Wow. So it has definitely been a while since I've come on here. I thought I'd forgotten my password, and then got distracted by my exchange in Sheffield (which was awesome), then rediscovering Tumblr and signing up for Twitter (which I thought was vastly overrated, but now I find strangely addictive). The world is a different place now... for one thing, I have my driver's licence now, and Australia officially has the carbon tax. Gruen Transfer is back on our TVs. I have learned about fandoms and seen them close-up (scary). And we've jumped from Twilight to Hunger Games and now (creepily) onto Fifty Shades of Grey. It's actually on this that I want to write a bit about today.

I have absolutely no opposition to erotic fiction. Not specifically talking from personal experience, I just think that it's an incredibly underrated way to get "in the mood". It's more subtle and portable than videos of the same thing, and apparently it's good for the imagination. And if it's really bad, it's really funny. The thing about erotica though, is that (and maybe I'm just a prude) I think it should be more private than anything else. So while I think it's great (in a way) that E. L. James's book is topping the best seller lists, at the same time, I'm a bit uncomfortable. Not because of the book itself - which I haven't read yet, but am expecting to be morish and awful in a good way - but because people are just so open about reading it.

On Facebook, I have a couple of hundred friends. Most of them are people around my age, who I know from school, work, travels, uni, friends and bfs/gfs of my friends. I also have some younger people (cousins etc) and some older people (from work, and more cousins). It's maybe 50/50 male:female, if I were to take a guess. What does this have to do with Fifty Shades of Grey? Well. What I find weird, is that many of the bracket of women who are older than me are openly admitting to reading it. And then writing statuses about it. And broadcasting it to the whole world. While I haven't read the book, I know exactly what it's about and what it involves, and now I feel like I have waaaaaay too much insight into the sex lives of the mums and wives who would otherwise keep quiet about it. I know that it's a really sexy book. But I don't need to know who is reading it, where or why... and I really don't need to know what they think about Christian Grey. It's icky. Mind you, I guess it's kind of like telling people that you're trying for a baby - you're really just telling people that your sex life is incredibly active for a while.

Maybe I am just not as sexually liberated as some of the people I know in their online lives. But I wouldn't want to tell my married coworker that I'm reading erotic fiction for fun. I feel that by doing that, you're kind of missing the point - being open is all well and good, but really, isn't most of the appeal in that it's illicit, that you're involved in something really juicy and secret? Maybe I'm overanalysing, and it's not creepy at all. But I just feel like now I know too much.

Also... apparently a movie is in the works. I don't know if it's the kind of thing that will be allowed to get cinematic release, but also, even if/when I do read it, I don't know if I'll want a most likely censored version of the novel...

Nuances

I'm currently reading a crappy chick-lit novel called "Weekend in Paris", by Robyn Sisman. It's pretty good... I like the main character etc etc, but there is by far one of the worst Australian stereotypes featured in there. It's making the book on the whole a lot less enjoyable, which is a shame.

Why, why, why, Robyn Sisman, did you feel the need to resort to annoying cliches to create a two-dimensional, shallow character?? It's incredibly frustrating.

Matter of Fiction

I am a great lover of fiction. Not even good fiction - I'm not after critical acclaim, or existential enlightenment, or anything else, really. I read purely because I can lose myself in other worlds, and I love it. It's what I do to really make myself chill out during term time - which is probably why I read things that are usually pretty run-of-the-mill; dodgy, even. Not that I'm complaining with reading for school - on the contrary. I enjoy researching for my assignments (probably because I like what I'm studying, I think it makes a difference), and while I'm not always known to do my readings for my classes, I am generally interested in the subject matter and like learning things.

But...

When it boils down to it, I like crappy novels. I like romance - I like to know that the main character is going to get their romantic interest (or at least, the one who is best for them). I get caught up in adventure. I write myself into the book, and then feel as though I'm living it. At the moment, I'm reading Isabel Allende's Zorro, which is actually pretty good going. But, such is the nature of assessment and work and social lives, I don't get the chance to read that much. If I don't have any other commitments, I can rip through a novel in a day or two. But at the moment, it's taking me a couple of weeks. Which is annoying (for me), but really, as long as I get to snatch moments here and there to read something that I want to read - as opposed to something that I have to read - I tend to feel more like myself. I need it. I adore that sense of possibility that comes with opening a new book, or standing in a bookshop surrounded by unread paperbacks.

Nothing beats it.