Thoughts?

[Anonymous No.10377140]

Hey /lit/ can I get your opinion on this short story?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person

Women are raving about it, claiming "this is what it's like dating and fucking men" and "all women experience this!!!"

It's written from the perspective of a 20yo college girl who has a fling with an older man. Of course all women take the girls side and demonize the man but I think both characters are to blame.

I think it's a well written short story with a good ending, but both characters fucked up.

[Anonymous No.10377155]

tldr, who cares about some shitty story about some chick's romantic disappointments

[Anonymous No.10377165]

>>10377140
For some reason I think thats two guys kissing

[Anonymous No.10377172]

>>10377155
You didn't read it so how can you claim it's shitty?

The story is definitely more relatable if you've had romantic relations before, so I get why you wouldn't appreciate it

[Anonymous No.10377202]

>>10377140
Is this an advertisement? Is readership so low that the NewYorker posts reddit level bait
on /lit/ to get me to read it ?
If you are not a paid poster then next time have it archived first and post the pasterbin.

[Anonymous No.10377216]

>>10377172
Before I read this, what is it?

Is it another story about how a womans imaginations takes her expectations our the bounds of realities so she's so disappointed? Or does it actually stay reasonable?

Asking because i've read far too much of the former to be interested anymore.

[Anonymous No.10377218]

How incredibly boring.

[Anonymous No.10377231]

>>10377172
>You didn't read it so how can you claim it's shitty?

Because it was published in the new yorker.

[Anonymous No.10377234]

>>10377216
It's a girl who leads on a fat older man and then realizes too late that she fucked up. I think it stays reasonable.

>>10377202
>>10377218
>>10377231
Why the fuck can't /lit/ just read a fucking SHORT story and then weigh in on it? Isn't this board about discussing literature?

[Anonymous No.10377244]

>written by a woman
>is about sex

zzzzzzZZZZZZZzzzzZZ

[Anonymous No.10377250]

>>10377244
It's actually not about sex, it's about the dynamics between a young girl and a fat older man. It's better than anything you've written.

[Anonymous No.10377263]

>>10377234
This isn't literature. This is some stupid bait thread.

[Anonymous No.10377264]

just skimmed it, it's shit

>“It’s O.K.—you can murder me if you want,” she said, and he laughed and patted her knee. But he was still disconcertingly quiet, and all her bubbling attempts at making conversation bounced right off him. At the theatre, he made a joke to the cashier at the concession stand about Red Vines, which fell flat in a way that embarrassed everyone involved, but Margot most of all.
lmao, it's john green but worse

[Anonymous No.10377281]

>>10377263
Um excuse me sweetie what is literature then

[Anonymous No.10377299]

>>10377281
books that are good (according to me)

[Anonymous No.10377304]

Read it, boring as fuck.

By the numbers story about a naive young woman letting her imagination run wild and delude her.

I guess when woman are immature it's endearing though.

[Anonymous No.10377330]

>>10377304
OK so maybe the content is boring but would you say it was well written? and what about the ending?

[Anonymous No.10377336]

>>10377140
>the new yorker

you seem to be lost

[Anonymous No.10377360]

A nice story. I'm not sure what it's like dating men though. If your life looks like either of these characters you've fucked up pretty badly though, so I'm not sure why anyone would openly admit to find it relate-able.

[Anonymous No.10377361]

>The way he looked at her then was like an exaggerated version of the expression she’d seen on the faces of all the guys she’d been naked with, not that there were that many—six in total, Robert made seven.
>seven
>"not that many"

[Anonymous No.10377370]

>>10377140
It was ok, kinda tumblr-ish but nice since it wasn't as cheesy as i expected it to be and that sex part kinda gave me the same ominous disgust that michael gira's consumer gave me, but it wasn't as "humane" as i wanted it it would be by the end.

[Anonymous No.10377377]

>>10377361
>seven
>"not that many"

[Anonymous No.10377378]

>>10377360
I found the texting part to be relatable and like how the author compared it to dancing. Texting with a grill can be fun, especially when she's witty

>>10377361
I laughed at that too...

