Grow Up: It’s time to give up your books NOW
Tired of my Tumblr dashboard being choked with images of immaculate shelves stocked with YA novels and Harry Potter books neatly stacked between a slim Macbook and a Starbucks cup, I thought I’d get out of my Nerdcave and see what all the fuss was about. .
I started with the preconception that YA was just another trend, followed by naive teenagers with a particular taste for nonsense. I ended up with the confirmed idea that YA literature was just another fad followed by lazy adults who enjoy staying stupid.
To start at the beginning, what the heck is a Yong Adult? Even to that fairly simple question, there is no set answer. According to book publishers, anyone between the ages of 12 and 18 is considered a young adult. Funny, I consider 12-year-olds to be “older kids.” However, I’ve heard of writers and readers saying that YA is aimed at people 18-25 or even 15-30. I guess it’s only after 30 that you’re finally considered a “proper adult” or something. .
I don’t want to sound picky or anything like that, but according to almost all dictionaries, between the ages of 13 and 19 you are a teenager. That’s right, not a “young adult”, not an “almost adult”, but a rebellious acneic teenager.
So why don’t publishers simply call literature aimed at this 16-year-old age group “teenage literature”? Probably because they realized that “grown-ups” also read it and that they would be embarrassed to go to the children’s section to buy their books. Understandable; It takes a lot of courage to flip through the Twilight books without pretending it’s for a little niece when you’re over 12, I’m not sure I have the balls to do it.
So… this little clarification leads us to the big question: “Why on earth do adults read books written for people much younger than themselves?”
I don’t like the answer I have found at all but for me it is the most obvious. I think people read YA for the simple reason that those books are written with a plot not too hard to follow, characters not too complex in a style not too hard to understand. Am I saying that YA readers are stupid? No. That readers are ALREADY lazy? Yes. On an intellectual level to be exact. It is the problem of our generation, people are so used to having everything prechewed, ready à la carte so that they do not have to make any effort, as to think (oh, my head hurts!), reflect on their habits Reading.
‘Why exhaust myself using my brain reading a book written in subtle prose with an intricate plot and well-developed characters? It might make me think, let’s read Divergent, Maze Runner, whatever… ‘Okay, that’s harsh and generalizing, but that’s how the mob thinks and not just with literature.
I understand to some extent that real teens enjoy YA, after all they are the target niche. The teen years suck, they’re a period of self-doubt, and it’s legitimate to enjoy reading about young characters going through the existential crisis of puberty when you’re going through the same thing. YA authors understand that they perfectly and mercilessly fill the book market with the so-called “real problems” of YA literature. (Oh! I have cancer, you too, let’s get together!) Why not? Teenagers have to let off steam from their hypersensitive hormones from time to time.
What I don’t approve of, though, are “grown-up adults” reading YA. You have no excuse to identify with the characters, (or else please explain to me how a 28-year-old woman can identify with a prepubescent schoolgirl… ). You also have no excuse that “adult literature” is complex for you, you are fucking adults!! Not young adults, not older adults, not part-time adults. Just fucking mature, adult adults. Now may be the time to behave like one and stop hiding your ignorance behind “young adult” bullshit.
It’s time to grow up, to challenge your mind, to read something a little more substantial than sentimental teen romances. It’s time to open books that you find difficult to read, with plots that you find difficult to follow, or writing styles that you wouldn’t have gone for in the first place. This is how you will develop the ability to judge and think for yourself. It is your duty as an adult to educate yourself, sharpen your mind and challenge your brain.
I’m sorry to tell you this, but you can’t be an eternal child, as cool as that sounds to you. As an adult, you now have rights and obligations towards society, so don’t screw it up. It worries me to be around people who lack the curiosity to discover new things and prefer to swallow the crap they are forced to eat. I am convinced that the world would not be a mess today if people had read less John Green and more George Orwell. I’m not saying that the two are incompatible, it’s like a diet: eat (read) what you want, but eat (read) a little of everything and occasionally enjoy junk food (books). This is how you stay healthy (smart).
I’m going to stop my tirade here and just say that (good) teen literature, Young Adult or whatever you call it, is fine for teens who can still enjoy a few more years of teary-eyed stories without thinking too much about anything. apart from themselves. But you ‘grown-up adults’ who swear that ‘the fault in our stars’ isn’t just ‘Twilight on chemo’, I think you’re just trying to bury your heads in the sand and pretend you’re still a carefree youth (YOLO !), unconcerned about matters that really matter. Okay, apparently ignorance is bliss.
With all that being said, I’m going back to my Nerdcave to play all my ‘age 3+’ video games.
