There is no way for me to fit all of my memories and feelings about college into the confines of a blog post. But somehow, author Rainbow Rowell has managed to capture them — my emotions, my experiences — within the pages of her latest novel, FANGIRL.
The tiny dorm rooms. The kind but intimidating professors. The musty, maze-like library. The snowy walks between classes. Seeing different sides of people you thought you knew. Faltering as a writer. Growing as a writer. Falling in love. Making your own home. Living up to other people's expectations. Learning how to be okay with not living up to them.
All that, and so much more. Rainbow Rowell is now 3-for-3 for me, which means I'll read pretty much anything/everything she writes from here on out. (Her other two books are ELEANOR & PARK and ATTACHMENTS, in case you were wondering. Which you should be.) I guess you could call me a… fangirl?
Neither am I. Never really have been, for some reason.
Oh, there is a boldness inside me, and sometimes she imagines what it would be like to have "hooked up" with someone. Or to be single in her 20s and dating around. But at the end of the day, that boldness is best served — is happiest — in my stories. She likes adventure without consequences, which doesn't exist in real life, but is beautifully abundant through fiction.
On the one hand: SO TRUE.
On the other hand: The internet is evil. It's such a distraction. And such a dangerous distraction, because it distracts you by pretending to be useful. One second you're researching a "small" and "quick" detail for your story — an hour later, you've got a dozen different tabs open, ranging from Wikipedia to the latest controversial think-piece to (let's be honest) Twitter.
So, I love the internet. But I hate it at the same time.
I think that's what we all fear. Isn't it?
On a related note — but detouring away from the context of FANGIRL — I don't care for the one-size-fits-all definition of "seeing the wonder" that our society encourages. In other words, fame & fortune. That is not the only way that wonder can be recognized or valued. And yet that seems to be what we're telling people matters most. If you're not spectacular, you're nothing.
Except that isn't true at all.
This wasn't good, but it was something. Cath could always change it later. That was the beauty in stacking up words — they got cheaper, the more you had of them. It would feel good to come back and cut this when she'd worked her way to something better.
Oh words. Words words words. I've got to try and remember that you are free. Free to use, free to be bad, free to delete later. Free, and not to be feared.
I've heard such wonderful things about this book. Officially adding it to my to-read list!
I think you'll like it. I think you'd like ATTACHMENTS a lot too, as the characters/conflicts are a bit older than YA.
I just finished reading this as my first Rainbow Rowell book and it transported me back to some of my most endearing (and awkward) college memories. I sat down to read the first few pages and couldn't put it down.
"Endearing and awkward" — lol, 2 great words to encapsulate so many college experiences, yes. So glad you enjoyed FANGIRL!