i loooved catcher in the rye because holden is so me at 14 (a miserable little asshole) and i loved analyzing his actions because it helped me understand my impulses as a kid
It's a fascinating moment listening to someone else really enjoy Tampa. It's such a horrific story, even as a satire - but Nutting's writing is masterful and hooked me from the beginning. I definitely understand the moral upset people had when questioning why Nutting wrote it, but I think the book's purpose as a satire explains her reasons well enough. I've noticed the same energy being projected onto Kuang's Yellowface - I was really surprised by how many people HATED Yellowface, but then as I read those reviews, it became clear that many in that group didn't really understand what a satire is. Fine, and perhaps in some ironic way, they responded accordingly lol. Yellowface and Tampa are definitely on my shelf of favorite books now, and I do the same as you and give very clear warnings - for reading either, really.
There was a stage adaptation of Boy Parts at Soho Theatre in London, it was amazing! I think what I love so much about it IS how it dates itself. IIRC Eliza Clark has done interviews on how she purposefully dated the work, specifically Flo, because it adds to this feeling of characters being stuck in the past in a very jarring way. The further it gets from publication the more I love it because it feels so dated!
If you're still into horror and want to read more, I would recommend Tell me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt. It felt like such a potent and honest piece of writing from a trans author
Back when the Norwegian Wood movie came out, I entered a contest to design the poster for a US release (I think it was just for my region) and got third place. And I was really obnoxious about that until I actually read the book and haven't wanted to talk about it again until this moment.
If you are looking for books where you wind up hating the main character, I would highly recommend “Notes on an Execution” by Danya Kukafka. It is an excellently written literary thriller that follows the story of a serial killer and his victims as he waits to be executed on death row. It’s fascinating and infuriating and made me sob.
I like your sweater!! It looks cozy as hell. Also, all/most Murakami protagonists are insufferable IMO 😂 I would recommend checking out Hard-Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World, if you’re willing to give Murakami another chance. Also also would love an entire Gus Moreno video, I’ve been reading his short stories and they’re about as buck wild as This Thing Between Us… ok thank you bye
Definitely the dated references is purposeful in Boy Parts. I listened to the audio book that was narrated by the author and it was sooo fun hearing how these characters would actually sound, I was consumed by this book. This inspired me to give A touch of Jen another go too!
I'm currently reading Lolita, and it seems that I feel a similar way about your feelings on Tampa. Not to equate the texts, but they're both deep ventures into and animations of this disturbed psyche that our society is always too scared to go into. And the flowery way Lolita is written is so catalytic to the delivery of the narrative's ethos, where it's the WAY the things in the book are being written about, the way this monstrous character is being personified and their thinking patterns so intricately illustrated, that render the portrayal of events so disturbing. And it could also only have been successfully narrated if done in the intellectual prose executed in the text.
really appreciate you time-stamping the books, esp since youre not alw flashing them on screen! also j read boy parts as well: super obsessed w elena's voice shes lowk the lebron james of toxic female friendship manipulation
Ugh I hated tampa. I'm shocked how different our opinions were! I hated the writing, found the main character a complete void and just ongoing descriptions of extremely upsetting scenes with children and it was completely unrealistic
i literally have been so obsessed with your videos lately and i literally been listening to you while i do my schoolwork there is just something about your videos that’s just calming 😋
ok but why did i feel such a swell of pride and joy when you said your essay was chosen as an example?? 😂 I've also never seen essays below an A chosen in that situation when I was in college, praying there's some method to your prof's madness
I read catcher in the rye in high school and really didn’t care for it, but I recently got into jd Salinger’s short stories and they’re so much fun!! If you’re ever interested in giving him another shot, I’d recommend “raise high the roof beam carpenters”
Hey! Holden kind of sucks, I also didn't read Catcher in the Rye as a teenager in High School (I think I was 20 and decided to read it) and even if he makes sense sometimes and speaks "normally" for his age (I identified when he said hyperboles such as "That was 135 years ago") I remember seeing him as selfish and a bit spoiled
dude your videos are really intriguing and their really fun to listen to while I work on my coursework ; plus I’ve been needing a new book to get into so I’ll definitely be checking these out :)
im having to skip parts of this bc i really want to read tampa and boy parts but omg i was so excited to see touch of jen in this thumbnail. i picked it up last year or the year before bc of a random tiktok recommendation and i loved it!! i bought my sister in law a copy bc she sounded so interested in the summary i gave her and its been languishing on a shelf for over a year now its so sad
Omg I just finished Boy Parts a couple of weeks ago and when you were speaking abt how it’s aging as we speak!! I found it already to be slightly wilted in the way that it read very on-trend for maybe a few years ago (which makes sense considering when it was written lol) so I thought it was quite cringe already but I kind of enjoyed that aspect bc it felt like peering into a time capsule of the very recent past which was fun
The final boss 'unlikable character novel' is A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe, but it goes past being fun to hate and just makes you feel gross for weeks afterwards :(
as someone who was obsessed w the whole ramona series as a kid, your comments about the narration in catcher in the rye had me giggling so hard. the accuracy is crazy tho and it's such a funny thing to notice
i also read catcher in the rye of my own will, but at 15 and i looved it then,.i found your commentary interesting, especially about "not making Holden something more than what he is".
