Reader Confessions: I Love (and still read) S.E. Hinton

You know those books that are a kind of cultural touchstone for young adults - those books it seems like everyone was either forced to read or found on their own? One of the prime examples of this kind of book is S.E. Hinton's famous young adult novel, The Outsiders. Although Hinton wrote it while still a teenager in the 1960s, it has managed to stay relevant and on reading lists for 12-14 year olds across the country. I was never assigned The Outsiders in school, but I read the book on my own in middle school and really liked it. Even as an adolescent, I realized it was a little emotionally manipulative and heavy-handed, but that didn't keep me from crying through the end and unintentionally falling in love with some of the characters (particularly moody and hyper-responsible big brother, Darry Curtis). I quickly devoured Hinton's other four young adult novels and found myself enjoying them as well.

Then a curious thing happened. I grew up, reread the books as an "adult," and realized I still liked them. Maybe even loved them. Now that I'm older (and hopefully wiser) and have seen examples of good and bad writing in every genre for every age, I can honestly say that Hinton's writing impresses me. The style is straightforward, and her first-person narration is handled very deftly, with protagonists seeing everything in a personal, distorted light, forming prejudices or attachments in places we readers might find trouble. Most of all, I am always surprised by the kind of "big ideas" Hinton tackles. Sure, coming of age stories are a dime a dozen. And sure, at least half of them involve death or injury in some way. But Hinton is much more interested in both the value and the tragedy of human relationships. Whether between friends, or romantic interests, or family members, her characters' relationships are always prickly and honest. Forget the death-shines-light-on-truth of The Outsiders. I'm talking about Hinton's later work, where the dissolution of a friendship is twice as heartbreaking and realistic as any death.

My favorite book by Hinton, and one that I return to every couple years because I love the characters so much, is Tex. The title character makes an amusing and heartbreaking narrator, and his relationships with his best friend, his possible girlfriend, his "father", and his older brother are extremely touching and true. It's Tex's relationship with his control-freak, stressed-out brother, Mason, that really gives the book it's heart. (Here, I will admit that I always loved Mason, much for the same reason I loved Darry in The Outsiders - because he's a protective older brother who has a hard time dealing with emotion. Let's just say I have a type.) The eventual reconciliation between the brothers reads wonderfully because it's full of imperfections, things unsaid, and promises that might get broken in the future. And that's why I love S.E. Hinton's work: Because she's not afraid to tear giant holes between her characters and force them to realize that even if you sew that hole back up, it's never going to be as seamless again. People and circumstances change, and all we can do is try to deal with those changes the best we can. It's a lesson everyone, not just teenagers, might need to be reminded of every once in awhile.

So why am I bringing S.E. Hinton up now? Because I am worried about the state of young adult literature. A fellow reader of mine recently blogged about her fear over the state of teenage readers in regards to the romantic obsessions of Twilight and its fans. I agree wholeheartedly with her that although it's nice to see teenagers reading, it's disheartening to know that that reading is largely concerned with overly-idealistic romantic entanglements and supernatural creatures, neither of which will probably be encountered in later life and literature. I understand the need for escapist reading - I read Nora Roberts and Stephen King like everyone else - but what happened to the hyper-realism of young adult novelists like Hinton? I know I sound like a crazy old person yelling for the kid to get off my lawn, but I'm worried. Because books like Twilight present relationships without complexity and create weak female characters that do little but act as stand-ins for the readers. (Another trait I like about Hinton: her female characters are usually as angry and troubled and willing to sever ties as their male counterparts). Reading about vampires for fun is fine. But when that's all you're reading, it's worrisome to literary snobs like myself. Because I worry the future is full of girls growing up to believe in idealistic and super-pure love, and that's just leading to disappointment for everyone. Take it from Hinton: people and their connections to each other can suck sometimes, and you have to be able to deal with that truth.

