tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post7688418810050028143..comments2023-10-20T16:03:03.157+01:00Comments on Devouring Texts: "Some people aren't just people, but a place- a whole world. Sometimes you find someone you could live in for the rest of your life."Laurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-6497887382932617442014-08-03T20:07:03.405+01:002014-08-03T20:07:03.405+01:00I love that British people can just say "cunt...I love that British people can just say "cunt" and have it not be a big deal. <br /><br />Damn you and your post for making me feel as many feelings as the book makes me feel. And by "damn you," of course, I mean "bless you and your beautiful face."Kayleigh vWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08889972089506839071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-46690523666174627792014-08-02T03:40:18.346+01:002014-08-02T03:40:18.346+01:00John Kite is in my side-eye-line as well. ...and Y...John Kite is in my side-eye-line as well. ...and YES. ALL THE SADS about Johanna's 11th birthday. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05658227387582528719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-14293891438009213852014-07-31T02:39:25.378+01:002014-07-31T02:39:25.378+01:00HER STORY ABOUT HER BIRTHDAY. I can't. That wa...HER STORY ABOUT HER BIRTHDAY. I can't. That was too much. Especially Johanna saying we could have the story and how it doesn't upset her anymore and those are LIES Johanna. I do not believe that doesn't still hurt.<br /><br />I do not dislike John Kite because he seems like he is not taking advantage of Johanna BUT THAT SAID, I'm still side-eyeing him while I try to figure out why he wants to hang out with a teenager. What's your game, Kite? (I hope it's just friendship.)Redhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456600806188531803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-83157323606982654882014-07-30T15:59:02.581+01:002014-07-30T15:59:02.581+01:00I think at the same time as it being a book about ...I think at the same time as it being a book about learning to be cool, it's also a book about learning to live. Reading this book has made me think about my own experiences growing up (and I think it has done for lots of us), and how those experiences shaped me and my view of the world. What is really special about Johanna's experience is that Caitlin shows us exactly how it shapes her. We might be learning how to be cool, but behind all that we're learning how a girl can grow up in such circumstances and still forge out an awesome (and hopefully sex-filled) life. I love that. I love how real and relatable this all is in varying degrees. <br /><br />Anyway, I adored this section and the nitty gritty of it all (including serious cringey wank moments). And dear god let Kite be a good guy.Elliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362128444319074118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-48030308159954332482014-07-29T20:12:57.698+01:002014-07-29T20:12:57.698+01:00"The parts about where Johanna is coming from..."The parts about where Johanna is coming from are about 10,000x more interesting than the places she's going." YOU ARE SO RIGHT. It's tempting to see her London Life as this sparkling fairyland and Wolverhampton as a beige place where she will never be older than 12. But nothing of SUBSTANCE has happened outside of Wolverhampton, aside from her her conversations with John Kite (who, by the way, is not so much a dreamboat to me as a peculiar musician with a very sexy brain...like Conor Oberst or Bob Dylan).Megshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967657695336270359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-90599453315546185392014-07-29T12:06:42.589+01:002014-07-29T12:06:42.589+01:00"It seems to me she could have picked someone..."It seems to me she could have picked someone who's sliiiightly less of a cunt to be in love with, but I suppose John Kite has a kind of dirty, dirty charm that makes adult women go 'ugh' but that sixteen year old girls can't really see through. I sense this is the moment where everyone goes 'But he's such a dreamboat!' and ehhhhh, is he though? He probably isn't."<br /><br />YESSSS, you just perfectly summed up while I'm hesitating on John Kite. I feel like he's kind of bound to be a shitty person, even though he seems all nice to Johanna. He seems flaky.