Two things I love about this great video: 1. I completely agree with you on The Catcher in the Rye. It's a fun book, but I don't love it nor hate it. I read it when I was 13, and even then I thought Holden was really immature. 2. The thing about one character "secretly" writing about her friend in a blog, and the friend knows about it, has actually happened to me. But the friend writing about me (and another friend) was so passive-aggressive that it was intended for us to find the blog. Silly stuff.
@@frankiesshelf I only got into reading last year and I love how honest your videos are!! I’ve got some good recommendations from your vids so thank you!
I loved this video, thank you! Honestly, a detestable narrator turns me off books so quickly, but I really enjoyed this video, and I really want to read A Touch of Jen. Also, that is a beautiful sweater, and the colors work really well for you.
I had very low expectations for Catcher in the Rye based on what I had heard about Holden being insufferable. I actually really enjoyed it and found it incredibly touching once you really get to know Holden as a character and learn about why he thinks and acts the way he does. To me he's a very misunderstood fictional character and the book doesn't deserve the hate it gets
Holden is not an unlikeable character, and he is not an !nc3l despite many ppl generalizing him as much, as a non-american i read this book when i was very young and i could sympathize w his character (im not a guy if that matters) Sht happens and when you add teenage hormones into the mix, the running thoughts inside your head can be strange. The book is masterfully written tho so you can get excited about it even if a lil bit 😅
he is absolutely so unlikeable! he’s such a hater and he thinks he’s way better than everyone around him, he’s had his life handed to him on a silver platter and is so ungrateful for it and those are all unlikeable qualities!! that doesn’t mean you CAN’T like him or sympathize or relate to him but he certainly falls into the category
@@frankiesshelf he is literally a teenager and had just lost his brother, no? I always thought his "hatred" came from severe depression. His parents sending him off to a boarding school cant be what you're calling "life handed on a silver platter", surely we have more nuance than that. Anyway, i can't argue with a person who has freshly read the book since it has been 5+ years since i read it, and your interpretation is prolly more legit 🙏
@@HalfBloodOtter I agree with you! I’m female and also wasn’t raised in America. I think a lot of people forget that the story is Holden recounting what has led to his institutionalization where he’s getting help for his mental illness!! He’s just a teenage boy trying to figure out life. Now, I understand when people don’t like the book for the constantly repeated phrases or that “nothing happens” in the book but it’s a character study of a troubled, broody teen (like a literary fiction). I love it! Great vid!
I like your sweater! I find myself strangely fascinated with gore and horror, descriptions of truly horrid things, but actually watching horror films or properly reading books instead of just Wikipedia synopsises is... hard and weird...? I dunno... Anyway Tampa fascinates me and maybe I will actually read it I'm intrigued/terrified! Thx!
@@frankiesshelf AH I literally just picked up bunny today bc it seemed the most fun and approachable from the videos of yours that I’ve watched from my pov tysm !
@@DrewpyPlats I think it's the fact that he was so sassy and judgmental but mostly only in his head rather than in real life, also just small things about how he needed to find a moment to say goodbye to things and how he enjoyed lying for fun and how he liked writing. Idk what's the general discourse around his character but he's insufferable and such a brat but he can also be considerate at times and I liked how his inner monologues reflected his personality so vividly u know?
