i love this!! men have been writing 'sad boy books' for decades (centuries, even) and no one would lump them all together because of the author's gender. and the recommendations are wonderful!
This was a great read! I commented something on a Mina Le post recently that I think also applies to this discussion: As someone who has social media but does not have the apps on my phone (I really only use to post a few times a year- basically I use social media but I don’t consume it) I have a really interesting perspective on all of this. Because I don’t consume discourse, I am able to love what I love freely, and pick and choose the content I want to watch or receive about it. It’s actually quite sad to me that people are turning things they love into real life anxieties, or dimming their initial positive feelings about it, just because of what other people are saying.
Basically, I have literally no idea what any of this cool girl or vanilla girl or sad girl thing is. I just read what I want because I don’t derive a sense of worth or identity from what I read. I just absolutely adore reading and always have. I think people should read whatever they want without identifying with it, or on the other end, justifying it. Doing either of those seems to me like an exercise of ego at work.
This also made me think of a Hozier lyric as well: “I wouldn’t fare well…. Critic hoping to be remembered kind of wouldn't fare well”. Anyone who critics is building on someone else’s creation and therefore nothing able to withstand on its own. That to me is enough to dismiss most criticisms which allows me to enjoy freely!
This is so true how they try to invalidate the bigger picture of the author by categorising like this. It makes me sad how we just can't read books in peace.
As an MA in English student (omg I know so pretentious hehe) I’ve noticed this throughout my degree. The books written by men with male protagonists, get to drink, fuck and be depressed and those novels get to exist as they are. Whereas women, who godforbid, feel isolated and have internal struggles, become tropes and almost depicted as elitist, when in reality a woman’s multidimensionality is worth writing and reading about, even and especially when part of that reality is focused on their immense pain and struggle within a culture that requires women to be very specific ways. I think the idea that the books the author mentioned are seen as “cool girl,” is depicting those authors and readers as “elitist,” because they’re looking for something deeper within the lit they read/ write. However, like you said, it’s more about engaging critically with work that doesn’t shy away from what so many of us experience. Women are deep and complex and have rich inner worlds that deserve to be shown in art ❤️
fellow english lit student!!! and yes i totally agree. it's actually astounding that this author is a woman? like whatever intention she wrote this article with, it really comes off misogynistic.
on social media, everything must have a niche. even books unfortunately. maybe especially books, because genres have existed for a long time and that can be useful for recommending books but people love to write off anything that doesn’t fit into their preferred boxes.
i doubt she even bothered to read any of those books, just looked up a “sad girl book” list on goodreads and picked up her pitchfork lmao
Ugh, I get the whole 'cool girl book' thing, but I can't help but always LOVE these stories. They definitely feel a bit trendy and pick-me ish (when I picked up Intermezzo in Sainsbury's the other day I did genuinely feel like a twat going to pay for it 😂), but why is it only a problem when women write about being sad or lost? I feel like we've read about male characters doing the same thing for years—but it's never brought up such a silly discourse. But, jeeeez, God forbid a woman feel aimless and write about it!!!
Tbh, mostly I think these books are just plain relatable which is why they get such big followings. Life is messy and confusing, and I love reading about characters who reflect that—without all the bells and whistles (and often even a coherent plot haha). It doesn’t make them any less meaningful just because they’re popular. It also doesn't make them any less impressive just because society tells us they're 'sad girl lit' and we should be ashamed of our trope-iness.
Also thanks for these recommendations, Saturday reading sorted! 👏👏👏
i mean my whole essay is talking about how the 'cool girl book thing' isn't really a thing! it shouldn't feel pick me because most books that are grouped in this category are really well written, complex books that get dismissed as being 'trendy' just because it's about a woman and her struggles.
