Thursday 1 November 2012

Devouring Books: Moranthology by Caitlin Moran

"These libraries will be lost forever. And, in their place, we will have a thousand more public places where you are simply the money in your pocket rather than the hunger in your heart. Kids- poor kids- will never know the fabulous, benign quirk of walking into 'their' library and thinking 'I have read 60 per cent of the books in here, I am awesome.' Libraries that stayed open during the Blitz will be closed by budgets.
A trillion small doors closing."

It seems kind of stupid for me to review Moranthology, because I mean, come on, what am I going to say? 'Oh, actually, I've revised my opinion on Caitlin Moran and have decided that actually she can't write and this sucked'? This is clearly not going to happen, because hello?! This is CAITLIN. So you're basically going to have to put up with a gushing review. Sorry (not really).

Actually, it's been so long since I finished Moranthology that I can't really remember any details about it, and this is what happens when you prioritise RIP reads over all others in October, kiddos! Bad bad things. This obviously means that I need to read Moranthology again immediately, which, interestingly enough, I don't have a problem with! *Reads ferociously*

Anyway... I thought that when I read Moranthology, I'd have to do it all in one go because, you know, CAITLIN, but as it turned out I apparently wanted to savour it and so I ended up reading it over the course of about a week. It being a collection of her columns made this particularly easy, because I could just read a few at a time, and then go to sleep or whatever. I mean, I could have read a few at a time, but even when I was very sleepy, it was very difficult to put it down because I'm basically addicted to Caitlin's writing. Which is better than having a crack addiction, right?!

Because of this addiction AND the fact that this is a collection of columns, you'd think that I'd have read ALL of Caitlin's columns already and, this just being a recap of them, wouldn't be that exciting to me. Well, think again guys and gals! Because this would be true, if Caitlin wrote for any paper but The Times which has a paywall up on its website that I'm not willing to pay money to remove, even for Caitlin. Having said that, there is a column in this very book that has made me rethink the whole concept of paywalls (In Defence of Rupert Murdoch's Paywall) so, there's that. Anyway, the point is that, instead of everything in the book being old news, almost all of the columns included are new-to-me, with the exception of the ones I read on that heady day when the paywall was down.

So, content. I would say that there were a few too many TV columns involving shows I haven't seen (basically just Sherlock and Downton Abbey) BUT 1) there really weren't that many, and 2) it's kind of like having someone really awesome describe to you what was on telly last night, and in doing so makes you really want to watch it? So yeah, I kind of really want to watch Sherlock now, just so everyone knows. But even if I HAD been totally bored by these columns, they're engulfed by an amazing range of columns on most subjects- Caitlin's hair, conversations with her husband, her favourite holiday destination, and the slightly more serious topics of our current government's uselessness, including an absolutely beautiful column on the awesomeness of libraries. These latter ones were my favourites- not only because the shift in tone from hilarious to sincere does something really special to Caitlin's writing, but also because these are things that I really care about, and it's nice to know that someone else does too.

But mostly, Caitlin is hilarious, and takes on topics that are relevant and interesting- at least to me- and she writes about anything and everything so well. I really can't emphasise enough how excellent I think her writing is. Really. In the end, I'm glad this book exists for two main reasons: 1) It means I don't have to pay to get past The Times paywall (I was going to say I don't have to give Murdoch money, but of course this is published by a News Corp publishing house) and 2) It's original conception led to the idea of How To Be A Woman, which is clearly the greatest thing ever. And Moranthology? Is basically just as good. Only in a different way. But still awesome.

Yeah... I LOVE CAITLIN!

9 comments:

  1. Oh you should watch Sherlock it's SO GOOD! I seriously cannot wait to read this. I do try to get the Saturday Times because she's in it but I mostly forget to read it and then get annoyed with it kicking round the house and recycle it...

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    1. Hahaha, that's probably the better option of things to do with the Saturday Times, because when I read it that one time it took actual HOURS. So, yeah, that Saturday disappeared!

      I am definitely going to check Sherlock out if I can find it online somewhere or something, but I really strongly dislike Cumberbatch, so... Might have an issue! Haha

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  2. I get the Saturday Times mostly for her columns too - her TV one in the Saturday review, and the general one in the magazine. But even though I've read a fair few I still want the book! Has she included the one about how fit Aslan is? That one might be my favourite column EVER, I was crying with laughter all the way through... :D

    P.S. I realise that as far as my responses go this one is remarkably to the point and boring - but dude, CAITLIN. You don't go up against that, NOT EVEN IN THE COMMENTS.

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    1. P.S. Bex is right - every clever woman needs to see Sherlock! Series 1 for the humour and series 2 for the angst - especially one particular fireside tirade that nearly had me leaping off the sofa applauding at the end of it, like some kind of over-eager talk show audience member. Thankfully I restrained myself. :)

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    2. I *think* the Aslan one is in there! As in... This morning when I read your comment I was like 'it DEFINITELY is' but now that I'm kind of sleepy I'm doubting myself a bit. But I think yes! And yeah, no point going up against Caitlin! YOU WILL NOT WIN!

      I am up for watching Sherlock. Eventually. :)

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  3. Will this make sense to me as a self-centered American who knows very little of the outside world, especially their politics? Or is this a good book to go for so I can learn about something outside of my own backyard? (Will you explain the British things to me when I'm like "huh? what the hell is that?")

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    1. I reckon... there aren't enough columns that are specifically about politics that you're going to get confused, although anything political is about British politics which... may confuse you. BUT I will TOTALLY explain all the British things to you! You KNOW I wanted to do that with How To Be A Woman! Hehe.

      Here's what I'll say. I really just believe that Caitlin's writing is SO good that even if you don't really know what she's talking about you're just like floating along on dreamy wordage. But, then, I *normally* know what she's talking about, so, yeah.

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  4. I'm tempted to try this, if only because you love her so much. And because I had a lot of issues with some of her feministy things, but this is about a lot of other things, so I would probably enjoy it a whole lot more. Hmmmm...

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    1. I feel like... Did you think her writing was ok even if you disagreed with her? Because I feel like if you like her writing then you'll like this, and there's definitely hardly anything about feminism in it (other than the fact that she's being feminist and awesome all the time just by existing). But yeah, I say YES READ IT! Obvs... Haha

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