i read catcher in the rye in high school and there's a lot to explore in its themes and who holden is as a person but i think you're right, it generally is a very boring book looking back on it lol
I read tampa in a pub with 2 bottles of wine as my company and my jaw was open the whole time. Also read touch of Jen in a pub (a different time) and I explained it to the group of old drunk men on the next table to me (they asked) and they gave me a funny looked when I finished 🙃🙈
I also just finished boy parts! I felt like it was such an amazing portrayal of the way victims of SA can spiral into substance abuse and overly sexualizing themselves to the point of ending up in dangerous situations again and again. Just to be clear, I’m not saying repeat victims (or any victims) are at fault in any way. It’s like trying to fulfill a need to take control after it was taken from you while simultaneously obscuring the idea of control entirely by getting blackout wasted. When she deleted a text conversation and was basically like “if I can’t remember then it didn’t happen,” I felt like that was exactly what she was doing with her memory at large. If I can’t remember then it didn’t happen or at the very least it can’t be my fault. Like some sort of coping mechanism for internalized victim blaming. And then she goes totally off the rails trying to take control and power by turning the male gaze on its head, including all of the violence at the extreme end of the male gaze. I think she really did kill the boy though. Why else would her patron have given her all that money and then ghosted her? Maybe not. The skull made me less sure. I like that she kept it ambiguous though. It goes in line with the whole obscuring memory/obscuring blame thing. I also like that she ended up spiraling into that state of “nothing I do has consequences” but I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The shooketh thing really got me too. You’re probably right that it will feel cringey soon, even though I loved the blog rants. But if you’re looking for something similar with a drug-induced, violent, maybe-it-happened-maybe-it-didn’t, blur of events in the life of a person trying to run away from their pain plot line, I would highly recommend The Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat. It’s an Iranian classic and it’s aged very well for the most part. Sorry for the essay typed on a phone. I just had a lot of feelings after I read that. Also the sweater looks cute!
i love the essay!! you’ve hit the nail on the head once again i totally agree with everything here and you’ve articulated it way better than i could’ve. love what you said about memory, i thought that part when she deleted the text messages was so impactful but i couldn’t quite put my finger on why until now overall it really explored power and control in such a nuanced and unique way and is such a stand out work to me
Your videos are amazing. I stopped the video, read Boy Parts and came back so I could listen to your take on Boy Parts without spoiling it for myself 😂
boy parts really awakened my desire for reading about hot people doing crazy shit (the theme of the year). i think so often about how eddie poached the fucking eggs
I loved the idea of boy parts kind of.. but the execution killed me I could immediately tell this was a debut from the writing (insult). You're so right that the writing was tooo recent and is going to get more "cringe" as time goes on. And I never saw Holden as unlikable!! He is so real and upon reread at 23 I was still thinking he is so real!!
You may like Haruki’s other books better. I would recommend Night by him. Norwegian Wood is kinda a stand out for him usually his works have a bit more magic in them, so to speak.
okay so before i write anything i j want to preface and say its totally valid to feel indifferent ab catcher in the rye, it wont connect w everyone. i feel like ppl who love the book tho (me) dont necessarily put holden on a pedestal or think hes a hero, rather we think hes very likable and relatable despite his shortcomings. hes impulsive, angry, and constantly misunderstood by his peers and teachers and he doesnt understand why. it wont hit home for everyone but it 100% did for me when i was 17. despite how badly hes treated by everyone around him and all the shitty situations he gets into in the book, holdens dream is to protect people from the harsh reality he experiences, and it manifests in a really sweet and childish way (catching children in the rye fields). thats why i like holden :,0
I was forced to read Catcher in the Rye back as a junior (so I was also 16) and man did I hate him and didn’t enjoy hating him. Like you said, I think had this not been beat to death in class I would’ve been much more neutral on him/the book. Unrelated but I checked out ‘This thing between us’ from the library based on your rec, can’t wait to read it!!
I am definitely gonna reread Boy Parts in some years to see if it makes me cringe. It was my favourite book I read last year. But you are probably right that it won‘t age THAT well language wise. I am also curious for how long the „female rage“ topic will remain current in media and what our view on it will be in 10 or 20 years?
do you take book recommendations from comments?? i recently read little foxes took up matches by katya kazbek and it seems like your vibe! maybe a bit too many vibes a bit too little plot for you but i’d be interested to hear your thoughts. it was a random book i got on a whim from the library and it doesn’t have a ton of reviews so i would be curious to see what you think
I agree with your thoughts about Boy Parts on how it is so much of our time and it might not age that well. I went to the same university as the main character and I thought it was done so over the top ! Have you tried ottessa moshfegh’s unlikeable characters ? i love her love this vid !! i skipped the catcher in the rye part because i want to read it soon :)
i’ve read death in her hands which seems to be one of her least liked works lol do you have any recs on where i should go next with her?? so excited to hear what you think about catcher in the rye!!
