Scatterings

[pjthompson]

☛ You know when that little disk icon pulses at the bottom of the document when you're saving the file? When I see it, I think, "heaving bosom."

☛ Really, in good conscience I can no longer defend Laurell K. Hamilton. It's not because everyone is unloading on her, or because she's asstard du jour—that's never prevented me from defending her before. And it's not because I've suddenly turned into a prude after reading gazillions of her books. It's because she's subverted the damned story to sex and isn't even trying to work out plots anymore.

ETA: Inspired by a discussion over at athenais's place (among other places).

☛ Can your magic genie desert you overnight? One day he's flying you through the clouds like he always has, the next he never calls.

☛ My cat was upset this morning when I changed my the sloth routine of the last week and a half of vacation. "Wait! You're leaving? I thought I'd broken you of that bad habit."




Min: Get off the computer now! It's laptime.


Random quote of the day:

"To move forward you must first look behind."

—Jeffrey Ford, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque

Comments

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Genies.
They're bastards when they wanna be.

[pjthompson]

I'm telling ya.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

And it's not because I've suddenly turned into a prude after reading gazillions of her books. It's because she's subverted the damned story to sex and isn't even trying to work out plots anymore.

Thank you, yes. I remember a conversation I once had with someone a few years back about LKH's novels and how I didn't like them so much anymore because the story stopped being about plot and more about sex, and her response was to ask me, "Are you a prude?" Since my favorite novels at the time were the Kushiel novels and she knew that, I was like, "Have you lost your mind?"

I just hate how that "You must be a prude" defense gets thrown around because the common complaint for LKH's novels is the amount of sex. It's not the sex in and of itself; it's the fact that there are no plots anymore and when there are, they're held together by dental floss.

[pjthompson]

athenais sums this up beautifully. I'm just hanging onto her coattails. But yes, after the last Gentry novel I thought, "Whatever happened to this story?" And I guess Mistral's Kiss is just more of the same. And have you noticed how the Anita Blake's and the Gentry novels have sort of dovetailed in one and the same novel with a variation in characterss. I still think the Anita novels are more readable--but just barely.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

I always kind of thought that Merry and Anita were basically the same character, just alternate universe versions of one another, but yes. I find Merry's character voice more bearable than Anita's but I agree that the Anita Blake novels are a bit more readable. irysangel and I had agreed a while back that some of the sex in the Merry Gentry novels freak me out a little bit and considering the fact that I'm a longtime fan of manga/anime, of which a large portion of its porn involves tentacles, is something I never really thought I'd ever say.

[pjthompson]

lol--and oh yeah, makes so much sense.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Just so. It's vastly annoying, particularly as it's not prudish to not want to read acres of someone else's idea of kink.

[pjthompson]

I think the prude thing has become the last hold out of the last literary hold outs. Clearly, Ms. Hamilton is still selling tons of books, and there's always been snob denigration of what used to be a really entertaining series. Those of us who still read the things and have any kind of literary friends have had to defend them for some time now and it's hard to give that up, in a way. So some folks fall back on the prude thing, I think, even when it clearly makes no sense.

[retrobabble.livejournal.com]

*snerk* Heaving bosom it is from now on.

[pjthompson]

It makes waiting for a save marginally more interesting.

[makoiyi.livejournal.com]

My cats were not upset today because he went to work. I did say that the dh was a cat hater? The same one who bought a kitten home rather than it be put down. UH hum. Well. I let them out at 5.30 am where upon Kitty Kerpow goes beserk and Teddy goes, meh, just lemme out! Kitty, after three hours outside, comes in and sits between the dog's paws, saying, this is my Place (whether hound likes it or not) Teddy falls asleep on the couch. Tom gets on the comp and I go to work. Where is this picture wrong? The House returns to normal. Sometimes 'after' Christmas is a good thing.

[pjthompson]

It's kind of scary how well they come to know your routine, especially when you don't think you're being routine-y.

[mrngglry98.livejournal.com]

I've been having this problem with Ms. Hamilton, too. Whereas I ZIPPED through her first 9 books...it has now taken me 3 months to get halfway through Narcissus in Chains because I just can't bring myself to read any more of her sex-for-sex-sake scenes, and I can't take anymore characters who are put there simply to have sex with Anita. Seriously, a man walks in on every scene (usually he's a shapeshifter of some sort and incredibly HOT), and somehow, Anita's naked and bemoaning the fact that she's gone from Christian girl who will never have sex 'til she's married to slut-to-the-undead-and-furry. That, and she can do no wrong. She's somehow queen of every lycanthrope clan and worshipped by all vampires...who, incidentally, she's SUPPOSED to be slaying...It baffles me.

Alright. I'll end my rant there. ;)

[pjthompson]

Yeah, I devoured the first nine in practically no time. I think Narcissus in Chains was the tipping point. I still liked that one quite a bit, but it's gotten increasingly difficult to find a point to it all. Was it you I had the discussion with about reading them now more for the supporting players than Anita herself? And yeah, the always right thing is just so assinine. I want to slug her most of the time. Not to mention the I-have-to-have-sex-or-everyone-will-die thing. Brother!

[mrngglry98.livejournal.com]

My favorite new plot twist was how, as the servant to a "vampire who feeds off sex", SHE now has to feed off sex. I think I might have laughed aloud at that one. It felt kinda contrived considering it had never been mentioned that human servants took on the feeding behaviors of the vampires. Though Hamilton also has the tendancy to make things work using the "well, Anita's DIFFERENT" explanation.

And I hope I didn't just spoil the plot for someone. ;)

[pjthompson]

Well, she'd made such a big deal out of how she was a good Xtian girl and didn't do the dirty casually it was probably the only way to force her character to get nasty. What cracks me up is the multiplicity of enormous schlorgers and how to accommodate them all. Doesn't she ever run into anyone average?

Fred Charles Said:

[(Anonymous)]

Hiya. I like your blog. this post made me laugh. I've never read any of Hamilton's stuff but stuff and I probably will not now!

Take Care,

Fred Charles
http://fredcharles.wordpress.com