My Right to Defend Fanfiction

We've been hearing a lot about fanfiction lately. I blame Fifty Shades of Grey and its conception as Twilight fanfiction. I've read some horrible thoughts on people who either write it or read it, but I think it's a bit too harsh. Fifty Shades is obviously not the brightest shining gem in the world of fanfiction (my review/rant), but I really don't understand all the hate on the concept of fanfiction.

Here are the reasons why I defend fanfiction:

1. I used to read it - One summer, many years ago, I was extremly bored and I was just discovering Mugglenet and I stumbled upon Mugglenet fanfiction. All of a sudden, I had something to do the entire summer. 

2. I used to write it - Unsuccessfully. I was twelve and decided that writing fanfiction would be awesome. I started writing something about Harry, Ron and Hermione in a cave, but I only wrote the first paragraph and came to the conclusion that writing in English is too difficult. So I just went back to reading it.

3. There's some great writing over there - I regret profoundly that I've forgotten my Mugglnet username and password because I had some great stories marked as favorites. One that brought me to tears was Harry at the grave of his parents in Godric's Hollow talking to them about Ginny, Ron and Hermione. There are stories that are witty, sad and imaginative. So what if they borrow characters from someone else?

4. Imitation is the best form of flattery - I think writers feel great when they see that someone cares enough about their work that they want to write something inspired by their books.

5. It's a great way to practice - Most of fanfiction is posted online. I don't know anyone who writes fanfiction and then just keeps it to themselves. What would be the point? If you publish your work online, you're most likely to get some sort of feedback, telling you what to do better and what you're already doing well enough. Even if you don't get feedback, you have to practice in order to get better and there's no other way to practice than to write constantly.

6. Some consider it fun - If people have fun writing it - great! If people have fun reading it - great! I don't see the problem. No one is making you read anything.

I need a better reason to diss fanfiction than it's lame.

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Posts I Think Give You the Best Glimpse of Me

It's time for another Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish! This week's topic is ten posts that give you the best impression of me. Now, I haven't been writing this blog for a long time, so i don't have that many posts, but I'll do my best to give a few posts I think say the most about me so far. Ok, seems like fun, let's go!

In no specific order:

1. My first post where I say (in not that many words) what i plan to be doing and writing in this blog.

2. My Fifty Shades of Grey rant gives you the impression of books I don't like to read.

3. My latest Lolita review gives you the impression of the kind of books I love to read.

4. My review of Hysteria gives you a glimpse into the kind of movies I like watching during a rainy day to relax.

5. The Top Ten Tuesday from last week says a lot about my favorite books and characters I wish i could become.

So there it is. Five. I think it's enough for now, considering that I currently have maybe a bit more that ten posts, this is more than enough and I think it could give you a pretty good impression of who I am. Until next time!

Nabokov's Lolita - A World of Poetic Prose

One of the first things I'd advise a reader before starting this book is to get to know what the concept of an unreliable narrator is. If you've already read Lolita than you probably know, or at least should know that that's Humbert Humbert.

The greatest success of this novel is the psychological manipulation. Before Nabokov introduces Lolita to the story, he introduces Humbert. A disturbed European individual. The first thing we get to know about him is that his mother died when he was very young and that he lost his first love even before he was old enough to appreciate it. At this point, it's over. We already sympathize with the boy. Even when he tells abut going to parks and watching little girls, most of readers will think that they understand him. He lost his life and his bride, can't we cut him sum slack? The portrayal of Humbert's character does make us understand him, but it is difficult, and i'd also add, wrong, to sympathize. 

The manipulation continues, so much that by the end most of us will think that Humbert is actually the victim here, that he was manipulated by the little girl. One of the things I had to keep saying to myself while reading was this girl is only twelve, this girl is only twelve, in order to avoid falling into a trap that Humbert has laid out for us.

If look at Lolita's situation, what choice does the girl really have? She's just lost her mother, has no father, what prospects does she have? Actually, we know nothing of her. We have no idea what her fears are, little pleasures, hopes and dreams. The only thing we do know are the things Humbert says. And he is mentally unstable. Lolita's character is Humbert's portrait. Everything we know about her comes from Humbert. This is the first thing he tells us  

She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.

My favorite part of Lolita was the beautiful language. I think my heart starting pumping faster each time I came across one of the many beautiful sentences. For instance, look at the way Lolita starts

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta; the tip or the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

In the words of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: It was like finding poetry dissolved into the soup of daily life. That is a great accomplishment. Nabokov is capable of creating poetry out of anything. And i really do mean everything. A sunset, an encounter, hope, hatred. 

Lolita is enjoyable on so many levels. Just for the plot, the language, the relationship between the reader and the writer, the subtlety of Nabokov's literary references (and the ones not so subtle). To be honest, I've always thought that Poe's Annabel Lee was romantic and beautiful, but Lolita put it in a bit more perspective. No matter how hard I try, I can't stop thinking about Poe as an inspiration for Humbert Humbert. Nabokov links existence with literature, thus explaining some of the simplest and most exquisite truths about life.