@@frankiesshelf ahhh death in her hands is my favourite from her ! try mcglue, it’s her first work, its a novella about a drunken sailor ! i will go back to this chat when i finish catcher in the rye (whenever that is) haha
Do you ever read splatterpunk? I enjoyed a video of someone else discussing The Playground, it’s very disturbing but also clearly going for dark humor. Maybe you’d like it!
You should read The Lie by Chad Kultgen if you want to read about more awful and insufferable characters. Every character in that book infuriated me and I both loved and hated it lol would love to get your commentary on it
iv read tampa few years ago It was really shocking and gruesome the audacity of celest !! !!!...I am wondering If you read this book a little life???? because iam currently reading it and I am so disappointed....what do u think of this book??I think it should be under horror genre ,I mea watching the saw movies was less comfortable really ..anyways .......thank u for your recomendations!!🥰
Love your videos for unlikeable characters I recommend If you haven’t read them yet My Year of Rest And Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh and My Husband by Maud Ventura. I loved those books I’m a big fan of unlikeable characters. Another one but it’s a thriller is The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine. I’m currently listening to Norwegian Wood and it’s unbelievably boring 🥲
earthlings by sayaka murata for sure, i’ll recommend this thing between us by gus moreno until i’m blue in the face, chlorine by jade song fits the bill but i really didn’t like the writing of it, and motherthing by aisnslie hogarth does as well but the portrayal of BPD in that book made me so sad
@@frankiesshelf chlorine is one of my favs!! Tysm I’ve been eyeing earthlings for a while I’ll definitely check it and the others out I appreciate the recs!
I'm a simple girl - I get the Frankie notification, I click the Frankie notification
that was so unbelievably fast lmao
I was already on yt watching video essays 💀💀💀
Are you me? ❤
i genuinely loved that you told the entire plot of these books with spoilers, this is so rare on youtube!
thank you for spoiling us with a 55 minute video
i tried so hard to trim it down
@@frankiesshelfwe do not want you to
Please make a podcast, I could listen to you for hours!
Omg yes
i loooved catcher in the rye because holden is so me at 14 (a miserable little asshole) and i loved analyzing his actions because it helped me understand my impulses as a kid
Can you talk more about that? Holden is like almost an alien to me.
"my library has every book ever written" I wish I had that
“Tell me this isn’t some Beverly Cleary bullshit” - I needed that laugh today, thank you 😂
It's a fascinating moment listening to someone else really enjoy Tampa. It's such a horrific story, even as a satire - but Nutting's writing is masterful and hooked me from the beginning. I definitely understand the moral upset people had when questioning why Nutting wrote it, but I think the book's purpose as a satire explains her reasons well enough.
I've noticed the same energy being projected onto Kuang's Yellowface - I was really surprised by how many people HATED Yellowface, but then as I read those reviews, it became clear that many in that group didn't really understand what a satire is. Fine, and perhaps in some ironic way, they responded accordingly lol. Yellowface and Tampa are definitely on my shelf of favorite books now, and I do the same as you and give very clear warnings - for reading either, really.
There was a stage adaptation of Boy Parts at Soho Theatre in London, it was amazing! I think what I love so much about it IS how it dates itself. IIRC Eliza Clark has done interviews on how she purposefully dated the work, specifically Flo, because it adds to this feeling of characters being stuck in the past in a very jarring way. The further it gets from publication the more I love it because it feels so dated!
ooh that’s such an interesting perspective i never would’ve thought of ! i appreciate it so much more now
my literal bedtime stories, shout out to frankie as our narrator
If you're still into horror and want to read more, I would recommend Tell me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt. It felt like such a potent and honest piece of writing from a trans author
Back when the Norwegian Wood movie came out, I entered a contest to design the poster for a US release (I think it was just for my region) and got third place. And I was really obnoxious about that until I actually read the book and haven't wanted to talk about it again until this moment.
The john lennon comment lmaoo😭😭
Ur so psychic JUST finished a touch of Jen and opened youtube to try and find similar books, only to open the app and see this video winnnn
I'm always excited to see your new videos! Thanks for working hard to upload as often as you do 😌
❤️❤️
If you are looking for books where you wind up hating the main character, I would highly recommend “Notes on an Execution” by Danya Kukafka. It is an excellently written literary thriller that follows the story of a serial killer and his victims as he waits to be executed on death row. It’s fascinating and infuriating and made me sob.