>>10377370
Thank you for your honest review, this is the kinda shit I was hoping for

[Anonymous No.10377386]

>>10377140
I actually read the first sentence of this story in the magazine, and said to myself "another dumb white college bitch writing about a man" and then dropped it. I will read the rest and respond

[Anonymous No.10377411]

>>10377234
It would be onerous to have to back up all our shitposting and spicy takes with facts or actual experience, I guess. In general, /lit doesnt really do the whole "reading" thing, and involving 1. the new yorker and 2. the sex lives of young women is just laying out a feast for contrarian trolls. Anyway, I read it, there were some nice descriptions of emotional states, and the writer was fair to both the characters i felt, and what more can you ask for in something that takes 10 minutes to read.

[Anonymous No.10377414]

>>10377411
this. I agree 100% thank you

[Anonymous No.10377416]

>>10377377
>he thinks seven is a lot

[Anonymous No.10377418]

>>10377231
/lit/ has been taken over by retards who would rather shitpost

[Anonymous No.10377426]

>>10377416
roastie detected

[Anonymous No.10377431]

>>10377411
why do we not like the new yorker? they put out a lot of fluff but they have high quality writing fairly often.

[Anonymous No.10377448]

>>10377411
Yeah, I didn't think it was too bad. Captured a certain kind of male desperation that isn't too often written about.

[Anonymous No.10377453]

If the story was meant to instill in the reader the same mixture of boredom and revulsion that the girl feels about the man, then it did a very good job.

[Anonymous No.10377460]

>>10377453
Except at first she was very excited and drawn to the man. She only felt revulsion when she noticed how fat he really was up close and how bad he was at sex

[Anonymous No.10377474]

>>10377460
Ok. She eventually feels revulsion. It was a jab at the story being bland and dirty in a bad way, m8.

[Anonymous No.10377475]

>>10377330
It was decently written for what is was, the woman was expressed well.

The end was a bit predictable but it's honest so I can't fault it.

[Anonymous No.10377478]

extremely flat voice here, doubt i can make it through. read a miranda july story in tny a few months ago, pretty good

[Anonymous No.10377480]

>>10377416
have fun never finding real love in your life, divorcing while you're in your 40's and dying alone.

[Anonymous No.10377484]

>>10377411
>>10377431

[Anonymous No.10377488]

>>10377478
The voice is pretty flat, I admit, but I think the descriptions are good.

What Miranda July story? Her movie "You and Me and Everyone We Know" is one of my favorite movies of all time.

[Anonymous No.10377497]

>>10377414
Wut, even with the 10 minutes to read part? I was worried I was low-balling there.
>>10377431
I think cause they dont publish stories by the greeks, so theyre jews intent on eroding our masculinity or something. I dont pay much attention to the pol/try here but you cant help picking some things up.
>>10377448
Its sad if people are reading this and seeing him as a villain, im glad i didnt read whatever comments op is referring to.

[Anonymous No.10377500]

>>10377140

Curriculum Vitae

I graduated from Barnard College in May of 2003. A few weeks later, I left for Kenya with the Peace Corps, where I spent two years teaching Public Health and HIV education at a small orphans' center a few hours from the Ugandan border. During that time, I began learning Swahili and first encountered the literary magazine that later became the focus of my dissertation. Once I returned home, I worked as a teacher's aide, a cashier at a bookstore, a freelance reporter, a nanny, and a research coordinator at Mass General Hospital before enrolling in the PhD program in English at Harvard in the fall of 2007.

My primary field of study is postcolonial and transnational literatures, with an emphasis on contemporary African fiction.

(...)

One of the most rewarding opportunities I've had during my time here has been working as a research assistant for Caroline Elkins when she served as an expert witness on behalf of Mau Mau veterans who are suing the British government because of atrocities committed during the colonial period. You can read more about that fascinating subject here and here.

My teaching philosophy, which emphasizes clarity, cultural sensitivity, and ethical engagement, stems directly from my time as an educator with the Peace Corps. In addition to my two junior tutorials for English majors ("How to Write About Africa" and "The New Global Novel") I've worked as a TF in a variety of departments and programs at Harvard

https://scholar.harvard.edu/kroupenian/home

>Just the kind of things that /lit/ loves :)

[Anonymous No.10377507]

>>10377140
Something about how the human interactions in this story were written reached into the uncanny valley like a robot is trying to write about how humans talk to each other. Not aspie or anything but really can't put my finger on why I feel that way. Oh well.

