A last (?) look at some overdone topics

On this last day of the year, I thought I'd ask myself (and you) which topics have cropped up on blogs and the internet just too much during 2009, and which you hope not to have to read about any more after tomorrow (2010)? My fervent wishes are for silence on the following overexposed subjects:

• Dan Brown (any aspect).
• E-books "versus" print books (they can coexist).
• Disputes about whether there are serious problems that need to be faced concerning global climate. (There are serious problems, let's move on from arguing about that and look at how to address them.)
• Moaning about Barack Obama's policies on health care, Iraq and the global financial crisis. Constructive comments are fine, moaning is just tedious and repetitive, especially on book blogs!
• Articles about Swedish crime novels which assume the country's entire output is limited to Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell and Sjowall/Wahloo.
• Assumptions that all or most Scandinavian crime fiction is "gloomy" and uneventful.
• Directionless moaning about Google/Microsoft/Facebook/Twitter [insert company name] taking over the internet and invading everyone's personal privacy.
• Finally, though I don't want total silence on the topic, I hope we don't have to read excessive debates about digital rights management/format for books, or too much about the Apple "tablet" (the all-singing, all-dancing device that will at a stroke render e-readers, portable computers, phones, music players, and every other mobile device redundant.....hmmmm).

It isn't that I exactly mind any of the above topics (except possibly any discussion involving Dan Brown), it is rather that I have seen/scanned/part-read just too many identical articles about them. I'm always open to reading anything by anybody if an original point is being made, but it just isn't interesting to see yet another derivative post or newspaper piece about an overhashed (is that a word?) matter.

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Maxine - Can you hear me applauding? I agree 100$ that there are certain topics that are just far, far too overdone, and you've definitely listed some of my pet peeves. Thanks for giving voice to what I am sure many are thinking.

[Maxine]

Thanks, Margot! I hope I don't sound too much like "disgusted of Tunbridge Wells" as we say in the UK - but even today I have seen several repetitive posts in my RSS reader on more than one of the above topics......my fingers are crossed for a bit more originality in 2010!

[Rob]

Literary vs genre fiction - a straw person debate

[Bernadette]

My life would certainly be better off without seeing any of those things discussed again. For my personal benefit I would add to your very excellent list

articles which talk about political spin as if the author is the first one to learn that most politicians lie most of the time (we know, this can no longer be considered news)

articles which bang on about how crap Generation Y is at whatever the author thinks they're crap at (give it a rest - there are hard workers and layabouts in all generations and I'm sick of ill-informed rants about young people) (and no it's not because I am young - I'm far from it - but re-hashing this theme is dull)

any use of the word tragedy - having been used to describe all sorts of things including lost kittens and the Tiger Woods mess the word has completely lost its meaning now so could we stop using it at all?

[Dorte H]

And the rest was silence! (Hopefully).

I wish you and your family a happy New Year, and I want to hear much more about good crime fiction all around the world in 2010.

[Maxine]

Hear hear, Rob and Dorte! And thanks, Dorte - I am sure that we shall be hearing more about global crime fiction this year, no little thanks to you.