Books and music: yes, I'm easily distracted.

[cupcake_goth]

Jezebel's feature on YA books they have known and loved featured Weetzie Bat today. Between that and an offhand comment from minim_calibre about one of her Pet Crackpot Theories, I became overcome with the need to set Renfield the iPod shuffling through every Tori song I have. And I think I will need to re-read the Weetzie Bat books in the next few evenings. I am SO SUGGESTIBLE.

But there's something about those books that I just adore. I know a lot of people find Francesca Lia Block far too twee and precious in her writing, but I think that in some ways she is a girly punk version of Ray Bradbury. (Girly, not female, because her writing has a sweetness to it. Yes, fine, like frosting. And now we're back to cupcakes.)

Magical Realism is a literary genre that I really should explore more of. I've not read much in that genre because of reverse genre snobbery: the feeling that magical realism novels are fantasy novels that are trying to hide or disown their roots. But I suspect that I'm missing some good stories, and I'd hate to keep missing them.

But tonight, it's all about deliriously magical and candy-colored YA fiction. Because that make me happy.

Comments

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

I am SO SUGGESTIBLE.

I'm trying to figure out how I can exploit that for clothes or lunch.

Magical Realism

The only writer I've ever read who's been called a magical realist is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He's fantastic, even in translation, but his work doesn't feel like fantasy. A lot of it does put the realism into the magical realism. He doesn't try to transport you to another world; instead he creates a version of ours that has some cracks and leaks.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

"The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende is magical realism, and wonderful to read besides.

As for cupcakes, they are on next week's keep-my-hours-up plan, as I already made batches of apple tartlets and almond bearclaws for the freezer this week. I am considering decorating chocolate cupcakes with cutout heart-shaped raspberry pink marshmallows, since Valentine's is coming up.

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

I enjoy Ms. Block's stuff. I also mistakenly picked up "Valiant" by Holly BLACK thinking it was a new FLB book; I really liked "Valiant".

What, exactly, is "magical realism" as opposed to "fantasy"? I've heard the words, but I have never been able to get a good definition...I like some fantasy, but not all, and there is no breakdown between if it's "earth" vs. "aliens" for instance.

Thanks!

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

See, that's the thing! I don't know what makes a book "magical realism" instead of "fantasy", except where the book gets shelved in the bookstores. It makes no sense to me.

[amy37.livejournal.com]

Magical realism isn't quite fantasy -- it's the acceptance of a sort of mild magic as matter of fact in an otherwise traditionally realistic world.

One author who uses it often is Alice Hoffman. Here's the opening lines of The Probable Future: "Anyone born and bred in Massachusetts learns early on to recognize the end of winter. Babies in their cribs point to the brightening of the sky before they can crawl."

Not magic, per se, but not realism either. In her books, certain people know when visitors are coming because the ... grass is growing differently or something like that.

I need to read the Block books. I have one somewhere, but only the one.

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. It's not only me, then...

There's also "Urban Fantasy" (C.E. Murphy's "Urban Shaman," e.g.).

I have two general categories of books at home. Fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction now has enough books that I group by large categories, but the fiction's all just "fiction." Even the YA stuff. (The erotica is shelved with all the other sex books, just because.)

It's all just arbitrary, I think, and I also think someone changes things around every month just to give people jobs. they know they can keep.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

I love the Weetzie Bat books. Maybe I should re-read them, too; candy-colored YA fiction sounds really, really good right now.

Kathleen Alcala was one of my writing teachers at Clarion, so I'd guess she wouldn't mind being called a fantasy writer, even if most people don't.

[m-cobweb.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, magical realism refers to a story that occurs in the everyday world, but where occasional fantastic elements appear and are taken for granted as normal. Laura Esquivel's "Like Water for Chocolate" is a good example.

And now I confess that I never heard of the Weetzie Bat books before your mentioning them. I don't know how I missed all that.

[dark-phoenix54.livejournal.com]

I love magical realism. One minute it's our mundane world, plodding along, and then- poof! It soothes me to think that maybe, just maybe, there is magic hidden everywhere.

[septembergrrl.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this link -- I LOVE Weetzie Bat and just finished "A Necklace of Kisses." And I love the candy-colored quality of Block's work.

[mrs-batman.livejournal.com]

I love Francesca Lia Block! Now I want to re-read those (again). [/squee]

[mlle-rouge.livejournal.com]

Speaking of magical realism, you've read Angela Carter ("Wise Children", "Nights at the Circus"...), haven't you?

[fiorituranotte.livejournal.com]

I love magical realism. I second the Angela Carter and Isabel Allende recommendations.

[brumbjorn.livejournal.com]

Completely OT:

Someone sent me this link:

Just How Much of A Goth Are You?
http://www.quizrocket.com/goth-quiz?gatherer_id=100332&gclid=CKLz_KmUupECFQYWiQoddxRdNg