Yeah, it’s worrying that stories about women that are actually real and whirlwind of emotions are starting to be seen as too depressing or redundant. It’s such an exciting time to be able to walk into a bookshop as a woman and read something another woman wrote even if her experience of gender, race, politics etc., is completely different. It’s only been a short amount of time that women have been allowed in these spaces so every woman carving out her space in the books she writes should be celebrated
This kind of gate keeping is what has kept women authors down for too long. It is frustrating to find women doing it too. If you look at critical theory the Russian formalists thought there were only somewhere between 3 and 7 plots in the entirety of literature. There will always be repetitions. Nothing is new.
I was thinking about labelling last week when I read a Roddy Doyle book (I do like his books) and found myself thinking that he and Marian Keyes share a lot of ways of writing and yet he wins the Booker Prize and she struggled to escape the ‘chick lit’ label for so long.
My other thought is that what you think a book is about and what you take from it depends so much on what you bring to it and who you are when you read it. I re-read Mrs Dalloway after a gap of many years recently and the things I got from it and the way I understood it was so different from twenty years ago.
I’m more of a genre reader, so I wonder if people are taking what does often happen in genre fiction - in particular YA genre fiction - and applying it to litfic too? The paranormal romance boom post-Twilight, how Hunger Games ushered in the dystopian age, etc.
That’s not to say all of the books that followed those trends were bad, or even overly similar. Certainly it would be unfair to say that Hunger Games started a new kind of fiction - teen dystopias existed for a while before then (i.e. one of its inspirations, Battle Royale).
The assumption that any literary trend has to be 1. New and 2. Overwhelmingly bad seems to plague discussions of ‘sad girl books’ as much as it did paranormal romance back in the day.
i love this!! men have been writing 'sad boy books' for decades (centuries, even) and no one would lump them all together because of the author's gender. and the recommendations are wonderful!
yep! thank you for reading!
This was a great read! I commented something on a Mina Le post recently that I think also applies to this discussion: As someone who has social media but does not have the apps on my phone (I really only use to post a few times a year- basically I use social media but I don’t consume it) I have a really interesting perspective on all of this. Because I don’t consume discourse, I am able to love what I love freely, and pick and choose the content I want to watch or receive about it. It’s actually quite sad to me that people are turning things they love into real life anxieties, or dimming their initial positive feelings about it, just because of what other people are saying.
Basically, I have literally no idea what any of this cool girl or vanilla girl or sad girl thing is. I just read what I want because I don’t derive a sense of worth or identity from what I read. I just absolutely adore reading and always have. I think people should read whatever they want without identifying with it, or on the other end, justifying it. Doing either of those seems to me like an exercise of ego at work.
This also made me think of a Hozier lyric as well: “I wouldn’t fare well…. Critic hoping to be remembered kind of wouldn't fare well”. Anyone who critics is building on someone else’s creation and therefore nothing able to withstand on its own. That to me is enough to dismiss most criticisms which allows me to enjoy freely!
oh i wish to be this offline...thank you for reading!
This is so true how they try to invalidate the bigger picture of the author by categorising like this. It makes me sad how we just can't read books in peace.
Loved today's postcard as always
Was a perfect ending to my day. 💕
thank you for reading!
As an MA in English student (omg I know so pretentious hehe) I’ve noticed this throughout my degree. The books written by men with male protagonists, get to drink, fuck and be depressed and those novels get to exist as they are. Whereas women, who godforbid, feel isolated and have internal struggles, become tropes and almost depicted as elitist, when in reality a woman’s multidimensionality is worth writing and reading about, even and especially when part of that reality is focused on their immense pain and struggle within a culture that requires women to be very specific ways. I think the idea that the books the author mentioned are seen as “cool girl,” is depicting those authors and readers as “elitist,” because they’re looking for something deeper within the lit they read/ write. However, like you said, it’s more about engaging critically with work that doesn’t shy away from what so many of us experience. Women are deep and complex and have rich inner worlds that deserve to be shown in art ❤️
fellow english lit student!!! and yes i totally agree. it's actually astounding that this author is a woman? like whatever intention she wrote this article with, it really comes off misogynistic.