I have often noticed that we are inclined to endow our friends with the stability of type that literary characters acquire in the readers mind.

Some of his heroes are Edgar Allan Poe, Ronsard, Proust, Joyce and many others. With Lolita I have cried, I have laughed, gasped, hoped, dreamed. Truly a favorite.   

I will create a brand new God and thank him with piercing cries, if you give me that microscopic hope.

 -Vladimr Nabokov

   

Around the World in Eighty Books

Around the World in Eighty Boos is a book challenge hosted by Goodreads. I don't use Goodreads very often so I'm not doing this challenge with them and I've come up with some of my own rules that might, or might not be similar to the ones on Goodreads. If you're interested, you can find them here.

These are the rules I've decided to follow and I might have invented some of my own:

1. I'm doing this challenge independently from Goodreads.

2. I haven't given myself a deadline.

3. I started from my country of birth.

4. I can go from a country to a country only if they border each other, either by land or by sea. I find it that this is too difficult, I will disregard this rule.

5. I don't count books I've already read, only the ones I haven't read yet.

6. If I have to go through a country twice, I'll read another book, but i won't count it. For instance, if I start in Spain and go to Portugal, then start another book set in Spain and then from Spain go over to France, the total is three, not four.

I think this is about it. It seems fun, but I don't want it to become my main preoccupation. I won't be finding books that fit this challenge specifically, but if they do great. I don't even know if I'll finish it. So far, it's benn fun, and this is what I've read. I started in early june.

1. Inshallah, Madonna, inshallah by Miljenko Jergović - The first book in the challenge, set in my native Bosnia and Herzegovina, written by a Bosnian/Croatian author. It was a great surprise, as it comes from an author that isn't one of my favorites. A collection of short stories each of which was inspired by a different Bosnian traditional folk song. Comprises a lot of Bosnia's traditions and also history. It smells of my home country.

2. Konstantinovo raskršće by Dejan Stojiljković - The second book, set in Serbia and written by a popular Serbian author. I don't think it's been translated into English yet, but the translation would be something like Constantine's crossing. It deals with Niš, the birthplace of the emperor Constantine, during World War II. This book was really successful in Serbia and Bosnia, but I just didn't feel it. It was awfully written, the plot line ridiculous and character development nonexistent.

3. The Return of Filip Latinovicz by Miroslav Krleža - One of hte best books written by one of my favorite authors. Set in Croatia, written by a Croatian author. He explores the human nature, urges, feelings and the society with a story of a painter who returns to his home town after many years. 

4. Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco - The book set in Italy. I didn't find it some of Eco's finest work, but it still was compelling at times, but overall, I thought it too long. Eco makes fun of conspiracy theories and gives us some insight into philosophy. 

5. The Red and the Black by Stendhal - Set in France. A bildungsroman that follows Julien from his days as a poor teacher until his rise to riches and finally his demise.  

6. One Day by David Nicholls - The book I chose for Great Britain. You can read my review, but I'll write it once more. This was one of the gentlest and most touching books I've read in a while. 

So far, I've read six books and have no idea where to go next. I think I'll print a map of the world so that I can follow where I've been. It's a lot more difficult than it seemed at first. It's just struck me just how many books I have to read. Even if books for this challenge were the only ones I had to read, it would take me around two years to finish. But, I don't care. It's been fun so far and I don't think I'll stop just yet.       

Jason Reitman's Juno

I was afraid Juno could end with us not knowing whether or not Juno will give the baby  up for adoption. Those are the kinds of movies I don't like, because it seems to me that the writer doesn't have enough courage to decide what is going to happen and than just leaves it up to the audience to come up with an ending they like. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that wasn't the case with Juno. I had imagined an ending where Juno and Vanessa stand next to the baby and then the end. Nope. Vanessa adopts Juno's kid. 

I did quite enjoy Juno, but i have some serious problems with it. One is glamorizing teen pregnancy. Come on. It's as if a teen gets pregnant, decides to have the baby and everything else just falls into piece. She goes to school until the very day she gives birth. Yeah, right. And the biggest discomfort of her pregnancy is some morning sickness.

I didn't like the character of Juno. She's spoiled and doesn't have any manners. I know she's supposed to be quirky and unusual, but she acts bratty for most of the time. She wears Converse shoes, listens to obscure music ad watches ancient horror movies. Hurrah! We've got ourselves a unique personality! Imagine you were to meet a Juno. Just how many people would think she was a nice person? And how many would just want to punch her in the face? One more thing I didn't like about her is the way she acts towards her pregnancy. As if it were no big deal. Sure, her entire life doesn't have to end just because she got pregnant at sixteen, but that doesn't mean you get to act like a brat.   

The part of the movie I enjoyed the most was watching J K Simmons, a former neo-Nazi prisoner from Oz, play a loving and a gentle father. But, hey, he's an actor, so that's how things are supposed to work.

