anything even remotely smacking of high school required reading I quickly weeded them out because it was clear they have really read much since they left school.
On the other hand, nine years ago, I found my husband online and the line in his profile about being in the middle of reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis was a bit deceptive. Yes, he was reading it, but I think he had been reading ifor some time and I don't think he has finished it 9 years later. I eventually picked it up and read it (didn't care much for it). I have gotten him to read a few things over the years, but bottom line is that he likes books on gardening--so we don't talk much about literature. That is why I have my blog.
Our relationship has not suffered for lack of common reading ground, but I totally understand what you are going through weeding through all those lame answers about favorite books.
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