Hi! The McDonald’s analogy was mine. Realize that the only info I got about this book prior to accepting it for review was a short blurb–I knew it was a romance, but that genre covers a lot of territory, some of which I usually like, and some of which I have to be in the right mood to read. I don’t generally like the 170 page style romance novel. They are too short to allow substantial character development or for interesting sub-plots. They stick to a tried and true formula and are way too predicable for my taste. I saw little point in writing a review that criticized this novel for those shortcomings, but frankly did not want to give anyone the impression that the book was anything other than what it is.
Every summer I wait for my kids’ summer reading list to come home. Every year it is filled with classics–“good” books chosen by teachers which IMO probably turn more kids off to reading than they teach a life-long love of books. I’m a book lover and I’d hate to have to read some of the titles on my kids’ lists. The market says that books like Cecelia’s have a place. My point in the McDonald’s analogy was simply to say that it needs to be evaluated for what it is. If you are looking for a quick, easy, happy read with a spiritually uplifting message you are going to be much happier with John’s Quest than with Crime and Punishment, even though, from a literary standpoint, Crime and Punishment is a better novel (and for the record I HATED Crime and Punishment and there is no way I would have finished it had it not been required.
Ya know, RAnn and Kandy Kane, Stephen King has been compared to McDonald’s! I’ve copied and pasted the text here, but here’s the link where I obtained this information. I’ve heard this about him before, so I searched on the internet to find the reference for you: it’s #11:http://www.hodder.co.uk/reading_guides.asp?ID=5 Here’s the scoop: 11) In the afterword King describes his prose ‘as the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and a large fries from McDonald’s.’ What does King mean by this, and does it seem overly self-deprecating from a writer with his gifts. Is popular and literary fiction mutually exclusive?
McDonald’s?? Come on! Give me a break!
Hi! The McDonald’s analogy was mine. Realize that the only info I got about this book prior to accepting it for review was a short blurb–I knew it was a romance, but that genre covers a lot of territory, some of which I usually like, and some of which I have to be in the right mood to read. I don’t generally like the 170 page style romance novel. They are too short to allow substantial character development or for interesting sub-plots. They stick to a tried and true formula and are way too predicable for my taste. I saw little point in writing a review that criticized this novel for those shortcomings, but frankly did not want to give anyone the impression that the book was anything other than what it is.
Every summer I wait for my kids’ summer reading list to come home. Every year it is filled with classics–“good” books chosen by teachers which IMO probably turn more kids off to reading than they teach a life-long love of books. I’m a book lover and I’d hate to have to read some of the titles on my kids’ lists. The market says that books like Cecelia’s have a place. My point in the McDonald’s analogy was simply to say that it needs to be evaluated for what it is. If you are looking for a quick, easy, happy read with a spiritually uplifting message you are going to be much happier with John’s Quest than with Crime and Punishment, even though, from a literary standpoint, Crime and Punishment is a better novel (and for the record I HATED Crime and Punishment and there is no way I would have finished it had it not been required.
Thanks for explaining yourself, Rann. I’m sorry if my comment offended you.
Ya know, RAnn and Kandy Kane, Stephen King has been compared to McDonald’s! I’ve copied and pasted the text here, but here’s the link where I obtained this information. I’ve heard this about him before, so I searched on the internet to find the reference for you: it’s #11:http://www.hodder.co.uk/reading_guides.asp?ID=5
Here’s the scoop:
11) In the afterword King describes his prose ‘as the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and a large fries from McDonald’s.’ What does King mean by this, and does it seem overly self-deprecating from a writer with his gifts. Is popular and literary fiction mutually exclusive?