I like your sweater!! It looks cozy as hell. Also, all/most Murakami protagonists are insufferable IMO 😂 I would recommend checking out Hard-Boiled Wonderland & the End of the World, if you’re willing to give Murakami another chance. Also also would love an entire Gus Moreno video, I’ve been reading his short stories and they’re about as buck wild as This Thing Between Us… ok thank you bye
i might have to do that!! i gotta look into his short stories more
Definitely the dated references is purposeful in Boy Parts. I listened to the audio book that was narrated by the author and it was sooo fun hearing how these characters would actually sound, I was consumed by this book. This inspired me to give A touch of Jen another go too!
I'm currently reading Lolita, and it seems that I feel a similar way about your feelings on Tampa. Not to equate the texts, but they're both deep ventures into and animations of this disturbed psyche that our society is always too scared to go into. And the flowery way Lolita is written is so catalytic to the delivery of the narrative's ethos, where it's the WAY the things in the book are being written about, the way this monstrous character is being personified and their thinking patterns so intricately illustrated, that render the portrayal of events so disturbing. And it could also only have been successfully narrated if done in the intellectual prose executed in the text.
really appreciate you time-stamping the books, esp since youre not alw flashing them on screen! also j read boy parts as well: super obsessed w elena's voice shes lowk the lebron james of toxic female friendship manipulation
I hated Boy Parts so unbelievably much but I loved hearing your thoughtssss 🤸
I love the way you talk and express your thoughts, it’s like being in your head!!
That sweater is the best sweater I’ve ever laid eyes upon
Ugh I hated tampa. I'm shocked how different our opinions were! I hated the writing, found the main character a complete void and just ongoing descriptions of extremely upsetting scenes with children and it was completely unrealistic
the canadian cold is making rounds omg hope u heal well! also unlikeable/unreliable narrators are so fun to read about
it was so miserable 😭 i’m all better now thank god
@@frankiesshelf i had it and still have it and i had so many fevers 😭
@@kmlkai that’s the plague or flu, I think. Don’t think colds cause fevers 😅
@@jellybebe2753 that makes more sense colds are never this bad 💔
i literally have been so obsessed with your videos lately and i literally been listening to you while i do my schoolwork there is just something about your videos that’s just calming 😋
Binge watching you after my ten hour shift. Please read books and spoil them. I'm so here for it. 😂❤📚
ok but why did i feel such a swell of pride and joy when you said your essay was chosen as an example?? 😂 I've also never seen essays below an A chosen in that situation when I was in college, praying there's some method to your prof's madness
Totally could be wrong here, but I remember Holden is implied to be SA by Mr. Atolini!
definitely heavily implied--in my memory the last couple of chapters are kind of devastating!
I read catcher in the rye in high school and really didn’t care for it, but I recently got into jd Salinger’s short stories and they’re so much fun!! If you’re ever interested in giving him another shot, I’d recommend “raise high the roof beam carpenters”
Hey! Holden kind of sucks, I also didn't read Catcher in the Rye as a teenager in High School (I think I was 20 and decided to read it) and even if he makes sense sometimes and speaks "normally" for his age (I identified when he said hyperboles such as "That was 135 years ago") I remember seeing him as selfish and a bit spoiled
I'm here for the book recs from all of you 💕
dude your videos are really intriguing and their really fun to listen to while I work on my coursework ; plus I’ve been needing a new book to get into so I’ll definitely be checking these out :)
im having to skip parts of this bc i really want to read tampa and boy parts but omg i was so excited to see touch of jen in this thumbnail. i picked it up last year or the year before bc of a random tiktok recommendation and i loved it!! i bought my sister in law a copy bc she sounded so interested in the summary i gave her and its been languishing on a shelf for over a year now its so sad
Omg I just finished Boy Parts a couple of weeks ago and when you were speaking abt how it’s aging as we speak!! I found it already to be slightly wilted in the way that it read very on-trend for maybe a few years ago (which makes sense considering when it was written lol) so I thought it was quite cringe already but I kind of enjoyed that aspect bc it felt like peering into a time capsule of the very recent past which was fun
The final boss 'unlikable character novel' is A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe, but it goes past being fun to hate and just makes you feel gross for weeks afterwards :(
just finished ghost wall from your recommendation, loved it! absolutely adore your videos, hope you get better soon :)
i’m so happy to hear that!! i couldn’t put ghost wall down, it was so good
as someone who was obsessed w the whole ramona series as a kid, your comments about the narration in catcher in the rye had me giggling so hard. the accuracy is crazy tho and it's such a funny thing to notice
i also read catcher in the rye of my own will, but at 15 and i looved it then,.i found your commentary interesting, especially about "not making Holden something more than what he is".
