Guest ii Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Many here read chick-lit, at least sometimes, and I started wondering that as a reading circle choice those books are pretty useless (come on! Seriously! How long can you talk about whether or not the main character should have bought the dress in red or blue and whan her choice of blue meant? Exactly.) we could twist that idea around a little bit. Namely, read two (or three) and compare. Possible discussion topics would be the characters, the development of plot, language used... Are British and American chick-lit different? Maybe even branch out and compare traditional chock-lit with the newer 'mommy-lit'? Why did we like one book better than the other? Credibility? Alone those books offer little more than fluffy entertainment, but you could get a bit more meet to the bones by comparisons, no? Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestfi Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Why did we like one book better than the other? Credibility? Alone those books offer little more than fluffy entertainment, but you could get a bit more meet to the bones by comparisons, no? Just a thought. Um, so a bit like comparing a Tescos donut to an Aldi donut? Perhaps. Maybe. Must admit, only chicklit I have read is British, and although I know it is utter trash, I still find it utterly readable. Annabel Giles, f'r'instance. Contradicts herself, totally unbelievable farce, repeats herself throughout, usually the same joke which wasn't funny to start with. Come Together/Again (Josie Lloyd, Emlyn Rees), twenty to thirty something fun. Read them all 3 or 4 times. Shame on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Um, so a bit like comparing a Tescos donut to an Aldi donut? Perhaps. Maybe. Fundamentally, yes. *laughs* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I've read a little of both. I thoughrally enjoyed Carole Matthews' Chocolate Lovers' Club/Diet - not necessarily because I identified with what any of the characters were going through, but because I totally GOT they're addiction to chocolate - LOL! The plot was entertainingly funny as well as touching on some slightly more serious topics such as drub use/abuse, being taken in by con men, unusual relationships can a romantic relationship work when your boyfriend is a male escort? and the strong friendship between women under pressure. On the other hand, I couldn't stand the Bridget Jones books - I found her far too bubble-headed and flighty for my tastes, as well as p*ssing me off going on and on about her weight when she's only about 9 flippin' stone - grrrrr! More recently, I've been reading a little bit of Mom-lit. My most recent venture into it was Momzillas, which I found hilarious. I could totally relate to the lead character feeling she had to live up to the whole one-upmanship part of motherhood, but also trying not to lose herself in it and to do her own thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookBee8 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 as well as p*ssing me off going on and on about her weight when she's only about 9 flippin' stone - grrrrr! I know! I read the first few pages of the book and it said she was 141 pounds or something. I thought, isn't that like 9 stone and actually very slim?! I'm not a huge fan of chick lit, but I have read a fair few and enjoy them thoroughly when I need something light, easy and relatively entertaining. I've read almost all of Adele Parks and some of Melissa Hill's, two chick lit authors. Adele Parks, I think, is the 'usual' chick lit author but Melissa Hill is different. She always has twists in her books and it gives them a slight edge. But when it comes down to it, I find all the characters are very similar, in almost every chick lit book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amethyst Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Yeah the ending is always pretty much the same with chick lit, shockingly before I joined this forum, that was almost all I ever read! Don't worry, I have expanded my reading mind since I've read an awful lot of chick lit, and it doesn't seem to matter what the subject matter is initially (mommy lit, Choc-lit, etc) they all go along the same path in the end. However, they are absolutely fabulous when you need a bit of trashy escapism. I found that after Wuthering Heights, I needed something light and easy to read. Sorry ii, I know this isn't actually what the post is meant to be about, however I need to brush up on my reviewing and comparing skills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Sorry ii, I know this isn't actually what the post is meant to be about, however I need to brush up on my reviewing and comparing skills No need to be sorry! It was just a random thought, on how to sort of 'activate' the chick-lit side of what people read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestfi Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Ah what about eighties chick-lit? Are there still some Jackie Collins, Danielle Steeles out there writing Die-Nasty sagas where the men are handsome and the girls are bitches in shoulder pads? Or has it moved on from that? Think the first huge novel I read was Kane and Abel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I used to love Jackie Collins. In fact I think I had read all her books of the 80s. But Chick lit has changed with the ages IMO....back then it was more of proving your self if you're female, doing well in your job, even if it meant being bitchy, and triumphing over the blokes in the end .... now it has moved more towards being a parent and having a life/job/friends juggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueB Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I