Tuesday, April 5, 2011

i am at a loss for words here

this kid comes up to me before class and asks, "do you like to read?" since i'm sitting on the floor in a hallway reading a book that is obviously not for any class, i give a small nod, say "yes," and give her a look that clearly implies i think she's slightly stupid. "yeah, me too," she says. i smile and go back to my book. (people can use the stupidest lines to start conversations. i've had several people ask me if i'm muslim. uh, no. this scarf on my head? i wear it for fun.) either interpreting my hints wrong or choosing to ignore them, she asks, "what's your favorite book?" 
me: oh wow, i hate favorite questions. i don't think i could choose just one. maybe gone with the wind or harry potter?
her: cool. my favorite's frankenstein.

i don't remember if i've mentioned this on here or not, but i am not a fan of frankenstein. while i appreciate it as a literary work, i hate the story. my rants about this book deserve a post of their own, so i won't get into it now, but suffice it to say, when someone tells me frankenstein is their favorite book, i judge them. 

me: really?
her: yeah, the way he came back from the dead. he was so freaky... like the perfect bad guy.
me: i always felt that frankenstein himself was the bigger bad guy. 
her: *stares blankly*
me: the scientist? the one that made the monster? i mean, the monster didn't do anything until frankenstein refused to make him a companion, and he only refused because he thought he was ugly. 
her: *laughs* oh, i've never actually read the book.
me: oh. 
her: i watched the movie, though. 
me: oh. um... cool. 
her: yeah, it's just faster and easier to watch the movie, and you still get the story. 
me: i prefer the books. 

and then a couple more people came, i went back to reading, and she went off to talk to someone else. i just don't get it. i understand that some people enjoy small talk, but you could have brought up the class or the nice weather or anything. i don't see why she had to pretend to like reading. i mean, i actually do know how to talk about things besides books. 

*Dutch Courage - The Spill Canvas

10 comments:

  1. anonymous hippopotamusApril 6, 2011 at 6:00 AM

    WOOOOOW! she is STUPID! beyond stupid...omg! i didnt read frankenstein either because it didn't interest me AT ALL..but to say its your favorite book when you probably don't even know what a book is is just stupid. omg this made me angry. i dont even know what im saying...wow..just wow.

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  2. What an effing b****. To pretend to like reading, but not actually read books is the worst thing ever imo... well other than murder...

    Goes for everything - never say you like something when you don't even know what it is. And besides, how dare she judge you like that - assuming that because you were reading, the only thing you can talk about is books... It's like at school with me... When I was writing in breaks, people kept coming up to me and pretending to be interested in fantasy and books and writing, as though it was all I could talk about, only to then say: I don't really read much anyway... or: I don't like fantasies that much - I prefer teen romance... You don't need to be all fake and condescending to be able to talk to someone. I always find it extremely patronising...

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  3. "her: yeah, it's just faster and easier to watch the movie, and you still get the story"
    pfft. i hear this line awl the time. so annoying :/

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  4. And the story on the movie is never true to the book. NEVER I TELL YOU.

    People need to find the value of reading again. Either that or they can bugger off back to idiot school :p

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  5. anonymous hippopotamusApril 7, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    the one movie I watched that was actually pretty true to the book was Scarlett (the sequel of gone with the wind) i was very impressed! :)

    but yeah 99.9% of the time the movie pretty much has nothing to do with the book other than sharing the same title.

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  6. you should have switched into valley-girl talk when she admitted why she only watched the movie.
    "ohmahgawd, right? like, arent the movies so much better? i mean, yah, lahk totally, faster and easier ftw!"

    -______________-

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  7. anonymous hippopotamus... yeah i didn't even know what to say. i don't think i've come across that level of stupidity in my classes before. and i kinda remember scarlett being completely different from the book. i'm not really sure, but didn't they add this whole other plot line out of nowhere? i think this means i should reread and rewatch it, because this will annoy me until i do.

    Hannah... exactly. liking something does not mean that it is the only thing you do/think about/talk about. it makes me wonder about the people that assume that. like, do they only have one interest that consumes their whole life? that would be kinda sad, i think. and people really do need to read more. even the best movie adaptations need to leave things out or make changes to adapt to the screen and the book is always better. not to say all movies are awful, but the books all deserve to be read, too.

    KWP... it really is annoying. these people have no idea what they're missing out on.

    prisca... lol if only i thought to do that at the time. i was trying to think of something to say that conveyed what a complete moron i thought she was, but nothing came to me at that moment.


    this kind of reminds me of that jane austen quote, "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

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  8. anonymous hippopotamusApril 11, 2011 at 2:38 AM

    they did add a fire scene to scarlett but compared to gone with the wind the movie was actually pretty close to the book...i remember being impressed by it.

    omg you should bring gone with the wind and scarlett and we can have a gone with the wind movie night!!!

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  9. uh we don't have time for movies in the summers. it'll have to wait until you move back here.

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  10. oh, and the fire scene was definitely in the book. i remember that part cause it was when she was screaming for cat and rhett was all "forget the cat" and she said something along the lines of "stupid, not a real cat. your daughter."

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