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shadowscastWell, now that my school has been shut down for the next two weeks, I guess I have time to write about what I loved about the book Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!
Well, not to be too obvious or anything, but I loved the fact that the main character was a fanfic writer! And not only the fact that she was, but that it was so central to her life—and the fact that the book's author was clearly very familiar with fandom, and fanfic, and loved them.
Reading the book made me feel like an insider, which is generally a pleasant experience! The world of fanfic is sort of a hidden world, little known by outsiders—less so now than eighteen years ago when I first starting posting fic online, but still. The book is a roman à clef, and I know the key.
I mean, not that realizing that Simon Snow maps to Harry Potter is a feat of obscure knowledge. The Harry Potter series is *ahem* fairly well known. But I did get to feel a little more clever for instantly recognizing that Baz maps to Draco Malfoy and that Cath was a Harry/Draco (excuse me, Simon/Baz) slash author. (After all, in the actual Harry Potter books it's Ron who is Harry's roommate; but the vibe of Baz, in that first book-within-a-book snippet when he's harassing a cat, is pure first-year Draco.)
And speaking of the fun puzzle of mapping Simon Snow's universe to that of Harry Potter, I also love the fact that Rowell didn't make it perfectly one-to-one. You can tell from the beginning that the Simon Snow series is the Harry Potter series, but it's also not; Rowell didn't just change the character's names, she shifted the whole universe. For instance, it has its own magic system, which is wonderful.
From the book-within-a-book snippet between chapter 6 and chapter 7:
I mean, wow, so much is going on there.
First of all, this is Professor Flitwick, and first-year Charms, and the wingardium leviosa lesson. Except, besides being all of that, it is also its own thing.
J.K. Rowling invented a magic system for the Potterverse with its own distinct feel; Rainbow Rowell created a different magic system that was evocative of Rowling's while also having its own internal logic and authentic magic-could-totally-work-that-way(!) feel.
The idea of clichéd or idiomatic phrases gaining power because of how often they're repeated is great—it works. But it is also thematically brilliant for a book which is, fundamentally, a love letter to fanfiction—because that's where fanfiction gets its power, too, in repeating words and ideas and characters, and layering on more and more interpretations and stories based on the same canonical kernel.
So, that was a thing that I loved.
But most of all, I loved all the bits where Cath was writing fanfic, or thinking about writing fanfic, or having experiences related to being a fanfic writer. Because oh hey, I too am a fanfic writer! And I have had many of those same experiences, or similar ones! And these are not parts of myself that I have ever had validated by seeing them appear in published fiction, before now, so that was pretty delightful.
Like this bit, for instance (from chapter 16; page 187 in my edition):
I mean, yes. YES! Ahahahahaha, I have been there.
Or, conversely, this (from chapter 9; pages 95-96 in my edition):
Yes. Like something falling downhill. Yes. I have also been there, and oh man it's such a rush.
So yeah, I enjoyed the bits about Cath's writing, because I could strongly identify with them, nodding along and saying to myself "Yes, yes, that's exactly what it's like!"
I've certainly read fiction about writers before. And these fictional writers have had writer's block, and they've had sleepless nights of writing in a white-hot-heat. But the specificity of it has never quite matched my own experience in the way that Cath's so thoroughly did.
And speaking of specificity: I really enjoyed the details of how fanfic fit into Cath's life. I loved the fact that at the same time that she was a quiet, socially-anxious freshman trying to find her way through first-year college life (while mostly hiding in her dorm room), she was also a Big Name Fan with thousands of followers waiting for her every update with bated breath. (I have never been a BNF with thousands of followers! At the absolute peak of my fic-writing career, I had maybe a dozen or so readers waiting eagerly for the next instalment of one Spike/Xander story or another. But that's enough common ground for me to understand Cath's feeling of responsibility towards her readers!)
I loved the fact that Cath's beta reader is a doctoral student in Rhode Island. This gets a casual mention in chapter twenty (page 232 in my edition) in the midst of a conversation between Cath and Wren; the fact that Wren used to beta read for Cath, and doesn't anymore, is a symptom of their drifting apart. The doctoral student in Rhode Island never comes up again, but I adore that detail because it's such a great example of the kind of collaboration that happens in fandom, across gaps of age and geography.
I love the fact that Wren uses the past participle of beta: betaed. That is a fandom word.
I haven't said anything about the main plot yet—Cath's various boy-adventures, and her struggles to stop her immediate family members from falling apart. All of that was interesting enough; I cared while it was happening, and it kept me turning the pages. It wasn't the main point of the book, for me. But I will say: I loved how fanfic ended up integrated into Cath's relationship with Levi, as he got her to read her fic to him. And I loved how he really seemed to earnestly enjoy her story! That was super sweet.
So, yeah. I really enjoyed this book!
Well, not to be too obvious or anything, but I loved the fact that the main character was a fanfic writer! And not only the fact that she was, but that it was so central to her life—and the fact that the book's author was clearly very familiar with fandom, and fanfic, and loved them.
Reading the book made me feel like an insider, which is generally a pleasant experience! The world of fanfic is sort of a hidden world, little known by outsiders—less so now than eighteen years ago when I first starting posting fic online, but still. The book is a roman à clef, and I know the key.