used to love Jackie Collins. In fact I think I had read all her books of the 80s. But Chick lit has changed with the ages IMO....back then it was more of proving your self if you're female, doing well in your job, even if it meant being bitchy, and triumphing over the blokes in the end .... now it has moved more towards being a parent and having a life/job/friends juggle. Yeh I used to read Jackie Collins too back in the 80s...I bought her last book as a holiday read, read about a chapter and closed it! Nowadays I like something that I can really get my teeth into....although I have been known to read a chick lit occassionally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Namely, read two (or three) and compare.Possible discussion topics would be the characters, the development of plot, language used... Are British and American chick-lit different? Maybe even branch out and compare traditional chock-lit with the newer 'mommy-lit'? Why did we like one book better than the other? Credibility? Alone those books offer little more than fluffy entertainment, but you could get a bit more meet to the bones by comparisons, no? Just a thought. ii, I think this is a great idea. There are plenty of options for comparing books, and I've recently been reading some of the latest offerings from some of the authors I read years ago when the term "chick-lit" was first coined, so I've been doing comparisons between their early work and more recent to see how (or if) they've developed their writing style, characteristics and lifestyles for their heroines, etc. I'd definitely take part in this sort of reading and subsequent discussions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I can just about remember the beginning of chick-lit. Wasn't it SCRUPLES by Judith Krantz? Around 1978? I read very little chick-lit, mostly just stuff written by my friends. I doubt you'll have heard of her but there's a Scottish chick-lit writer called Erica Munro and I recommend her DATING GAMES. (I'm afraid the cover is as awful as the title, but take no notice) It's chick-lit with brains, wit and a moral dimension. She also writes as Lucy Hepburn and I recommend CLICKING HER HEELS for another witty, intelligent take on a daffy subject - ie shoes. Premise = vengeful boyfriend sells heroine's entire shoe collection on Ebay. Heroine sets off on globe-trotting quest to get them all back. Sounds naff but it's actually quite moving when you read all the stories attached to the shoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amethyst Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 She also writes as Lucy Hepburn and I recommend CLICKING HER HEELS for another witty, intelligent take on a daffy subject - ie shoes. Premise = vengeful boyfriend sells heroine's entire shoe collection on Ebay. Heroine sets off on globe-trotting quest to get them all back. Sounds naff but it's actually quite moving when you read all the stories attached to the shoes. Oh my!! I think I'd go nuts if someone did that to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I can just about remember the beginning of chick-lit. Wasn't it SCRUPLES by Judith Krantz? Around 1978? I thought it was later than this. Doesn't Scruples fit in with the likes of Jackie Collins and Jilly Cooper type novels? Aren't they known as "blockbusters"? Although they're aimed at women, I personally don't consider them to be chick-lit books. From memory, it was Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding, that was the beginning of the recognition of chick-lit as a new genre (certainly in the UK anyway). That's certainly my starting point for chick-lit. I think the term is supposed to be a take on chick flick, as in a romantic (usually comedy) film that women tend to go and see together in groups, or drag a partner along to. Based on that, I'm thinking of 1995/6 as the start of chick-lit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kara.jackson Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I'm pretty sure the mid-90s is that time period for sure. There's now "lad lit", too, mostly taken from the chicklit craziness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Gillard Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 SCRUPLES was the first novel about sex and shopping, I think. "Scruples" was a bug store. I think Bridget Jones was actually a backlash - she was a wimpy heroine who wasn't "having it all" and was taken to female hearts because of that. If you recall it was a journalist's satirical newspaper column before it was a book. But chick-lit - in the sense of books about women, their jobs, their friends and their chaotic sex lives - goes way back before the 90s. But before then young women in fiction weren't portrayed as hapless victims and there wasn't that much comedy. (Does that perhaps mean it wasn't chick-lit? Is chick-lit by definition funny?) As a product of the feminist 60s and 70s women writers were keen to portray women as successful, powerful, sexually self-determining. All the stuff that produced COSMOPOLITAN magazine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestfi Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Hmm its the old philosophical argument - "Did it exist before it had a name?"..... I guess I agree that Bridget Jones was probably the first novel coined "Chick-Lit", but that doesn't mean that the genre of fiction didn't exist before, it's just a new genre born out of the other genres. There is an argument, for instance, for calling Christie or even Austen "Chick-Lit". No, I'm not calling them trashy, but they wrote popular fiction, particularly aimed at young ladies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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