Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Hmmm...Seem to have had a busy few days, what with being horrible to people and working and stuff, anyway am finally in the mood to rant about The Bride Stripped Bare. I got it for a birthday present but as I have a self imposed ban on reading non uni books during semester unless I am really ahead (never) I had to wait til the holidays to read it. Now apparently there wasn't the sort of media frenzy we saw in Australia anywhere else in the world, but the amount of crap we saw here was enough to make out the book was pretty raunchy and controversial. As far as I can remember this was based mainly on two points, the amount of sex in it, and also the secret access into a woman's hidden mind that it was meant to provide.
Now firstly it wasn't that sexy, or raunchy, or even very provocative. Read any standard 'bonk-buster' eg Jilly Cooper (a particular favorite of my mother's hence my association) and there is way more sex, even the stuff that was meant to be all daring like the threesomes with taxi drivers seemed quite tame.
Secondly, and this is my main beef, insight into a woman's secret thoughts and fantasies my arse! Nicki Gemmell, who helpfully became un-anonymous in time for the press circuit, informs her Dear Reader at the back of the book that she wanted to write "utterly truthfully about what women really want." I'm sorry but women make up more than 50% of the population which means there are more than three billion of us so I resent the implication that we are all the same and can all be heaped under the same umbrella in our 'wants'. I think my problem is that what this woman wants is a good kick up the arse (the narrator, not Nicki Gemmell, although...)
The main premise of the novel is that on her honeymoon the narrator discovers her husband is having an affair with her best friend. Instead of kicking him to the kerb she decides to stay with him, 'cos what girl doesn't need a husband when push comes to shove, and instead goes around passive aggressively being an absolute bitch. Fine. Then she meets a guy who she absolutely loves and he loves her etc. but her is only a lowly writer she screws around with him for a bit and then gets pregnant (can't remember who with but it doesn't really matter) so then goes back finally to her husband who she doesn't really love (and who is crap in bed by the way) so they can make a nice little family. Her final triumph comes when she has her baby and her old best friend comes to visit her, and the old best friend can't have children, so the narrator feels all exultant about how she can have a husband and breed and thus her life is just so great and fulfilled.
Ok, so Gemmell does try to dilute this sickening message at the start with the information that since the writing the narrator has either killed herself or faked her own death but still! Can we all say Spew!
Not much has made me this angry for a while although don't get me started on that Cougar ad with the slice of lemon.
Now firstly it wasn't that sexy, or raunchy, or even very provocative. Read any standard 'bonk-buster' eg Jilly Cooper (a particular favorite of my mother's hence my association) and there is way more sex, even the stuff that was meant to be all daring like the threesomes with taxi drivers seemed quite tame.
Secondly, and this is my main beef, insight into a woman's secret thoughts and fantasies my arse! Nicki Gemmell, who helpfully became un-anonymous in time for the press circuit, informs her Dear Reader at the back of the book that she wanted to write "utterly truthfully about what women really want." I'm sorry but women make up more than 50% of the population which means there are more than three billion of us so I resent the implication that we are all the same and can all be heaped under the same umbrella in our 'wants'. I think my problem is that what this woman wants is a good kick up the arse (the narrator, not Nicki Gemmell, although...)
The main premise of the novel is that on her honeymoon the narrator discovers her husband is having an affair with her best friend. Instead of kicking him to the kerb she decides to stay with him, 'cos what girl doesn't need a husband when push comes to shove, and instead goes around passive aggressively being an absolute bitch. Fine. Then she meets a guy who she absolutely loves and he loves her etc. but her is only a lowly writer she screws around with him for a bit and then gets pregnant (can't remember who with but it doesn't really matter) so then goes back finally to her husband who she doesn't really love (and who is crap in bed by the way) so they can make a nice little family. Her final triumph comes when she has her baby and her old best friend comes to visit her, and the old best friend can't have children, so the narrator feels all exultant about how she can have a husband and breed and thus her life is just so great and fulfilled.
Ok, so Gemmell does try to dilute this sickening message at the start with the information that since the writing the narrator has either killed herself or faked her own death but still! Can we all say Spew!
Not much has made me this angry for a while although don't get me started on that Cougar ad with the slice of lemon.