Reader Confessions: I Don't Like the Beats

I think I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to literature. I have no huge prejudices against time periods or countries or anything like that. But I have one weakness, one literary area that I cannot seem to enjoy, no matter how hard I try: The Beats. Many of my lit and writing classes require reading writers who are considered the greats from the Beat era. Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, etc: none of them have ever done anything for me. In fact, I downright despise most of them. The first time I read On the Road, I liked it much better than I expected; I even thought I might grow to love it. But every time I have looked at the book since, every little thing about it bothers me. And I won't even start in on how I think Howl is ridiculously overrated.

The Beats were important; there's no doubt about that. They paved the way for a more open form of poetry and prose that would prove significant for the future. I also understand why these writers appeal to so many people, including some of my friends. The language and style of the Beat Generation is electric. It shakes you up, makes you think. But personally, I just can't take it. I don't know if its because I'm a bigger lover of form than I think I am, that I want some basic sentence structure every once in a while. Maybe it has something to do with my love of using the exact precise word at the exact moment its needed (I most respect the poets and novelists who are able to do this), a thing the Beats seem to skim over in their tumbled, free-flowing voices. Most likely, it has to do with the major sexism I see all over Beat writing. In an American Lit class I had earlier this year, we read a section of Kerouac's Big Sir. Eventually, our class discussion turned into whether or not it was a misogynist text. And you know what, I think it is. I don't know if it's the sexism of the time or what, but so many women portrayed in Beat literature do little more than provide sex or have babies or hold their husbands back. Sure, lots of famous writers of all eras are guilty of this. But for some reason, so many of the Beats make it worse by not even attempting to write compelling female characters. You lose points by not even trying in my game book.

So there you go. I get why the Beats are important. But I'll probably go the rest of my life choosing to ignore them. Sorry.

Reader Confessions: My Addiction to Fanfiction

That's right. I read fanfiction. For you readers who are close friends or family members, you've heard me defend my actions repeatedly. But quite frankly, there is no excuse for the satisfaction I derive from a really good piece of fanfiction.

I find myself intrigued by the idea of fanfiction existing at all. It's a strange social structure in itself - a messy, complex system of readers, writers, and reviewers who feel a need to interact with their favorite pieces of art. I've read a few essays on the subject, and I am always interested in the ways scholars look at the phenomena of fanfiction through the eyes of sociology and psychology. I spend as much time trying to figure out why I read fanfiction as I spend reading it. I've been known to spend hours daydreaming about what happens next when I've finished a good book or movie or TV episode. But I've never put it down on paper, and I would certainly never want to share it with another human being. So why am I often so interested in these weird fantasy worlds others create?

Fanfiction is probably the lowest form of literature out there. It's the moody, strange ramblings of angsty teenagers and lonely middle-aged cat owners. I'd say about 99.7% of it is horrid, unreadable. But occasionally, something really good emerges out of all the piles of shear crap in the fanfiction world. I've been lucky enough to find a few splendid pieces of fanfiction that make even a serious reader like myself quite happy and hungry for more.

One is a Harry Potter series that picks up with the gang a decade after Book Seven. The series, We Belong, concentrates on George Weasley dealing with his brother's death and the way new friendships form after Voldemort is defeated. It's an extremely satisfying epilogue to the series, and both a good friend and I consider it the missing eighth book.

Then, there's a series I feel even guiltier about but love even more. The Brotherhood series explores the world of my favorite guilty-pleasure TV show, Supernatural. The Brotherhood series (which is primarily the work of two writers but also has a very long reach in the world of Supernatural fanfiction) adds extra characters to the series. And strangely enough, I often find this series to be more satisfactory and thematically deeper than the television show. I never confuse the distinct worlds of the show and the fanfiction, but I love exploring each separately. The Brotherhood's best author (whose oeuvre is the one I linked to above) is actually quite good. Her writing is strong and very subtle, her dialogue is practically perfect, and her plotting is complex and careful. I pretty much put everything on hold when I see an update for a Brotherhood story.

So there you go. Two examples of fantastic fanfiction that I read despite my heavy sense of guilt. I may not have figured out why I read fanfiction, but on a lonely or rainy afternoon in front of my computer, I'm often glad I do.