For some different and light reading, since I am deeply into heavy writing, I picked up two Gossip Girl books at my library, the original Gossip Girl and the second in the series, called You Know You Love Me. Unfort, these have only reaffirmed my disinterest in fiction. One of the problems I have is that the girls in the books are completely shallow and material, yet are the coolest girls around. Both books are full of trials and tribulations about outfits, boys, getting laid, cosmetics, obsessions with fat, hair, drinking, how to look and behave to get boys to like you, smoking dope, etc ad nauseum, and the girls all have neglectful rich parents who have no idea what their kids are up to and no interest in finding out. There never seem to be any consequences other than hangovers which are treated as a joke and can be easily slept off by these spoiled petty brats. The only example of anyone showing any remorse or conscience is in the second book when one of the girls felt guilty for shoplifting, so she and a friend snuck the item back into the store. The web site, gossipgirl.net, tells about the characters and what they have been up to, but minimizes, for example saying Dan is often hopped up on coffee when in the books he's a big pothead. I've seen several discussions in the YA forums about whether or not we writers should/n't drop an occasional F-bomb. Well, after reading these mainstream books for teens I'm afraid it's a little too late to worry about that now.
Yes, as writers we need to write realistic dialogue and show how people really live, but in real life people are diverse. These books show a narrow group and do so not only as though all people behave this way, but as though behaving this way is acceptable and without repurcussions, not to mention preferable.
The other thing that glared at me throughout both books is the many typos, poor sentence structures, and other mistakes they are riddled with. The covers say these are #1 New York Times bestsellers.
I'd love to hear what AW members think about this series. It seems to sell well, but is it respected within the field of serious writing? Did I happen to pick the two worst books of the series or are they all this way? Or am I just hopelessly outdated, and need to start randomly boinking, drinking to oblivion, and toking my brains out?
Yes, as writers we need to write realistic dialogue and show how people really live, but in real life people are diverse. These books show a narrow group and do so not only as though all people behave this way, but as though behaving this way is acceptable and without repurcussions, not to mention preferable.
The other thing that glared at me throughout both books is the many typos, poor sentence structures, and other mistakes they are riddled with. The covers say these are #1 New York Times bestsellers.
I'd love to hear what AW members think about this series. It seems to sell well, but is it respected within the field of serious writing? Did I happen to pick the two worst books of the series or are they all this way? Or am I just hopelessly outdated, and need to start randomly boinking, drinking to oblivion, and toking my brains out?