the saga of how much i hate that book: the continuation!

[esmenet]

Today I came across a post about how Lev Grossman's The Magicians is a flawless allegory for grad school. Not having been to grad school, I couldn't tell you one way or the other whether this is correct, but I can definitely say I don't want to read that book or anything like it again to check.

I'd rather go to grad school, I'd rather go to ten grad schools. Better have your own shitty experiences (and maybe get something out of them -- education, networking, nervous breakdowns, anything) than spend time reading about someone else's.

Comments

[skygiants]

I have a kneejerk reaction to your last sentence because I think it is not true -- there are a lot of valuable things to get out of reading about someone else's terrible experiences in ways that can lend perspective to your own experiences, or make you feel like you're not alone in having them. Or tell you that you don't want to have them!

...this has nothing to do however with The Magicians, which I have not read, and may well be a frustrating enough book to make any number of terrible experiences feel preferable. :)

[esmenet]

Haha, I am overblowing it a bit to be honest. And I think The Magicians has been that sort of helpful book for many people! But about half its readers, me included, find it instead to be incredibly irritating and dull in the wrong ways and they want to light the main character on fire, if only so he'll spend two seconds of his life not being a complete twit. (Honestly, I sort of want you to read it, because I think it's a book you will dislike in an entertaining way, but you would probably be happier not.)

The thing about that book, for me, was that it didn't give me the feeling of solidarity or sympathy with any of the characters; in fact, I think it started off giving me some emotions really similar to those of the characters, which meant that I felt about as awful as they did with the added knowledge of a) narrative distance (not as helpful as you would think) and b) the fact that somebody thought I would enjoy it. And then it was all downhill from there. —At that level, I really do think it's better to be actually doing/experiencing the things you're having those feelings about, because then at least the things will have got done.

[yifu]

(Disclaimer: Still haven't read it, only The Magician King)

Grad school was... okay for me? Very eye-opening in many ways and I met wonderful friends. So, based on what you've told me about The Magicians, maybe Grossman & I have different ideas of grad school.

[esmenet]

I hear The Magician King has more ladies in it! Including the one character I actually liked!

I don't know if The Magicians is actually intended to be about grad school, though it's definitely about 'gifted' kids having trouble with the parts of school and life they're not prepared for. I'm really not sure if it does that well or not, because I hate most of the characters so thoroughly and blindly that I can't stand any of it.