My surprise may make up a big part of my excitement about it. I just didn't expect to find online fandom in a popular mainstream novel - not for years, at least. It does present fans as funny people, that's true, and Duncan is definitely horrible... but then I don't identify with Duncan, I just recognise him (and the stalkerish kid who incites him to break into Julie's flat) as a type of fan who exists, and who makes me feel a lot like Annie feels about him. And for all that Annie is allegedly a "normal" person, she acts exactly like a fan (albeit a different type of fan) in the bit that I have read so far. Perhaps we all think we're Annie, but in reality we're Duncan? That'd be a bit bad, but I don't actually think it's true. Duncan, for me, is my stereotypical idea of a fanBOY, who mostly cares about being an expert and being right and having the biggest collection and all that stuff.
I haven't really thought about how "normal" people read the book, though, perhaps they are weirded out by it? It'll be interesting to see what the freshers make of it, although there's a higher than average percentage of fans among E Lit students.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-04-17 09:00 pm (UTC)I haven't really thought about how "normal" people read the book, though, perhaps they are weirded out by it? It'll be interesting to see what the freshers make of it, although there's a higher than average percentage of fans among E Lit students.