The most interesting relationship in Juno is the one between Mark and Vanessa. But we don't get to see anything about them, because, you know, Juno is the title character and we're just too busy watching her act like a brat to even notice the drama going on in these people's lives. Vanessa wants to be a mother, Mark doesn't feel ready to be a father and they're stuck in a situation that can't get resolved without someone getting hurt.

I had fun watching Juno, but I didn't get the reason for all the praise. Just another low budget movie I'll soon forget about. 

How Has a Kindle Changed My Reading Habits

I am a proud owner of a Kindle reading device for almost two years now. And truth be told, I haven't changed my reading habits instantly. It took some time, but a few days ago, I finally realized how much having a Kindle has changed me.

I was looking at some fairly expensive copies of James Joyce and right when I was about to buy them I decided I wasn't going to do that because I could buy a Kindle version for much less money. A year ago, I would have definitely bought the books. I always thought that one of the biggest traits of my character was that I was never sorry to pay much money for a good book. And yet, last week I chose the e-book.

To be perfectly honest, I don't consider e-books to be real books, yet. There is just something sad about listing books instead of holding them in your hand and looking at them on a book shelf. I don't get the same feeling of value when I hold a Kindle with a thousand books as when I look at a crowded shelf. Or are books losing their value over all? Maybe I'm too materialistic and can give real value only to something physical.  

Now, I'm not only a reader, I'm also a bibliophile and a book collector. I've always spent a lot of money on books and I think that the only decorating my walls need is a good bookshelf. The most perfect reading experience is a nicely done book, printed on good paper, with nice cover art. But those are rare.

I have a second point of view, the one of an avid reader. I don't care what the book looks like, they can be torn into pieces, it doesn't even have to be bound, the only thing I want is for all the words to be there. For this kind of reader, an e-book reader is perfect. 

I really doubt it that any sort of an e-book reader will ever change the feeling of a real book completely for me, but times change. My father and his sister used to collect LP records. I have never bought one. Most of the music I listen to comes from youtube. I fully comprehend the idea that my hypothetical children might find  the idea of a book store odd and consider that their Kindle filled with e-books is the same thing as my bookshelf.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Characters I'd Like to Switch Places With for 24 Hours

I decided to answer the weekly question hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week they're asking us which characters we'd switch places with for 24 hours. Here it goes (without any particular order):

1. Hermione Granger  from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - She's one of the smartest students at Hogwarts, an incredibly talented witch, a fierce and loyal friend. Also, we both have messy brown hair. And hey, it's Hogwarts! Who wouldn't want to go there?

2. Dante from Dante's The Divine Comedy - Dante is guided by Virgil and Beatrice through hell, the purgatory and heaven while discovering some of the deepest philosophy known to a man from the Middle Ages. Even if we disregard the philosophy it would be awesome to be a living person who goes through hell and heaven, sees the Devil and God.   

3. Anne Boleyn from The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory - Anne was the toast of the court, the king's sweetheart and an incredibly smart and scheming woman. She wore pretty dresses and conversed with some of the smartest and most educated people of her time. I'd love to be in her shoes for a day, but considering my luck that would be the day she got decapitated.

4. Miranda Tate from the Bard Academy series by Cara Lockwood - Miranda is a spoiled brat who gets sent away to boarding school as a punishment. But what she and her parents don't know is that the school is haunted. Some of Miranda's teachers are Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway. The coolest thing is that Bard Academy is the place where literary characters come to life. I knew it I should have been a brat when I was in high school.

5. Margarita from Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita - She's the woman who loves unconditionally, is the protagonist of one of my favorite books and gets to become a witch, fly all over Russia while riding a broomstick and hosts Satan's ball. What's not to like?

6. Irene Adler from Arthur Conan Doyle's A Scandal in Bohemia - Need I say anything else than that she's the woman who outwits my favorite fictional detective?

7. Scarlett O'Hara from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind - Scarlett is a girl every man falls in love with and every woman despises. She knows her way around the world, is stubborn, knows what she wants and will do anything to get it.

8. Lyra Belacqua from His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman - She's brave, smart, has a cute daemon and has to save the world. I always thought of her as an excellent role model for young girls. 

9. Sayuri Nitta from Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha - I've always wondered whether I'd be any good as a geisha. Probably not, but that doesn't change the fact that I find their world incredibly fascinating. To me they're the women who made the best out of a bad situation and were as independent as they could be in a world ruled by men. They were incredibly talented and educated for the time. They could read, write, recite poems, dance. Almost a liberal arts degree. Heck, if I can't be a geisha, may I dress up in a kimono and wear the make up? Just for a day?

10. Lord Henry Wotton from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray - He's perfectly cynical, an idle lord who makes Dorian into what he became. Leads almost the same life as Dorian does and manages to escape from it without almost any consequences. 

So, there they are. My top ten. It was a lot more difficult than it seemed. I have to give an honorable mention to Wendy from Peter Pan and Beatriz from The Shadow of the Wind.