The ending wasn't too unexpected or shocking.

I recently read Landscape with Sex and Violence which I think did what this short story was trying to do much better and in a more interesting fashion.

[Anonymous No.10377510]

>>10377140
>>10377234
>>10377330
First time chiming in here OP. The story was alright at best. I guess it's refreshing to see a guy be a fuck up and not a cheat rather than a girl cheating, which I see far too damn much, and which gets too much in my head. The writing was mediocre and mostly worthy of a skim.

[Anonymous No.10377516]

>>10377484
I know you think you're hurting my feelings, but I would have had a ball in that outfit, holding that sign, at that rally, and I'm not ashamed to anonymously admit it.

[Anonymous No.10377556]

>>10377500
Oh dear. So meme-people actually exist.

[Anonymous No.10377689]

I enjoyed it, I think a lot of people on here might find it difficult to read though; swap the movie posters with Pynchon and the board games with books, Robert is probably pretty close to your average /lit/izen. The contemporary themes are a nice change, and the dialogue was pretty realistic, but the writing was pretty bland.

I rate it 6/10

[Anonymous No.10377700]

I enjoyed it, I think a lot of people on here might find it difficult to read though; swap the movie posters with Pynchon and the board games with books and Robert is probably pretty close to your average /lit/izen. The contemporary themes are a nice change, like another anon said, this is more about Robert being a neckbeard and just not good enough rather than a creep. The dialogue was pretty believable, but the actual writing was bland - if it was any longer I'd have started to skim.

I rate it 6/10 if only because it touches on something that's becoming an actual phenomenon, namely the neckbeard persona that's helplessly awkward in social interactions

[Anonymous No.10377704]

>>10377448
>Captured a certain kind of male desperation that isn't too often written about.

strong agree here. also thought it brought up some interesting points re: the female perspective of sex that seem pretty true to life at least among women I know

ending felt like the author was laying it on a little thick, but I won't try to pretend that type of behavior is nonexistent

[Anonymous No.10377728]

>>10377507
It felt like a TV show's portrayal of social interaction to me.

[Anonymous No.10377740]

I can't do it. It's not extremely boring or extremely cringeworthy but it's some of both. And that combination makes me think nothing of value was lost.

[Anonymous No.10377742]

>>10377700
>>10377704
I also agree on the male desperation/helplessly awkward thing. Nice to see a contemporary perspective.

[Anonymous No.10377744]

>guy does nothing wrong except be awkward and bad at kissing
>instead of telling him your true feelings that you're not interested in him, sleep with him because you're a slut with no self-control (7 guys at 20 years old isn't that many!)
>blow him off later with a single incredibly rude text
>act like he's the villain for not taking it well
>roasties on facebook and tumblr: "omg this is so triggering i hate men so much so creepy!!! #MeToo"

[Anonymous No.10377758]

>>10377336
Indeed. Read the Hiroshima article and then never touch it again.

[Anonymous No.10377760]

>>10377744
Full house never lies

[Anonymous No.10377771]

[Anonymous No.10377774]

>>10377771

[Anonymous No.10377777]

>>10377516
>I know you think you're hurting my feelings

i dont think that far ahead, im just calling it like it is

>>10377744
>>instead of telling him your true feelings that you're not interested in him, sleep with him because you're a slut with no self-control (7 guys at 20 years old isn't that many!)

hey man that isn't that many guys she's only on track for 25 or 30 guys by the time she settles down at 30 with a real man who's not afraid of commitment

[Anonymous No.10377786]

>>10377744
might be opening up a can of worms here but what's with the 4chan compulsion to defend all men irrespective of circumstance? some guys are creepy. (yes, some women are creepy, too.) this (fictional) guy clearly is. you do not have to defend him -- his behavior has nothing to do with you.

I can understand taking issue with women using this as an opportunity to demonize men with blanket statements -- I agree that the New Yorker comments and tumblr response are largely unwarranted/out-of-proportion. but he stopped just short of stalking a woman, then called her a whore. he's also fictional. not everything has to be a battle of the sexes, even if others try to make it one.

[Anonymous No.10377790]

>>10377774