“joy within melancholy feels more meaningful to me” there it is 🥲 this is best thing I’ve read all day 👏👏👏
thank you!
on social media, everything must have a niche. even books unfortunately. maybe especially books, because genres have existed for a long time and that can be useful for recommending books but people love to write off anything that doesn’t fit into their preferred boxes.
i doubt she even bothered to read any of those books, just looked up a “sad girl book” list on goodreads and picked up her pitchfork lmao
eaxctly!!!
Ugh, I get the whole 'cool girl book' thing, but I can't help but always LOVE these stories. They definitely feel a bit trendy and pick-me ish (when I picked up Intermezzo in Sainsbury's the other day I did genuinely feel like a twat going to pay for it 😂), but why is it only a problem when women write about being sad or lost? I feel like we've read about male characters doing the same thing for years—but it's never brought up such a silly discourse. But, jeeeez, God forbid a woman feel aimless and write about it!!!
Tbh, mostly I think these books are just plain relatable which is why they get such big followings. Life is messy and confusing, and I love reading about characters who reflect that—without all the bells and whistles (and often even a coherent plot haha). It doesn’t make them any less meaningful just because they’re popular. It also doesn't make them any less impressive just because society tells us they're 'sad girl lit' and we should be ashamed of our trope-iness.
Also thanks for these recommendations, Saturday reading sorted! 👏👏👏
i mean my whole essay is talking about how the 'cool girl book thing' isn't really a thing! it shouldn't feel pick me because most books that are grouped in this category are really well written, complex books that get dismissed as being 'trendy' just because it's about a woman and her struggles.
thank you for reading!
Yeah, it’s worrying that stories about women that are actually real and whirlwind of emotions are starting to be seen as too depressing or redundant. It’s such an exciting time to be able to walk into a bookshop as a woman and read something another woman wrote even if her experience of gender, race, politics etc., is completely different. It’s only been a short amount of time that women have been allowed in these spaces so every woman carving out her space in the books she writes should be celebrated
i agree!
gorgeous and insightful commentary
i love you mei <3
This kind of gate keeping is what has kept women authors down for too long. It is frustrating to find women doing it too. If you look at critical theory the Russian formalists thought there were only somewhere between 3 and 7 plots in the entirety of literature. There will always be repetitions. Nothing is new.
I was thinking about labelling last week when I read a Roddy Doyle book (I do like his books) and found myself thinking that he and Marian Keyes share a lot of ways of writing and yet he wins the Booker Prize and she struggled to escape the ‘chick lit’ label for so long.
My other thought is that what you think a book is about and what you take from it depends so much on what you bring to it and who you are when you read it. I re-read Mrs Dalloway after a gap of many years recently and the things I got from it and the way I understood it was so different from twenty years ago.
i so agree on all counts!
I’m more of a genre reader, so I wonder if people are taking what does often happen in genre fiction - in particular YA genre fiction - and applying it to litfic too? The paranormal romance boom post-Twilight, how Hunger Games ushered in the dystopian age, etc.
That’s not to say all of the books that followed those trends were bad, or even overly similar. Certainly it would be unfair to say that Hunger Games started a new kind of fiction - teen dystopias existed for a while before then (i.e. one of its inspirations, Battle Royale).
The assumption that any literary trend has to be 1. New and 2. Overwhelmingly bad seems to plague discussions of ‘sad girl books’ as much as it did paranormal romance back in the day.
you always put words to my subconscious thoughts before I've given them the breathing space they need. i loved this so much!!!!
this is the nicest thing ever. thank you so much!
i love this sm !!! <3
thank you!
I hate the invalidation some people throw around like it's nothing (that author, not you). Simply: let people read what they enjoy reading.
Also, I've been meaning to read some Sally Rooney! Do you recommend one to begin with or just pick one and run? 😊
beautiful world where are you is the one i recommend to everyone!
the photo of Lily Vanderwoodsen Bass Humphrey reading Crime and Punishment is *chefs kiss*
ALSO, shoving Eliza Clark and Boy Parts in there like Penance isn't one of the best books I've read in the past five years?????
i love eliza and i was literally ranting to her when that article came out last year bc it pissed me off so bad