Just a quick note to say: I've finally read One Day. It was ok. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - though the ending is awful. It's a page turner, I can see why it sold well, and I do think it'd make for a good film (maybe I'll get round to that in 2013). I finally read it after reading a bit of Nick Hornby praise on the cover - and yes, there are some Hornbyesque bits to it (as inevitably there will be if you take two people in their early twenties in the early to mid nineties, one of whom is a bloke who presents a pop music show, the other of whom is a hot woman he fancies). Bloody awful cover, still, and the film cover is no better. Working in a bookshop has taught me that people who say ''Oooh, I really enjoyed The Help'' and ''Oh my god, you just have to read Shantaram! It's totally amazing!'' aren't really readers - and the same is true of people who love this book, I think. I've compared my views with a few other people - no-one can get must higher than acknowledging that's it's alright, and one person said to me recently: ''I must annotate my copy with all the reasons it is terrible so that I will remember them''.
Roll on 2011.
You bloody snob :)
ReplyDeleteOnly joking, I do see your point, although I think it's more the case that because it's very popular it's just one of those books that 'readers' (as you put it) feel they ought to have an opinion on. So, if somebody said they really enjoyed this book, I wouldn't automatically assume that they weren't well read, because they might have been pleasantly surprised for a book that has done so well sales-wise. But if I asked someone what their favourite book was / a book they've read recently that they'd recommend me, and they chose this, they'd I'd think 'well, perhaps you ought to read a wider range of books then'.
Not that I've read this one though, so I don't really have the right to say anything.
I don't see what I've said that's at all snobbish! It was just better than expected. Surely you saying ''they might have been pleasantly surprised fora book that has done so well sales-wise'' is snobbish. A best selling book doesn't have to be a sell out (though it may well do).
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I say ''they're not really a reader'' that isn't necessarily a reflection on how well read that person is (though the two do have a lot in common, I agree).
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"2011"?
ReplyDeleteA.
Well, it was published in 2010. It was a Christmas hit for that year, and it was even a Waterstones linksave for Christmas - when you spent a certain amount, you got this for cheaps - which hugely helped sales. So I was making the point that, now that I am up-to-speed with 2010's reading, I could crack on with 2011's.X
ReplyDeleteCrumbs, I'm currently making my way through the fifteenth century...
ReplyDeleteNice tags, by the way, I only just noticed them.
A. x
I was only joking with that first comment :)
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