Two things I love about this great video:
1. I completely agree with you on The Catcher in the Rye. It's a fun book, but I don't love it nor hate it. I read it when I was 13, and even then I thought Holden was really immature.
2. The thing about one character "secretly" writing about her friend in a blog, and the friend knows about it, has actually happened to me. But the friend writing about me (and another friend) was so passive-aggressive that it was intended for us to find the blog. Silly stuff.
I just found your yt channel. i love your vibe, the backround, your voice and the way you tell the stories. Very cozy to Watch your Videos.
I aspire to be as good talking about books as you
The cover is the best thing about The Catcher In the Rye.
Especially seeing the back cover, because it’s finally over.
I adore your videos!!!!
thank you!!! i’m having so much fun making them
@@frankiesshelf I only got into reading last year and I love how honest your videos are!! I’ve got some good recommendations from your vids so thank you!
I get so excited everytime you post
Thank God for you and ur channel plz never stop talking!!!
I damn near ran out of school to watch this. (You are my favorite youtuber fr)
yay frankie posted 🎉🎉🎉🎉
I loved Tampa so much but it was really disturbing 😭
I have Tampa on my TBR !! I hit it from my Kindle Unlimited!!
It is difficult to find niche recs like these on UA-cam. I think we have similar taste in books. I love your vibe and your sweater🌞
I loved this video, thank you! Honestly, a detestable narrator turns me off books so quickly, but I really enjoyed this video, and I really want to read A Touch of Jen. Also, that is a beautiful sweater, and the colors work really well for you.
I had very low expectations for Catcher in the Rye based on what I had heard about Holden being insufferable. I actually really enjoyed it and found it incredibly touching once you really get to know Holden as a character and learn about why he thinks and acts the way he does. To me he's a very misunderstood fictional character and the book doesn't deserve the hate it gets
Tampa is absolutely insane. I feel like I am the few that genuinely enjoyed Catcher in the Rye.
I love your reviews, thanks for uploading!!
Holden is not an unlikeable character, and he is not an !nc3l despite many ppl generalizing him as much, as a non-american i read this book when i was very young and i could sympathize w his character (im not a guy if that matters) Sht happens and when you add teenage hormones into the mix, the running thoughts inside your head can be strange. The book is masterfully written tho so you can get excited about it even if a lil bit 😅
he is absolutely so unlikeable! he’s such a hater and he thinks he’s way better than everyone around him, he’s had his life handed to him on a silver platter and is so ungrateful for it and those are all unlikeable qualities!! that doesn’t mean you CAN’T like him or sympathize or relate to him but he certainly falls into the category
@@frankiesshelf he is literally a teenager and had just lost his brother, no? I always thought his "hatred" came from severe depression. His parents sending him off to a boarding school cant be what you're calling "life handed on a silver platter", surely we have more nuance than that. Anyway, i can't argue with a person who has freshly read the book since it has been 5+ years since i read it, and your interpretation is prolly more legit 🙏
@@HalfBloodOtter I agree with you! I’m female and also wasn’t raised in America. I think a lot of people forget that the story is Holden recounting what has led to his institutionalization where he’s getting help for his mental illness!! He’s just a teenage boy trying to figure out life. Now, I understand when people don’t like the book for the constantly repeated phrases or that “nothing happens” in the book but it’s a character study of a troubled, broody teen (like a literary fiction). I love it!
Great vid!
I like your sweater!
I find myself strangely fascinated with gore and horror, descriptions of truly horrid things, but actually watching horror films or properly reading books instead of just Wikipedia synopsises is... hard and weird...? I dunno...
Anyway Tampa fascinates me and maybe I will actually read it I'm intrigued/terrified! Thx!
I couldn’t finish Tampa.
love your videos you are so genuinely funny
Your videos make me wanna read again ! could you do a video about books you’d recommend to people who wanna get back into reading ?
that’s a great idea!!
@@frankiesshelf AH I literally just picked up bunny today bc it seemed the most fun and approachable from the videos of yours that I’ve watched from my pov tysm !
I hated reading The Catcher in the Rye first but later on I related to Holden lmao and now it’s kinda one of my comfort books
Tell me more? I can't imagine relating to Holden. He was such a hard character for me.
@@DrewpyPlats I think it's the fact that he was so sassy and judgmental but mostly only in his head rather than in real life, also just small things about how he needed to find a moment to say goodbye to things and how he enjoyed lying for fun and how he liked writing.
