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/lit/ - Literature

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6357290 No.6357290 [Reply] [Original]

Are all YA books inherently shit?
What are the defining features of a YA book?

>> No.6357294

>>6357290

Being inherently shit.

>> No.6357308

>>6357290
To quote our fabled Gods: "there's a time and place for everything". And YA's time and place is before 20 and in high school, respectively. And there's nothing wrong with that. So let them like Lord of the Rings all they like, but mock them when the time comes (in secret or the open, that's up to you individually).

>> No.6357311

>>6357308
Since when is Lord of the Rings YA?

>> No.6357314

>Are all short people inherently manlets?

>> No.6357318

>>6357311
What is it then if not? Fantasy Young Adult? I hadn't realised the need for distinction.

>> No.6357339

TCIoTDITN is a fantastic book. I don't like the idea of it and A Series of Unfortunate Events being brought down to the categorised level of YA.

>> No.6357342

"Mango Street" had a couple good parts. This one is one that stuck with me:
>You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky, and sky can keep you safe when you are sad. Here there is too much sadness and not enough sky. Butterflies too are few and so are flowers and most things that are beautiful. Still, we take what we can get and make the best of it.
>Darius, who doesn't like school, who is sometimes stupid and mostly a fool, said something wise today, though most days he says nothing. Darius, who chases girls with firecrackers or a stick that touched a rat and thinks he's though, today pointed up because the world was full of clouds, the kind like pillows.
>You all see that cloud, that fat one there? Darius said, See that? Where? That one next to the one that look like popcorn. That one there. See that. That's God, Darius said. God? somebody little asked. God, he said, and made it simple.

>> No.6357344

>>6357290
>What are the defining features of a YA book?
Appealing to YA
>Are all YA books inherently shit?
No, Vonnegut and Pullman are fine

>> No.6357350

>Are all YA books inherently shit?
No. I would compare them to Pixar movies. Pixar movies can be quite entertaining and have their merits. But if you're ~25 years old and your list of greatest movies of all time is dominated by Pixar movies you probably lack a deep appreciation of film.

>> No.6357360

>>6357339
>TCIoTDITN
wtf is the acronym spoused to be

>> No.6357364

>>6357344
>Vonnegut is fine
Which ones?

>> No.6357369

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/top-reading_n_1373680.html

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/09/24/dumbing_down_american_readers/

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/53937-new-study-55-of-ya-books-bought-by-adults.html

>> No.6357375

>>6357311
some would argue high fantasy.

>> No.6357380

>>6357350
not everyone's a movie critique.

>> No.6357384
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6357384

>What are the defining features of a YA book?

>> No.6357390

>>6357360

The curious incident of the dog in the night time

>> No.6357397

>>6357380
Yeah, but how many Pixar movies are there compared to ALL of the other movies in the world?

>> No.6357407

divergent

>In a post-apocalyptic Chicago, survivors were divided into five factions based on their dispositions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Erudite, for the intellectual.

hungry games
>each district must provide two "tributes"—one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 selected by lottery (the "Reaping"


mazerunner
>Thomas arrives in a place known as the Glade


What's with this trend of adopting high school vocabulary lists as proper nouns

>> No.6357412

>>6357407
>bunch of horny teen boys just got together and said "Hey let's nickname this place 'The Glade'".

>> No.6357421

>>6357407
>Dauntless
The choice of this word in the company of the other words pisses me off and I'm not sure why

Autism?

>> No.6357432
File: 136 KB, 2204x314, Screen Shot 2015-04-04 at 11.56.37 AM.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
6357432

>>6357421
>Jeanine Matthews: Maybe you're not as Dauntless as you think you are.
>Beatrice 'Tris' Prior: [injecting Jeanine with serum] No. I'm Divergent.

That's literally a line from the film. Teens clapped at this.

>> No.6357437

>>6357364
Generally speaking, the ones that Vonnegut himself liked more - Slaughterhouse-Five, Cats Cradle, Mother Night, etc

>> No.6357439

>>6357432
It celebrates American individualism and creativity.

europoors and brainless asian students wouldn't understand

>> No.6357464

>>6357290
GoOFy FONt

>> No.6357505

>>6357439
>individualism and creativity
>If you are a combination of these traits instead of just one, you will be executed
I know you're joking, but I couldn't even begin to enjoy the film because of how dumb that premise was.

>> No.6357527

>>6357505
I've seen fangirls defend it saying it's explained why it's that way in the later books. But who are they kidding? The author wanted it that way in order to appeal to the self importance and this superficial obsession of being unique and non-conformist with teens. By the second book comes out the damage is already done and the money is already made so now she only needs to put in an explanation to get the critics off her back.

>> No.6357530

>>6357290

Cliques, because highschool, and increasing emphasis on identity politics in our media and culture.
Emphasis on romance, because the readership (should be) swimming with hormones, and predominantly female.
Dystopia/post apoc, because of the increasing presence of fear-based media in our society, and a shrinking middle class.
Female protagonist, because of predominantly female readership.

I'm only trying to describe the most popular examples of the genre.

>> No.6357542

>>6357530
the dystopia comes from the fear that the older generation is ruining the world for the newer generation (global warming, environmental catastrophes etc)

>> No.6358172

>>6357390
I liked that book in elementary school. Zing!