Unfinished Friday (2)
Skinned, Robin Wasserman
Derby Girl (Now called "Whip It"), Shauna Cross
Secrets of My Suburban Life, Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Both unfinished due to profanity and just not being my style of book.
Now, Jo asked a wonderful question when I said that I wouldn't stand for profanity. Her question: Why?
I rate a book kind of like a movie. I don't see R rated movies, ever, so I won't read "R" rated books. My only real problem is with the "F" word, or very heavy usage of unncessary profanity(things that don't add to the story at all). If the story is good, I will tolerate one "F", but if it's not, I'm done. With Skinned I went through 3 before I finally put it down.
And I think maybe I should state that I didn't not finish all of these books just this week. These are books that I haven't finished over the last 18 months. This will probably be my last "Unfinished Friday" for a while, because these are the last of the books I didn't finish. I usually stick with a book. And if I do set it down for reasons other than profanity, I'll probably pick it back up later.
I don't believe that books should be suffered through, or that they should leaving you feeling "dirty." I'd much rather write a "why I didn't finish" post and have someone else read it and love it, than write I "I really wish I hadn't read this" post and write a negative review that makes someone never touch the book.
Plus, there are so many good books out there! I'm not going to suffer by skipping a few. I'm constantly branching out my horizons. But, in doing so, I've found genre's I don't like, just like everyone else. Some people don't like Sci-fi (crazy fools!), I don't like angsty books.
Looking at these, edginess and grit seem to be pushing down younger and younger. Not a great thing to see.
ReplyDeleteSo true. And the two things I will not stand for are extreme profanity, and immorality.
ReplyDeleteCan I ask why you don't stand for them?
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, sometimes I despair at the language, etc, in books, but they don't necessarily take away from the story, and in some cases, they're there for a reason. And, in some cases, they're true to life; some people do swear and act in ways others may not agree with.
I just think that you'll end up not finishing more books than you actually read. You could be missing out on some amazing stories. Even fairy tales have murder attempts in them.
Murder? I've got no problem with murder. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd I rate a book kind of like I rate a movie. I don't see R rated movies, ever, so I won't read "R" rated books. My only real problem is with the "F" word. If the story is good, I will tolerate one, but if it's not, I'm done. With Skinned I went through 3 before I finally put it down.
And I think maybe I should state that I didn't not finish all of these books just this week. These are books that I haven't finished over the last 18 months. I usually stick with a book. And if I do set it down for reasons other than profanity, I'll probably pick it back up later.
Does that answer your question?
I think my real problem here is that I didn't define "extreme." By that I mean "F" or unncessary swearing. I totally understand using swear words when under duress or at an intense moment in the plot (I don't love it, but I understand it). It's when the author uses swearing as filler that it really gets on my nerves.
ReplyDeleteWhat?!? I LOVED TDHOFrankieLandau-Banks! Okay, the whole book is about her becoming awesome! She isn't awesome yet! c'mon! read a bit more... she didn't even like the late night beer party! Now, that said, if you own this book and are done with it, I'd take it off your hands...
ReplyDeleteI also dropped Tithe. I read a chapter further than you before I hit my limit though. There's a 13 year old girl I know who said she liked it, and I thought to myself "Then that's b/c you don't know what was going on." So sad. I wanted to like it. I was able to enjoy Kin by Holly Black fortunately.
Thanks for the answer Enna! I understand better what you mean now. I read the whole of Tithe, and understand what you meant about the swearing there, it is excessive and unnecessary. My murder attempts comment was in reference to you mentioning the mother's boyfriend trying to stab her in Tithe - I thought you had an issue with that. My mistake. But I think what you say makes a whole lot of sense :)
ReplyDeleteAnother question kind of related and unrelated - what is your opinion of sex in YA? I held a Sex in Teen Lit month back in July. Before I held it my opinion was that perhaps they shouldn't be all that graphic, but then I read some graphic books for the month, and I was amazed at how well the authors dealt with the subject; the authors dealt with maturely and responsibly, and it reaches the reader, I think, in a way that Sex Ed at schools doesn't. My opinion was changed by reading through. I just wondered what your opinion on such books is.
Can comment again, or email - whatever suits you. I don't want to take over your comments, lol.
Commenting is fine.
ReplyDeleteI actually read through your "Sex" link on your blog and I found it very interesting.
I'm fine with sexual things as long as a) they aren't vivid, and b) they aren't crass.
I personally don't believe in physical intimacy before marriage, but a lot of my favorite books have that in them to some degre.
One thing - don't EVER read the second book after Tithe!
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOODNESS.
Lesbians, sex, aultery, affairs, swearing, UGH!
And the cover was SO cool!
YUCK!
I did enjoy Tithe, after I got through that first chapter, and I have high hopes for Skinned...but I completely respect the fact that you have lines you don't want to cross when reading. I'm with you there. Of course, there are good things that happen when we step out of our comfort zone, but books that fly in the face of one's personal morality should never be 'must reads.'
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
I'm guessing you don't like the F word in books...I thought Skinned was pretty good, eh everyone has their opinions, thanks for sharing though, sometimes I gotta force myself to finish a book, hey if I paid for it, I'm reading it lol. I haven't read the other books and prolly won't :)
ReplyDelete