<br /><br />" I think it's really easy to sit back and say 'why don't they just get jobs?' but when everyone's trained for industrial jobs and Thatcher has more or less just made it so there aren't any, what other option is there? I won't go on the biggest rant ever about the way the media treats people on benefits even now**"<br /><br />I just want to mention that I'm not evil! People are very angry-feeling towards my post... I'm not anti-poor people or anti people-on-benefits. My only issue with the book is that I just want one mention of how her parents are TRYING to find some sort of work, even if there isn't any, even if it would be the most crappy, part-time job ever. I literally just want them to try. Then I would be totally happy with them and wish them all the benefits they could get. (Well, probably not her father... I just don't like him. But I'd like her mother a lot more.) And also, I DO think old people on pension/Social Security take up WAY more benefits than they should. I've gotten into this argument with my friends before because they tend to look down on welfare people unfairly as a huge burden, when in reality a lot more money is spent on people over the retirement age.<br />Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196903315080725315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-67269759413786742582014-07-29T03:25:59.654+01:002014-07-29T03:25:59.654+01:00I don't hate John Kite either, but I think tha...<br />I don't hate John Kite either, but I think that's maybe because I think several of my friends have dated one version of John Kite or another in real life. And they were nice guys, if a bit flakey and maybe could use a shower more frequently. But then again, my friends are in their 20s, not 17, and they're going into John-Kite territory with a bit more worldliness...<br /><br />I agree that the parts about Johanna's home life are the most wrenching, and the parts I'll probably remember the clearest about this book. I know I was hard on whether the book was realistic about her landing the job the way she did, and I wonder if partly that was because the rest of the book feels so REAL without even trying too hard? <br /><br />Anyway, I love this post of yours and that Eric GIF is a lovely gift after all the sadness in this week's reading.<br />P.S. Are you watching the current season of True Blood?? I am freaking out about how they're going to end Eric's storyline.Raynahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03536910555459674118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-29248851164804558422014-07-28T14:57:49.675+01:002014-07-28T14:57:49.675+01:00I don't hate John Kite, but I do have some sus...I don't hate John Kite, but I do have some suspicious feelings about him. He seems like he should be old enough to not have a 16-year-old girl sleep in his bathtub, innocent as it may seem. We shall see. Amy Reahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07770735473971920979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-75184707433973623852014-07-28T14:41:58.147+01:002014-07-28T14:41:58.147+01:00I have a feeling it might go a little like Shannon...I have a feeling it might go a little like Shannon suggests, and that he is a decent dude but we're seeing Johanna's perspective and he'll be more into a friendship than the undying love Johanna keeps daydreaming about. <br /><br />I feel like Krissi's issue is perhaps less the getting of loans and more the 'i should be getting a job and supplementing his parents wage' immediately kind of issue. There's undoubtedly a lot of pressure on him as the eldest, even if it's mostly put on him by himself.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09259549933849264277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-76892082284938030312014-07-28T14:37:08.389+01:002014-07-28T14:37:08.389+01:00It's like the 'debate' here in Austral...It's like the 'debate' here in Australia about refuges where some of the most extreme conservative politicians are whipping up fear about them coming in droves and stealing our jobs. Meanwhile it's actually British and Americans overstaying their visas who make up the largest number of illegal immigrants in Australia. But noooooooo that never comes up in the discussions. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09259549933849264277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-86316221517856391292014-07-28T13:16:40.556+01:002014-07-28T13:16:40.556+01:00Laura, I absolutely love how personal your respons...Laura, I absolutely love how personal your response was this week. I don't happen to share your feelings about John Kite, but I do see where you're coming from. But Lordy, I'm so thankful that I've got readalongers like you outside the US participating because it's good to get an extra dose of reality check when it comes to the Thatcher years. And because most Americans (and I totally represent the average here, sadly), don't really know a thing about the politics of other countries, particularly when they are teenagers. As the Crowe Flies and Readshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12110661562901480120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-48311231831897825702014-07-28T12:57:53.348+01:002014-07-28T12:57:53.348+01:00I don't dislike John Kite at this point, but I...I don't dislike John Kite at this point, but I'm definitely skeptical of him. I'm mostly worried that we're only getting Johanna's side of the story and that it's a little off (because I know that my point of view was totally off as a teenager).