These days the ever popular victim of the female disgust in literature is the adult male description of female characters. These posts turn into memes and we all get a hearty laugh out of it. Haha men can’t write women because of “insert reason here”. I admittedly laugh and share.
But I don’t read a lot of popular adult male fiction so I don’t see it that much. I mean plenty of YA male writers can write ladies just fine without going into surreal descriptions of them being both unremarkable but somehow special because of a glint in their eye, yada yada yada.
Recently I got back into reading Dan Brown’s books, my personal guilty pleasure. Yes I know they aren’t top shelf literature but they aren’t really meant to be. They are cream puff, addicting, speed reads full of arcane history, symbols, and art. The National Treasure of books.
And yet now that I’m older I have noticed that Dan Brown is one of these odd male writers that describe women so oddly. Let me ask writers like this an open question. Is this how you guys think? Is that how your inner monologue sounds. Because putting aside the sexism of it all, NO ONE TALKS OR THINKS LIKE THAT! It’s less than amateur writing, it’s just odd.
That being said, I don’t read Brown’s books for realistic content or good writing. I read them for the pulpy suspense and mystery, in which he actually is very skilled. I’m aware of the flaws, and yet I still enjoy them. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Like many of the so called “bad” books Brown is a gateway, the books that people who don’t read a lot or who need a little nonsensical Lit in their lives. Much like Twilight.Maybe they’ll go on to read other books, maybe they won’t. But if you think about it its the Dan Brown and James Patterson sales that fund the smaller acquisitions.
Let people read and like and buy what they want so you can enjoy the books you love. And if you don’t like them, you don’t have to read them.
What do you think of Dan Brown and older adult male authors? Share your thoughts in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
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