Moments of Permanence - Guitar, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, racism, etc

From: rainbow Date: July 5th, 2009 06:58 pm (UTC) (Link)

Re 1st Ladies', I don't understand what you mean by "reading like a kids' book" and the cahracters being written like children; are you up to expanding on that?

The only thing that stands out to me for the first is that they're books that would be fine for kids to read as well as adults -- but from your expressed frustration I don't think that's what you mean. (To me just about any cozy mystery is in that category; I started reading Agatha Christie when I was 9 or 10; she's not particularly cozy, but she seems sort of like she was pre-cozy cozy, if that make sense.)

(note: I'm not trying to challenge your perception of the writing being problematic, and I'm saying that specifically since you said you find yourself doubting your perceptions. I just want to understand them, if you feel up to explaining them more. And if you don't, I'll live.)

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From: sami Date: July 6th, 2009 01:32 pm (UTC) (Link)

The language is very simplistic. Precious's perspective is very... limited. She's written as adventurous and determined, but her thought processes, her perspective, are less mature and complex than Harry Potter's.

McCall Smith is very much buying into the "delightful children" view of African natives. It's a very colonialistic kind of condescension - the books could have been written very similarly fifty or a hundred years ago.

Precious Ramotswe is supposed to be highly intelligent, but McCall Smith writes her like a precocious child, not an intelligent adult.

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From: rainbow Date: July 6th, 2009 08:03 pm (UTC) (Link)

That confuses me more, actually. ::wry smile::

To me Precious doesn't seem childish, limited, or simplistic at all; to me she seems to have a balance, maturity, calmness, intelligence, and centeredness that I envy. I love that another culture is presented as very different than but not worse than the modern western one, and that it has its own disadvantages *and* advantages, instead of the usual western attitude of "our way is better, those poor people are to be pitied". I like that the problems aren't shied away from; aids isn't named, but the effects are referred to often; the huge number of orphans is evident; poverty and a very different standard of living is clear. A culture with different values is presented as not lesser than western culture but very different and better in ways.

(And now I'm doing the doubting my own perceptions thing, too...)

I loathe the HP books.

I find Harry very immature (he's a child, though, so it's understandable). He's annoying, self-centered, dishonest, and whiny. Dumbledore is deceptive, manipulative, and dishonest. He uses children for his own ends! Snape ::shudder:: is emotionally abusive and furthers his own damage on the children. There's little recognition of the trauma a child abused as he was would have gone through; instead he's abused more by the adults who should be caring for me. And then the writing centers on adventures boys and men have while girls and women are very much shoved to the side and disempowered -- or turned evil. Most adults are shown as people children shouldn't trust; children are shown with not much other options than lying and fighting. Violence between houses is subtly condoned. (note: I used to love the books; then I reread them a couple years ago when the last one was coming out and ..gah.)

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From: lady_ganesh Date: July 6th, 2009 11:08 pm (UTC) (Link)

There's little recognition of the trauma a child abused as he was would have gone through; instead he's abused more by the adults who should be caring for mecannot do it.

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From: rainbow Date: July 6th, 2009 11:27 pm (UTC) (Link)

*nod*

and I'm blushing furiously that my subconscious was so busy when I typed that -- I wrote "the adults who should be caring for *me*" rather than "him".

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From: lady_ganesh Date: July 6th, 2009 11:38 pm (UTC) (Link)

I knew what you meant! It's okay!

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From: rainbow Date: July 7th, 2009 12:04 am (UTC) (Link)

*g* thank you. So embarassing!

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