Books From Way Back
May. 13th, 2011 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
treefrogI've been re-reading, of all things, the Wheel of Time series. I got pissed off at it shortly after high school and quit reading it because the story wasn't going anywhere. I stayed mad at it for years and refused, with some venom, to give it another try.
But a few weeks ago, I bumped into a picture on the internet--a piece of fanart that I loved when I was in junior high because it was the best picture I could find of my favorite character in the series. And that reminded me of reading them when I was 14 years old, when they were my favorite books ever. And it wasn't just the books, it was, as with so many geek things, common ground with friends and strangers. Feeling sentimental, I picked up the first book at the Wee Book Inn and started reading, expecting to hate it.
I didn't hate it. The same things pissed me off as pissed me off back when I first read them... but I love the same things, too. Some things, I like more because I'm older and have met more people and recognize things I didn't before. The things that bother me are mostly writing-related things; I wouldn't phrase it that way, and I don't see why anyone in their right mind would. And there are some plot points that irritate me, and a few characters I still loathe just as much as I did when I was a kid, and more so, because everyone else seems to like them.
I figured I might be upset, this time around, by Jordan's infamous "issues with women". Somewhat to my surprise, I'm not. I love that his women are often pissy, sometimes obnoxious, and prone to being wrong. I love that they make mistakes, yell at the wrong people, jump to conclusions and, in a pinch, will resort to blowing shit up. But somehow their fights and friendships, mistakes and triumphs, ring true to me in a way that few fantasy-book females do. They remind me of myself. Make of that what you will. The only thing about them that I have a problem with is that they're almost all like that, and even the exceptions act like the rule when they get mad. But even the ones I don't like are better than most of the men, who sit around sulking until someone prods them into doing something, then sit around sulking about the results of whatever they did.
I'm on the fourth book, and planning to keep going (reading other stuff on the side because I never have just one book on the go). It's been a fun trip down memory lane. We'll see if I get pissed off and quit again.
But a few weeks ago, I bumped into a picture on the internet--a piece of fanart that I loved when I was in junior high because it was the best picture I could find of my favorite character in the series. And that reminded me of reading them when I was 14 years old, when they were my favorite books ever. And it wasn't just the books, it was, as with so many geek things, common ground with friends and strangers. Feeling sentimental, I picked up the first book at the Wee Book Inn and started reading, expecting to hate it.
I didn't hate it. The same things pissed me off as pissed me off back when I first read them... but I love the same things, too. Some things, I like more because I'm older and have met more people and recognize things I didn't before. The things that bother me are mostly writing-related things; I wouldn't phrase it that way, and I don't see why anyone in their right mind would. And there are some plot points that irritate me, and a few characters I still loathe just as much as I did when I was a kid, and more so, because everyone else seems to like them.
I figured I might be upset, this time around, by Jordan's infamous "issues with women". Somewhat to my surprise, I'm not. I love that his women are often pissy, sometimes obnoxious, and prone to being wrong. I love that they make mistakes, yell at the wrong people, jump to conclusions and, in a pinch, will resort to blowing shit up. But somehow their fights and friendships, mistakes and triumphs, ring true to me in a way that few fantasy-book females do. They remind me of myself. Make of that what you will. The only thing about them that I have a problem with is that they're almost all like that, and even the exceptions act like the rule when they get mad. But even the ones I don't like are better than most of the men, who sit around sulking until someone prods them into doing something, then sit around sulking about the results of whatever they did.
I'm on the fourth book, and planning to keep going (reading other stuff on the side because I never have just one book on the go). It's been a fun trip down memory lane. We'll see if I get pissed off and quit again.