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-878834880211876062014-07-28T11:39:44.181+01:002014-07-28T11:39:44.181+01:00I KNEW EVERYONE WOULD LIKE JOHN KITE. I think he&#...I KNEW EVERYONE WOULD LIKE JOHN KITE. I think he's a good character, and brings an interesting factor into Johanna's life, but I just. don't. like. him. Ok? Ok.<br /><br />I can't stand people who would never have to (or think they would never have to) go on benefits belittling people who are. I mean, there's a bit of a personal thing in it for me because my parents are on benefits (i.e. they are getting money back out of the system they've paid into their whole lives, i.e. they are fully entitled to them, i.e. shut up) but even if there wasn't, I can't deal with people being dicks about it. I'm pretty sure benefit fraud is less than 1% of all benefits claimed, I'm pretty sure that actually you do have to have lived in the country for a certain amount of time before you can claim them, and hey, living on benefits is hard enough without people being dicks about it.<br /><br />Really if everyone just stopped being dicks, this would be a lot easier!Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-32081763607395259542014-07-28T11:32:08.474+01:002014-07-28T11:32:08.474+01:00I know what you mean. As I was typing, I *was* lik...I know what you mean. As I was typing, I *was* like 'Do I really feel this strongly about hating John Kite?' and the answer is probably noooo, but at the same time, I really do think, like that guy said, he's kind of playing up to an image of himself instead of actually being himself. That said, he's an awesome character and I wouldn't have the book without him haha.<br /><br />I actually cried! Actual tears! Because I get it, man. But yeah, their whole life situation is super sad. I want to say 'God, Krissi, just get a student loan' but my student loan didn't nearly cover all of my uni spendings- I had savings from my Saturday job, and my parents helped me as much as they could, so that really is v sad. Poor Krissi.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17371636785566309578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-44680300794950223062014-07-28T11:29:26.327+01:002014-07-28T11:29:26.327+01:00I like John Kite. I think he's a very accepti...I like John Kite. I think he's a very accepting person, a lot more 'what you see is what you get' than a lot of the other posers Johanna's being exposed to in her new career. And he doesn't immediately take advantage of her very young self, which is refreshing. He's a bit rough around the edges, but he's NICE.<br /><br />The media portrayal of people on benefits makes me so fucking angry and depressed that I try not to even GO there now. I wouldn't watch those 'debates' on TV because I knew I'd want to murder people. And by people, I mean Katie Hopkins, obviously. There is so much ignorance out there, so many people who don't realise things like what you pointed out about pensioners taking up a hefty amount of the large sums getting thrown around on the news, and how tiny benefit fraud really is compared to what the public perceives it to be - mostly BECAUSE OF THE MEDIA. The people who belittle benefits are always the ones who are financially secure and have never had even the THREAT of living that way hanging over their spoiled heads. Aaaaand here I go again. *coughs and sidles away*Elliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07246472269477492583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6275165298547340568.post-43719987198605245322014-07-28T11:06:42.407+01:002014-07-28T11:06:42.407+01:00I don't get the John Kite hate at this stage. ...I don't get the John Kite hate at this stage. Sure he doesn't seem like the most responsible person, but considering he's 24 and a famous musician he also doesn't seem that bad. I definitely know people who are much worse AND have zero idea how to talk about politics. I think he could be an interesting person in Johanna's life - especially since she doesn't really have any friends outside of her family. <br /><br />BUT I also have a sneaking suspicion that everything with him is about to turn to shit, and I can definitely see that he has the potential to be a dick. So, for now, while he's basically harmless I'm going to enjoy him. <br /><br />And dude. The "I ate my whole birthday" section made me so super sad. I feel so wretched for their whole family. And poor Krissi, now having to come to terms with the possibility that he might be able to go to uni? Ugh, :(Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09259549933849264277noreply@blogger.com