Words from the past
Apr. 23rd, 2009 08:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sailorzeoEvery so often, I start thinking about books I read in elementary school, junior high, and high school. I read a _lot_of books back then, and I can only remember bits and pieces, sometimes cover art, sometimes passages, but never the author and rarely the title.
I started again today thinking about the young-adult/teenage novel bin at the library back home. I read _so_ many of those; they were quick reads; I could finish one in about an hour. One, I thought I remembered the title as "Jeff and the Fat Girl." I think maybe the cover art mentioned something about Jeff, the narrator, which is why I remember it that way (that, and my brother, named Jeff, threw a fit about me reading this, because he wasn't interested in fat girls. He was seriously pissed that I'd read something that implied he liked fat girls). Apparently, the title is just "The Fat Girl," author Marilyn Sachs. This is a book I kind of want to go back and read again, to see if my perspective on it has changed with age and weight. I remember my original feeling was that Ellen, the titular fat girl, seemed very disrespectful of Jeff in the end.
In the book, Jeff realized that Ellen overheard his disparaging comments about her weight, and feeling guilty, went to her house to apologize. In doing so, he got to know her better, and started taking an interest in her. Together, they made over her image, so she wasn't just fat, she was also FABULOUS. I remember a large Afro-style hairdo, and bright, bold caftans. Jeff became entranced with this gold caftan at the plus-size shop, picturing Ellen as a golden goddess for prom. But, in their makeover, she does start to lose weight, and when he picks her up for prom, she's not the golden goddess of his dreams. She's lost enough weight to fit in "normal" clothing, a size 16 if I remember. Her hair is cut flat and short, and she's in an "ordinary" white dress. During prom and after, in her own debut as "normal," Jeff sees that she's just another shallow, ordinary teenage girl.
Now, when I read this the first time, I was a teenager, and about 125 pounds, size 8. I remember reading the description of the golden caftan, compared to the plain white dress, and thinking Ellen was stupid. I'd much rather be a golden goddess than a plan, ordinary, "normal" girl. But now, being 255 pounds, size 22....if I got the chance to shop on the "normal" side of the store, I think I'd take it, golden goddess be damned.
Another book I remember the basic plot, but not the title of, had a girl whose older sister thought to be weird, because the girl liked to go to funerals. It turned out (not a spoiler) that the reason she liked to go to funerals had to do with the people and their clothing. It was a lot easier to get into a funeral than a wedding, both occasions where people tend to dress their best. The girl liked to sew. Just sew. Not design, not create, but sew (another reason her family found her weird). The girl had a thing for her older sister's boyfriend, and ended up making him a camel sportcoat. He eventually left the sister for her, but the girl, after being with him for a few months, started to realize he was very tiresome. She had made him the camel sportcoat because it was the in-thing in his collegiate crowd (IIRC), put leather patches on the elbows for him when the elbows started to wear thin, and when he started making hints that something else (something of a more expensive fabric, IIRC) was the new style, she finally broke up with him. I can't remember the title or author on this one, much the pity.
Maybe the next time I'm back east, I'll stop in the library and see if any of these books are still there.
I started again today thinking about the young-adult/teenage novel bin at the library back home. I read _so_ many of those; they were quick reads; I could finish one in about an hour. One, I thought I remembered the title as "Jeff and the Fat Girl." I think maybe the cover art mentioned something about Jeff, the narrator, which is why I remember it that way (that, and my brother, named Jeff, threw a fit about me reading this, because he wasn't interested in fat girls. He was seriously pissed that I'd read something that implied he liked fat girls). Apparently, the title is just "The Fat Girl," author Marilyn Sachs. This is a book I kind of want to go back and read again, to see if my perspective on it has changed with age and weight. I remember my original feeling was that Ellen, the titular fat girl, seemed very disrespectful of Jeff in the end.
In the book, Jeff realized that Ellen overheard his disparaging comments about her weight, and feeling guilty, went to her house to apologize. In doing so, he got to know her better, and started taking an interest in her. Together, they made over her image, so she wasn't just fat, she was also FABULOUS. I remember a large Afro-style hairdo, and bright, bold caftans. Jeff became entranced with this gold caftan at the plus-size shop, picturing Ellen as a golden goddess for prom. But, in their makeover, she does start to lose weight, and when he picks her up for prom, she's not the golden goddess of his dreams. She's lost enough weight to fit in "normal" clothing, a size 16 if I remember. Her hair is cut flat and short, and she's in an "ordinary" white dress. During prom and after, in her own debut as "normal," Jeff sees that she's just another shallow, ordinary teenage girl.
Now, when I read this the first time, I was a teenager, and about 125 pounds, size 8. I remember reading the description of the golden caftan, compared to the plain white dress, and thinking Ellen was stupid. I'd much rather be a golden goddess than a plan, ordinary, "normal" girl. But now, being 255 pounds, size 22....if I got the chance to shop on the "normal" side of the store, I think I'd take it, golden goddess be damned.
Another book I remember the basic plot, but not the title of, had a girl whose older sister thought to be weird, because the girl liked to go to funerals. It turned out (not a spoiler) that the reason she liked to go to funerals had to do with the people and their clothing. It was a lot easier to get into a funeral than a wedding, both occasions where people tend to dress their best. The girl liked to sew. Just sew. Not design, not create, but sew (another reason her family found her weird). The girl had a thing for her older sister's boyfriend, and ended up making him a camel sportcoat. He eventually left the sister for her, but the girl, after being with him for a few months, started to realize he was very tiresome. She had made him the camel sportcoat because it was the in-thing in his collegiate crowd (IIRC), put leather patches on the elbows for him when the elbows started to wear thin, and when he started making hints that something else (something of a more expensive fabric, IIRC) was the new style, she finally broke up with him. I can't remember the title or author on this one, much the pity.
Maybe the next time I'm back east, I'll stop in the library and see if any of these books are still there.
