The thing about books like Yesteryear, The Housemaid, Yellowface, Butter and {insert trending book title here} is they're formulaic.
When reading YY, I found it difficult to escape into the world. It was sensationalised and designed to shuttle the reader into shock. The writing itself was strong, but there was something artificial about the whole experience.
Can't help but feel that books like this aren't written for people who love reading, but for those who want to cross off a couple of books a year without really having to think.
"the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries is much better in every way than the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley" and it was at this moment that I knew I would agree. Thank you!
I also didn't like Yesteryear but it was largely because I felt tricked into reading something that, had it been marketed more honestly, I knew would have not been for me. That being said, I also was very engaged in reading the book itself. It just wasn't for me.
I'm just wondering why I can't open the link to your piece about why P&P 2005 sucks? Because I ABSOLUTELY want to read that (and could not agree more)! I haven't read Yesteryear and so can't comment on it but I enjoyed this essay.
I haven’t read it and have, in fact, actively avoided it, because I know I will be in your camp. I have read Eleanor Oliphant and Lessons in Chemistry and seen how defensive people get about you not liking these ‘brilliant’ works. I’ll just wait till the inevitable movie comes out and avoid that too. Go P&P 1995 💜
I haven’t read the book yet, so my comment is violating the First Rule Of Book Discussions — don’t talk if you haven’t read.
I have read most of the negative reviews and the main thrust of all of them has been ‘all women really want to be domestic doormats except me, the person writing this bad review who DESERVES her PhD, paycheck, nanny and cleaning service. This book makes the brutal patriarchy I get paid $$$$$$ to defend look bad!’ Lots of resent the bleeding Hell out of women like Helen Roy and the Tradwives who make a living telling every other woman to quit making a living and start scrubbing floors all day. They are all liars. (Ballerina Farm has 30 or so employees. Hannah Neeleman has a goddamn JOB running a business selling the pretense that she doesn’t have a job or a business. She is a liar.) This book has become a metanym for that argument. I will defend it because it makes Helen Roy unhappy. The Helens Roy and Phyllises Schlafly made everything into the Culture War. This is their fault.
I’m really not sure. I even want to read the book. But I agree 100% on it being quite offputting that people can’t take some critique regarding a beloved book.
My husband’s grandmother used to say about marriages “If you’re completely alike then one of you is unnecessary .”
I think the same is true in regards to just about anything. Differing opinions keep things interesting We learn absolutely nothing by keeping ourselves in an echo chamber.
Thanks for the essay, and now I’m going to go look for your review to read because I’m so curious!
This is how I felt about the people who went insane over criticisms of Emerald Fennel’s terrible, awful adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Also, you are correct that P&P 1995 is the superior version to all.
“I think instead of picking it apart, a lot of people need to be investigating internally, emotionally, why they’re so upset by its success!” —The increasing prevalence of this nonsense is what we need to be talking about. Is this the ad hominem fallacy you referenced? (Surely. But I don’t remember anything I learned about debate and logic.)
I have had several men say (type) this to me recently for disliking most usage of chatbots. “You need to figure out why *you* are so freaked out by this” or, similarly, “You being worried that other people think they’re conscious just means YOU are confused about it.”
It is a pathetically lazy argument, but a very effective one to end the discussion because ✌️I’m out once someone has told on themselves that badly.
Ad hominem fallacy is attacking the person and not the argument--so yes, ascribing motivations to someone whose assertions you don't like. We all engage in it from time to time (it's hard not to!)
I grew up in a similar community as the “vague” setting of the book and experienced the type of abuse and neglect inherent in extreme religious communities. I believe that Holly Math Nerds latest blog on how the novel offensively failed to portray what it claims to for women and children growing up in such an environment is the best written review on the novel. It claimed to be something it wasn’t; it’s valid for people to critique it, and the argument that Burks co-podcast creator is spamming every critical reviewer that “you just don’t have the critical thinking skills to understand it” is perhaps the most offensive part of all.
I actually subscribe to their podcast, I like listening to critiques of culture and the power structures that bolster them, but I’ve been turned off by CCB and her fellow creators response to every critique of this book. These are women who have made a career out of dismantling and critiquing others - yet they blithely dismiss any critique of their own work no matter how valid.
If you have people who suffered from the type of abuse portrayed in the book saying “you got it wrong” outwardly dismissing them as just not intelligent enough to understand is arrogant and in fact blatantly ignorant.
I appreciate this take on critique. One of the best things about reading is talking about what you read, and everyone else having the same opinion is so boring. I haven’t read Yesteryear and wasn’t planning to because I instinctively put it in the same category as School for Good Mothers, and I was really disappointed with that one.
I like all the adaptations. One of my enduring fantasies is to produce a marathon watch party of all the adaptations: 1940, 1995, 2005; Bride and Prejudice. Will possibly consider others.
I think CCB is clever, but the book is not smart, and CCB is so young that she cannot take the criticism (she knows she didn’t produce top quality material and got all the Hollywood gloss anyway). I think she should mellow out and have her baby, let people be jealous and critical and then come back with a devastatingly thoughtful and smart book. That would make me happy.