I mean, not that realizing that Simon Snow maps to Harry Potter is a feat of obscure knowledge. The Harry Potter series is *ahem* fairly well known. But I did get to feel a little more clever for instantly recognizing that Baz maps to Draco Malfoy and that Cath was a Harry/Draco (excuse me, Simon/Baz) slash author. (After all, in the actual Harry Potter books it's Ron who is Harry's roommate; but the vibe of Baz, in that first book-within-a-book snippet when he's harassing a cat, is pure first-year Draco.)
And speaking of the fun puzzle of mapping Simon Snow's universe to that of Harry Potter, I also love the fact that Rowell didn't make it perfectly one-to-one. You can tell from the beginning that the Simon Snow series is the Harry Potter series, but it's also not; Rowell didn't just change the character's names, she shifted the whole universe. For instance, it has its own magic system, which is wonderful.
From the book-within-a-book snippet between chapter 6 and chapter 7:
"Words are very powerful," Miss Possibelf said, stepping lightly between the rows of desks. "And they take on more power the more that they're spoken....
"The more that they're said and read and written, in specific, consistent combinations." She stopped in front of Simon's desk and tapped it with a short, jeweled staff. "Up, up and away," she said clearly.
I mean, wow, so much is going on there.
First of all, this is Professor Flitwick, and first-year Charms, and the wingardium leviosa lesson. Except, besides being all of that, it is also its own thing.
J.K. Rowling invented a magic system for the Potterverse with its own distinct feel; Rainbow Rowell created a different magic system that was evocative of Rowling's while also having its own internal logic and authentic magic-could-totally-work-that-way(!) feel.
The idea of clichéd or idiomatic phrases gaining power because of how often they're repeated is great—it works. But it is also thematically brilliant for a book which is, fundamentally, a love letter to fanfiction—because that's where fanfiction gets its power, too, in repeating words and ideas and characters, and layering on more and more interpretations and stories based on the same canonical kernel.
So, that was a thing that I loved.
But most of all, I loved all the bits where Cath was writing fanfic, or thinking about writing fanfic, or having experiences related to being a fanfic writer. Because oh hey, I too am a fanfic writer! And I have had many of those same experiences, or similar ones! And these are not parts of myself that I have ever had validated by seeing them appear in published fiction, before now, so that was pretty delightful.
Like this bit, for instance (from chapter 16; page 187 in my edition):
Cath stared at her laptop. She'd been working on the same paragraph for two hours. It was a love scene (a pretty mild one), and she kept losing track of where Baz and Simon's hands were supposed to be. It was confusing sometimes with all the hes and the hims, and she'd been staring at this paragraph for so long, she was starting to feel like she'd written every sentence before. Maybe she had.
I mean, yes. YES! Ahahahahaha, I have been there.
Or, conversely, this (from chapter 9; pages 95-96 in my edition):
Then she stayed up an hour or two more, writing.
It felt good to be writing in her own room, in her own bed. To get lost in the World of Mages and stay lost. To not hear any voices in her head but Simon's and Baz's. Not even her own. This was why Cath wrote fic. For these hours when their world supplanted the real world. When she could just ride their feelings for each other like a wave, like something falling downhill.
Yes. Like something falling downhill. Yes. I have also been there, and oh man it's such a rush.
So yeah, I enjoyed the bits about Cath's writing, because I could strongly identify with them, nodding along and saying to myself "Yes, yes, that's exactly what it's like!"
I've certainly read fiction about writers before. And these fictional writers have had writer's block, and they've had sleepless nights of writing in a white-hot-heat. But the specificity of it has never quite matched my own experience in the way that Cath's so thoroughly did.
And speaking of specificity: I really enjoyed the details of how fanfic fit into Cath's life. I loved the fact that at the same time that she was a quiet, socially-anxious freshman trying to find her way through first-year college life (while mostly hiding in her dorm room), she was also a Big Name Fan with thousands of followers waiting for her every update with bated breath. (I have never been a BNF with thousands of followers! At the absolute peak of my fic-writing career, I had maybe a dozen or so readers waiting eagerly for the next instalment of one Spike/Xander story or another. But that's enough common ground for me to understand Cath's feeling of responsibility towards her readers!)
I loved the fact that Cath's beta reader is a doctoral student in Rhode Island. This gets a casual mention in chapter twenty (page 232 in my edition) in the midst of a conversation between Cath and Wren; the fact that Wren used to beta read for Cath, and doesn't anymore, is a symptom of their drifting apart. The doctoral student in Rhode Island never comes up again, but I adore that detail because it's such a great example of the kind of collaboration that happens in fandom, across gaps of age and geography.
I love the fact that Wren uses the past participle of beta: betaed. That is a fandom word.
I haven't said anything about the main plot yet—Cath's various boy-adventures, and her struggles to stop her immediate family members from falling apart. All of that was interesting enough; I cared while it was happening, and it kept me turning the pages. It wasn't the main point of the book, for me. But I will say: I loved how fanfic ended up integrated into Cath's relationship with Levi, as he got her to read her fic to him. And I loved how he really seemed to earnestly enjoy her story! That was super sweet.
So, yeah. I really enjoyed this book!
