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The hardcover version of this book made a pretty impressive thud when my younger sister dropped the book onto my bed in front of me, drawing my attention.
"I just finished it," she told me proudly, "and I'm not even going to wait for you to ask to borrow it from me to give it to you. Because you have to read this as soon as possible. You'll love it. So read it."
And with that, she walked out of my bedroom. The weeks that followed after involved questions of whether or not I had started reading Fangirl. Until I finally did.
It's not often that a book comes to me with such a ringing endorsement that rather than me having to ask to borrow a book, she had instead physically forced the book on me in an attempt to shove it higher onto my 'to read' list. But I shouldn't have been surprised by it either. She had spent the week she read Fangirl going to and fro from my room positively seeking someone to talk to about how much she was enjoying the book.
"She mentioned Gilmore Girls! I'm in love," she exclaimed to me one day, before looking at me. "You know, you should read this when I'm done. You'd probably better relate to it than I would given your Harry Potter obsession in high school. Plus, didn't you used to write fanfiction?"
"Not for Harry Potter," I replied, to which she shrugged and asked, "What's the difference?"
Okay, it's true. I had plenty enough in common with the main character Cath that it was almost embarrassing on my part, all the way down to the juvenile wardrobe going into university and the penchant for writing fanfiction, although granted, I took my canon very seriously. To say that girls are almost never that awkward isn't true, because I was everything that awkward and beyond. In some ways I still am because at almost 30 years of age, I still have a Lord of the Rings movie poster on my wall.
So I related strongly with this story from the start, because I've been there. I came of age at a time when my fandom defined me, much as it did for Cath. I also very quickly realized that my fandom can only take me so far as a person before I had to basically define myself for myself, and not within the context of my obsessions. Although my journey came with far less clarity, less guidance and more time wasted than Cath's journey. As it turned out, Cath was far luckier than I was when it came to finding out who we were. But she did have a far better cast of supporting characters than I had.
But as much as I loved the story it told, I liked the voice the story was told with even better.
I don't think Rainbow Rowell's reference of Gilmore Girls was much of an accident, because her book's voice is basically what I imagined would have been the show's voice if it was written as a book. It was conversational and friendly in its greeting, but there was an edge of sarcastic wit and intelligence in its use of words. But it was not so smart that it felt stuffy and stuck up, like it was prothletising its virtues, but behaved more like a friend, or maybe to be more specific, Rory Gilmore, venting to you after a particularly eventful day. There was a small town charm to it that was at once endearing and cute, although there are times when it was a little heavy handed in its attempt to be quirky and fun.
So my sister wasn't wrong. I really did enjoy reading this book and I did relate strongly to it. But there was more to it than just that. It had a humour about it that I wish I was able to feel when looking back on the age that I came of age, but also an underlying seriousness to it that also seemed to understand the difficulties growing up can be. And though it didn't tug at any heartstrings of mine due to the light-hearted and sarcastic turn of the book, it found different ways to reach me.
It was like binge-watching a full season of Gilmore Girls with a tub of ice cream in your lap and a friend to share in on the smiles and laughs. Or in this case, my sister. Which stands to reason why this book would be another thing we ended up sharing and loving.
"I just finished it," she told me proudly, "and I'm not even going to wait for you to ask to borrow it from me to give it to you. Because you have to read this as soon as possible. You'll love it. So read it."
And with that, she walked out of my bedroom. The weeks that followed after involved questions of whether or not I had started reading Fangirl. Until I finally did.
It's not often that a book comes to me with such a ringing endorsement that rather than me having to ask to borrow a book, she had instead physically forced the book on me in an attempt to shove it higher onto my 'to read' list. But I shouldn't have been surprised by it either. She had spent the week she read Fangirl going to and fro from my room positively seeking someone to talk to about how much she was enjoying the book.
"She mentioned Gilmore Girls! I'm in love," she exclaimed to me one day, before looking at me. "You know, you should read this when I'm done. You'd probably better relate to it than I would given your Harry Potter obsession in high school. Plus, didn't you used to write fanfiction?"
"Not for Harry Potter," I replied, to which she shrugged and asked, "What's the difference?"
Okay, it's true. I had plenty enough in common with the main character Cath that it was almost embarrassing on my part, all the way down to the juvenile wardrobe going into university and the penchant for writing fanfiction, although granted, I took my canon very seriously. To say that girls are almost never that awkward isn't true, because I was everything that awkward and beyond. In some ways I still am because at almost 30 years of age, I still have a Lord of the Rings movie poster on my wall.
So I related strongly with this story from the start, because I've been there. I came of age at a time when my fandom defined me, much as it did for Cath. I also very quickly realized that my fandom can only take me so far as a person before I had to basically define myself for myself, and not within the context of my obsessions. Although my journey came with far less clarity, less guidance and more time wasted than Cath's journey. As it turned out, Cath was far luckier than I was when it came to finding out who we were. But she did have a far better cast of supporting characters than I had.
But as much as I loved the story it told, I liked the voice the story was told with even better.
I don't think Rainbow Rowell's reference of Gilmore Girls was much of an accident, because her book's voice is basically what I imagined would have been the show's voice if it was written as a book. It was conversational and friendly in its greeting, but there was an edge of sarcastic wit and intelligence in its use of words. But it was not so smart that it felt stuffy and stuck up, like it was prothletising its virtues, but behaved more like a friend, or maybe to be more specific, Rory Gilmore, venting to you after a particularly eventful day. There was a small town charm to it that was at once endearing and cute, although there are times when it was a little heavy handed in its attempt to be quirky and fun.
So my sister wasn't wrong. I really did enjoy reading this book and I did relate strongly to it. But there was more to it than just that. It had a humour about it that I wish I was able to feel when looking back on the age that I came of age, but also an underlying seriousness to it that also seemed to understand the difficulties growing up can be. And though it didn't tug at any heartstrings of mine due to the light-hearted and sarcastic turn of the book, it found different ways to reach me.
It was like binge-watching a full season of Gilmore Girls with a tub of ice cream in your lap and a friend to share in on the smiles and laughs. Or in this case, my sister. Which stands to reason why this book would be another thing we ended up sharing and loving.