👏👏👏 love this! Two differing opinions can live in the world at the same time. Even if one is dumb 😝 I liked yesteryear but I actually fully 100% understand critique of the book!
I haven’t read the book yet, but I was intrigued by the premise and I’m excited that I’ve heard Anne Hathaway is a producer for the movie.
Now I’m even more intrigued to read it and form an opinion. As a teenager, I quickly read through the twilight series as fast as I could. As an adult, I think it’s ridiculous and see all the flaws.
I think people forget that opinions themselves can be layered based on people’s experience. I always rewatch the twilight movies when I’m bored, they’re freaking hilarious. They bring nostalgia. Are they objectively “good”? No.
I’ve learned in the times of the internet when people don’t agree with someone’s interest it’s perceived as a threat to who they are as a person, even when you’re not making judgements at the person themselves, just the content.
I’ve read plenty of books and thought “This is shit. I can write better than this crap. How did it make it to publishing?” And frequently they are best sellers. Am I jealous of the author? No, because I’m sure they worked really hard, I’m sure they have their own insecurities and obstacles, and hey, if you can make everyone love the crap you write, you go girl. I’ve read plenty of trash written by men that’s best selling and I think the same thing, and as stated, I’m not jealous of them. I just think it’s trash.
I actually love Amy Poehlers movies (and Tina Fey also), and Baby Mama makes me laugh out loud no matter how many times I’ve watched it, but Amy Poehlers book was so fucking boring. I tried multiple times to read it and couldn’t continue on. It doesn’t mean I hate or I’m jealous, but clearly she has a different strength. She even admitted herself she did not want to write the book.
I don’t think we should support women just for the fact they are women. A friend of my moms wrote a book last year, and we both opened it up to the first chapter and were like “Omg this is the worst thing we’ve ever read.” Maybe in the future she’ll get an editor and try again, but in the meantime, neither of us is going to buy her books we don’t want to read just because we know her. I wouldn’t go to a friends restaurant just because they’re a friend if I didn’t like the type of food being served.
I hope to get a book published myself one day, and if I recieve bad reviews that’s just part of the job. Even the best books and authors out there get criticism.
a friend put it best... the satire seems like it's really the "liberal" view of what a trad wife is and if read through that lens, it's funny. otherwise, it's just more mean girl diatribe.
The thing about books like Yesteryear, The Housemaid, Yellowface, Butter and {insert trending book title here} is they're formulaic.
When reading YY, I found it difficult to escape into the world. It was sensationalised and designed to shuttle the reader into shock. The writing itself was strong, but there was something artificial about the whole experience.
Can't help but feel that books like this aren't written for people who love reading, but for those who want to cross off a couple of books a year without really having to think.
"the 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries is much better in every way than the 2005 film starring Keira Knightley" and it was at this moment that I knew I would agree. Thank you!
I also didn't like Yesteryear but it was largely because I felt tricked into reading something that, had it been marketed more honestly, I knew would have not been for me. That being said, I also was very engaged in reading the book itself. It just wasn't for me.
I'm just wondering why I can't open the link to your piece about why P&P 2005 sucks? Because I ABSOLUTELY want to read that (and could not agree more)! I haven't read Yesteryear and so can't comment on it but I enjoyed this essay.
Because I haven't written it yet! But maybe I will!
I haven’t read it and have, in fact, actively avoided it, because I know I will be in your camp. I have read Eleanor Oliphant and Lessons in Chemistry and seen how defensive people get about you not liking these ‘brilliant’ works. I’ll just wait till the inevitable movie comes out and avoid that too. Go P&P 1995 💜
I haven’t read the book yet, so my comment is violating the First Rule Of Book Discussions — don’t talk if you haven’t read.
I have read most of the negative reviews and the main thrust of all of them has been ‘all women really want to be domestic doormats except me, the person writing this bad review who DESERVES her PhD, paycheck, nanny and cleaning service. This book makes the brutal patriarchy I get paid $$$$$$ to defend look bad!’ Lots of resent the bleeding Hell out of women like Helen Roy and the Tradwives who make a living telling every other woman to quit making a living and start scrubbing floors all day. They are all liars. (Ballerina Farm has 30 or so employees. Hannah Neeleman has a goddamn JOB running a business selling the pretense that she doesn’t have a job or a business. She is a liar.) This book has become a metanym for that argument. I will defend it because it makes Helen Roy unhappy. The Helens Roy and Phyllises Schlafly made everything into the Culture War. This is their fault.
I’m really not sure. I even want to read the book. But I agree 100% on it being quite offputting that people can’t take some critique regarding a beloved book.
My husband’s grandmother used to say about marriages “If you’re completely alike then one of you is unnecessary .”
I think the same is true in regards to just about anything. Differing opinions keep things interesting We learn absolutely nothing by keeping ourselves in an echo chamber.
Thanks for the essay, and now I’m going to go look for your review to read because I’m so curious!