Idk what's the general discourse around his character but he's insufferable and such a brat but he can also be considerate at times and I liked how his inner monologues reflected his personality so vividly u know?
Thanks for the video. I hope you feel better soon.
i read catcher in the rye in high school and there's a lot to explore in its themes and who holden is as a person but i think you're right, it generally is a very boring book looking back on it lol
so many uploads!
if you ever want to try murakami you should absolutely start with kafka on the shore, it seems so much more up your alley
i think you’re absolutely right
I read tampa in a pub with 2 bottles of wine as my company and my jaw was open the whole time.
Also read touch of Jen in a pub (a different time) and I explained it to the group of old drunk men on the next table to me (they asked) and they gave me a funny looked when I finished 🙃🙈
I also just finished boy parts! I felt like it was such an amazing portrayal of the way victims of SA can spiral into substance abuse and overly sexualizing themselves to the point of ending up in dangerous situations again and again. Just to be clear, I’m not saying repeat victims (or any victims) are at fault in any way. It’s like trying to fulfill a need to take control after it was taken from you while simultaneously obscuring the idea of control entirely by getting blackout wasted.
When she deleted a text conversation and was basically like “if I can’t remember then it didn’t happen,” I felt like that was exactly what she was doing with her memory at large. If I can’t remember then it didn’t happen or at the very least it can’t be my fault. Like some sort of coping mechanism for internalized victim blaming.
And then she goes totally off the rails trying to take control and power by turning the male gaze on its head, including all of the violence at the extreme end of the male gaze.
I think she really did kill the boy though. Why else would her patron have given her all that money and then ghosted her? Maybe not. The skull made me less sure. I like that she kept it ambiguous though. It goes in line with the whole obscuring memory/obscuring blame thing.
I also like that she ended up spiraling into that state of “nothing I do has consequences” but I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
The shooketh thing really got me too. You’re probably right that it will feel cringey soon, even though I loved the blog rants. But if you’re looking for something similar with a drug-induced, violent, maybe-it-happened-maybe-it-didn’t, blur of events in the life of a person trying to run away from their pain plot line, I would highly recommend The Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat. It’s an Iranian classic and it’s aged very well for the most part.
Sorry for the essay typed on a phone. I just had a lot of feelings after I read that.
Also the sweater looks cute!
i love the essay!! you’ve hit the nail on the head once again
i totally agree with everything here and you’ve articulated it way better than i could’ve. love what you said about memory, i thought that part when she deleted the text messages was so impactful but i couldn’t quite put my finger on why until now
overall it really explored power and control in such a nuanced and unique way and is such a stand out work to me
@@frankiesshelf agreed. i'm stoked to read penance now.
Your videos are amazing. I stopped the video, read Boy Parts and came back so I could listen to your take on Boy Parts without spoiling it for myself 😂
boy parts really awakened my desire for reading about hot people doing crazy shit (the theme of the year). i think so often about how eddie poached the fucking eggs
Wanna read a book (and a classic to boot!) with an entire cast of unloveable characters? Try As I Lay Dying… I hated EVERYONE.
ooh my mom just gave it to me and now i’m far more compelled to pick it up
I loved the idea of boy parts kind of.. but the execution killed me I could immediately tell this was a debut from the writing (insult). You're so right that the writing was tooo recent and is going to get more "cringe" as time goes on. And I never saw Holden as unlikable!! He is so real and upon reread at 23 I was still thinking he is so real!!
Oh thank goodness I just finished binging your whole channel
I have not been obsessed with an youtuber in a long time and now i'm in a marathon to see your videos and i'm not even an english speaker 😟
I read the book Tampa...... It was... something... she's a terrible character and the writings really good haha
You may like Haruki’s other books better. I would recommend Night by him. Norwegian Wood is kinda a stand out for him usually his works have a bit more magic in them, so to speak.
okay so before i write anything i j want to preface and say its totally valid to feel indifferent ab catcher in the rye, it wont connect w everyone.
i feel like ppl who love the book tho (me) dont necessarily put holden on a pedestal or think hes a hero, rather we think hes very likable and relatable despite his shortcomings. hes impulsive, angry, and constantly misunderstood by his peers and teachers and he doesnt understand why. it wont hit home for everyone but it 100% did for me when i was 17.
despite how badly hes treated by everyone around him and all the shitty situations he gets into in the book, holdens dream is to protect people from the harsh reality he experiences, and it manifests in a really sweet and childish way (catching children in the rye fields). thats why i like holden :,0
I got boy parts on thrift books! It’s my next read, I’m excited to hear your thoughts
I was forced to read Catcher in the Rye back as a junior (so I was also 16) and man did I hate him and didn’t enjoy hating him. Like you said, I think had this not been beat to death in class I would’ve been much more neutral on him/the book. Unrelated but I checked out ‘This thing between us’ from the library based on your rec, can’t wait to read it!!
omg one book that I hate because of the main character is "The Summer I Turned Pretty" Absolutely unbearable.
