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[jethrien]

I'm reading the last novel in this Nora Roberts collection. (I'm stubborn.) It's not as bad as the first one, at least. Anyway, though, my reactions remind me somewhat of my reactions to Heathers, oddly enough.

It's written in I think 1984, and set in the same time period. So I was technically alive, but not aware of anything at the time. And, like Heathers, I can see that there are social cues that I'm missing because I don't know what they mean. In Heathers, the clothes were totally over-the-top, but I didn't know enough about eighties fashion as an adult to be able to tell whether they were supposed to be normal, high-fashion, or ridiculous. I'm having the same kind of trouble here - she's mentioning specific hotels and clothes and such, and I can't tell what the implication is supposed to be. Among other things, her heroine is at her favorite, classy bar at which she's a regular, and when asked for an order, says "White wine". I don't think I'd ever tell a bartender just "White wine". I'd ask them what whites they had by the glass. Or if this really was my favorite bar where they knew my name, I'd know. I'd at least order by varietal - "a Riesling", if not a specific winery. 'Cause if the bartender knows my first name, I'm probably there enough to know what my favorite wine they carried was. And this woman is supposed to be a blue-blood, Ivy League grad from Westport - they keep making a big deal of how sophisticated she is, so she really should be a bit of a wine snob. Thing is, I also know that American wine culture has significantly grown in the last couple decades.

So is it that the character doesn't know any better? The author doesn't know the character should know better? The character is trying not to be too big of a snob? The bar only has two kinds of wine - "red" and "white", and will look at you funny if you try to ask for something more specific? The character could order something more specific, but is trying not to look like a snob? The author wants her to look like a snob for ordering wine at all instead of beer? If this were set right now, I'd feel more comfortable trying to draw a conclusion about what the author is trying to reveal about this character based off her drink choice. But I honestly can't decide whether she's supposed to come off here as sophisticated, snobbish, sensitive, or clueless.

It's kind of amazing, when you think about it, how fast these kind of subtle indicators change. (Seriously, the difference between a character eating sushi in the 80s or now is enormous.) Makes you wonder how many of the chick lit books will even be understandable in twenty years, when people can't quite remember which brand of shoes it was that was desirable at the time. And it makes me wonder how much I'm missing in, say, Jane Austen. Because surely there are subtleties in which books people are reading or what color dress they're wearing that are just slipping right by me.

Comments

[svilleficrecs.livejournal.com]

I'd at least say "the house white". I mean, not if I was trying to show sophistication, but "House white" at least tells the bartender which white you want, even if you don't know what wine is the house wine. If you just say "white wine" they could give you anything from the most expensive white to the crappiest chardonnay they have.

It always irks me ( a tiny bit) in TV/Movies where a character sits down and is like "Beer please". ... like WHICH BEER? At least say, "Domestic draft, I don't care which." *eyeroll*

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

I mean, I guess I'll sometimes order a gin and tonic without specifying the brand of gin. So I shouldn't complain too much. I feel as if in general, most bartenders assume it's the cheap stuff if you don't specify. I guess it's snobby of me to look down on someone for not specifying the kind of white wine when I don't specify if I want Bombay Sapphire or Tanqueray or Seagram's or whatever. But then, I know lots of people who order a martini without specifying brand, either.

But you're right - it was the same level of weird to me as someone just asking for beer. It's like "we've got six beers on tap and another half dozen in bottles, you want to narrow that down a little? Can you really not tell the difference?"

I guess what really confused me is that I felt strongly that the author was trying to convey some kind of information with this line, but I haven't the slightest idea what.

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

Well, not quite the same parallel. There are different qualities of gin, but there aren't different types of gin; if you order a gin and tonic without specifying a brand, it's the same as ordering the bar's well brand (i.e., the cheapest stuff).

It is similar to asking for "a beer" in anything but the trashiest taprooms; the bartender should answer, "Which?" But not as similar; many places will only carry 1 white and 1 red wine, while almost no one only carries 1 beer.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. Which is why I don't worry too much about being non-specific.