This is how I felt about the people who went insane over criticisms of Emerald Fennel’s terrible, awful adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Also, you are correct that P&P 1995 is the superior version to all.
“I think instead of picking it apart, a lot of people need to be investigating internally, emotionally, why they’re so upset by its success!” —The increasing prevalence of this nonsense is what we need to be talking about. Is this the ad hominem fallacy you referenced? (Surely. But I don’t remember anything I learned about debate and logic.)
I have had several men say (type) this to me recently for disliking most usage of chatbots. “You need to figure out why *you* are so freaked out by this” or, similarly, “You being worried that other people think they’re conscious just means YOU are confused about it.”
It is a pathetically lazy argument, but a very effective one to end the discussion because ✌️I’m out once someone has told on themselves that badly.
Ad hominem fallacy is attacking the person and not the argument--so yes, ascribing motivations to someone whose assertions you don't like. We all engage in it from time to time (it's hard not to!)
I grew up in a similar community as the “vague” setting of the book and experienced the type of abuse and neglect inherent in extreme religious communities. I believe that Holly Math Nerds latest blog on how the novel offensively failed to portray what it claims to for women and children growing up in such an environment is the best written review on the novel. It claimed to be something it wasn’t; it’s valid for people to critique it, and the argument that Burks co-podcast creator is spamming every critical reviewer that “you just don’t have the critical thinking skills to understand it” is perhaps the most offensive part of all.
I actually subscribe to their podcast, I like listening to critiques of culture and the power structures that bolster them, but I’ve been turned off by CCB and her fellow creators response to every critique of this book. These are women who have made a career out of dismantling and critiquing others - yet they blithely dismiss any critique of their own work no matter how valid.
If you have people who suffered from the type of abuse portrayed in the book saying “you got it wrong” outwardly dismissing them as just not intelligent enough to understand is arrogant and in fact blatantly ignorant.
I appreciate this take on critique. One of the best things about reading is talking about what you read, and everyone else having the same opinion is so boring. I haven’t read Yesteryear and wasn’t planning to because I instinctively put it in the same category as School for Good Mothers, and I was really disappointed with that one.
I like all the adaptations. One of my enduring fantasies is to produce a marathon watch party of all the adaptations: 1940, 1995, 2005; Bride and Prejudice. Will possibly consider others.
I think CCB is clever, but the book is not smart, and CCB is so young that she cannot take the criticism (she knows she didn’t produce top quality material and got all the Hollywood gloss anyway). I think she should mellow out and have her baby, let people be jealous and critical and then come back with a devastatingly thoughtful and smart book. That would make me happy.
👏👏👏 love this! Two differing opinions can live in the world at the same time. Even if one is dumb 😝 I liked yesteryear but I actually fully 100% understand critique of the book!
You are 1000% right about P&P because Keira Knightley acts with her teeth and she IS NOT ELIZABETH. I said what I said.
I haven’t read the book yet, but I was intrigued by the premise and I’m excited that I’ve heard Anne Hathaway is a producer for the movie.
Now I’m even more intrigued to read it and form an opinion. As a teenager, I quickly read through the twilight series as fast as I could. As an adult, I think it’s ridiculous and see all the flaws.
I think people forget that opinions themselves can be layered based on people’s experience. I always rewatch the twilight movies when I’m bored, they’re freaking hilarious. They bring nostalgia. Are they objectively “good”? No.
I’ve learned in the times of the internet when people don’t agree with someone’s interest it’s perceived as a threat to who they are as a person, even when you’re not making judgements at the person themselves, just the content.
I’ve read plenty of books and thought “This is shit. I can write better than this crap. How did it make it to publishing?” And frequently they are best sellers. Am I jealous of the author? No, because I’m sure they worked really hard, I’m sure they have their own insecurities and obstacles, and hey, if you can make everyone love the crap you write, you go girl. I’ve read plenty of trash written by men that’s best selling and I think the same thing, and as stated, I’m not jealous of them. I just think it’s trash.
I actually love Amy Poehlers movies (and Tina Fey also), and Baby Mama makes me laugh out loud no matter how many times I’ve watched it, but Amy Poehlers book was so fucking boring. I tried multiple times to read it and couldn’t continue on. It doesn’t mean I hate or I’m jealous, but clearly she has a different strength. She even admitted herself she did not want to write the book.
I don’t think we should support women just for the fact they are women. A friend of my moms wrote a book last year, and we both opened it up to the first chapter and were like “Omg this is the worst thing we’ve ever read.” Maybe in the future she’ll get an editor and try again, but in the meantime, neither of us is going to buy her books we don’t want to read just because we know her. I wouldn’t go to a friends restaurant just because they’re a friend if I didn’t like the type of food being served.
I hope to get a book published myself one day, and if I recieve bad reviews that’s just part of the job. Even the best books and authors out there get criticism.
a friend put it best... the satire seems like it's really the "liberal" view of what a trad wife is and if read through that lens, it's funny. otherwise, it's just more mean girl diatribe.