I am definitely gonna reread Boy Parts in some years to see if it makes me cringe. It was my favourite book I read last year. But you are probably right that it won‘t age THAT well language wise. I am also curious for how long the „female rage“ topic will remain current in media and what our view on it will be in 10 or 20 years?
do you take book recommendations from comments?? i recently read little foxes took up matches by katya kazbek and it seems like your vibe! maybe a bit too many vibes a bit too little plot for you but i’d be interested to hear your thoughts. it was a random book i got on a whim from the library and it doesn’t have a ton of reviews so i would be curious to see what you think
I like the sweater! I think it’s cute 😊
love the sweater
Fern get better soon. Need you 110%. 90%. Ok just feeling good
kinda love the funny insights about your uni life lol
I agree with your thoughts about Boy Parts on how it is so much of our time and it might not age that well. I went to the same university as the main character and I thought it was done so over the top ! Have you tried ottessa moshfegh’s unlikeable characters ? i love her
love this vid !! i skipped the catcher in the rye part because i want to read it soon :)
i’ve read death in her hands which seems to be one of her least liked works lol
do you have any recs on where i should go next with her??
so excited to hear what you think about catcher in the rye!!
@@frankiesshelf ahhh death in her hands is my favourite from her ! try mcglue, it’s her first work, its a novella about a drunken sailor !
i will go back to this chat when i finish catcher in the rye (whenever that is) haha
my favorite insufferable narrator book as of late is big swiss by jen beagin
absolutely loved that book i could not put it down !! learning about greta’s unreliability through big swiss’ therapy transcripts??? MASTERFUL
I really would recommend Penance by Eliza Clark because it shows her growth as a writer and its really interesting commentary on true crimw
i loved penance!!
as an american who graduated high school, i never had to read catcher in the rye
“I love a hateable narrator” 😂
going to read tampa just because of you wish me luck😰
i'd love to know what you think about kafka on the shore by murakami?
Do you ever read splatterpunk? I enjoyed a video of someone else discussing The Playground, it’s very disturbing but also clearly going for dark humor. Maybe you’d like it!
i love buying new books and building my collection but your channel is making me think about getting a library card. anyone have opinions?
Do it!! Public libraries are rad and a great way to save money + bookshelf space :)
You should read The Lie by Chad Kultgen if you want to read about more awful and insufferable characters. Every character in that book infuriated me and I both loved and hated it lol would love to get your commentary on it
I like books that make me go :o and Tampa had me :0 the whole time
iv read tampa few years ago It was really shocking and gruesome the audacity of celest !! !!!...I am wondering If you read this book a little life???? because iam currently reading it and I am so disappointed....what do u think of this book??I think it should be under horror genre ,I mea watching the saw movies was less comfortable really ..anyways .......thank u for your recomendations!!🥰
hey frankie i like your sweater
Love your videos for unlikeable characters I recommend If you haven’t read them yet My Year of Rest And Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh and My Husband by Maud Ventura. I loved those books I’m a big fan of unlikeable characters. Another one but it’s a thriller is The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine. I’m currently listening to Norwegian Wood and it’s unbelievably boring 🥲
Do u have any recs for books similar to a touch of Jen in the sense that they’re weird as fuck maybe lit fic ish with a weird surreal twist?
earthlings by sayaka murata for sure, i’ll recommend this thing between us by gus moreno until i’m blue in the face, chlorine by jade song fits the bill but i really didn’t like the writing of it, and motherthing by aisnslie hogarth does as well but the portrayal of BPD in that book made me so sad
@@frankiesshelf chlorine is one of my favs!! Tysm I’ve been eyeing earthlings for a while I’ll definitely check it and the others out I appreciate the recs!
@@Nagchampa765 I'm pretty sure he hates that book though, I remember he says that it was a bit too in your face with the plot and stuff.
@@thecatreturns22 yes he said he didn’t like it much in the message above, I just was saying I did