I Love You, Beth Cooper Discussion

Subject: I Love You, Beth Cooper Discussion Fri Jun 13, 2008 12:03 am

Now that we're finished reading the book, let the discussion begin!

First of all, C, I want to let you know that I loved the book you picked out!! What a great selection for your very first pick. The bar is now set pretty high. XD

As mentioned above, I loved this book. It made me laugh out loud while reading, which is a rare thing for me. I was reading it at work one day and my friend and co-worker Ame kept laughing at me because I kept laughing. Although I was a bit disturbed at the amount of sweat Denis was capable of producing....ewww.

If you don't know it already, this book is being made into a movie starring Hayden Panetteire from Heroes. I hope they stay true to the book, because it's perfect the way it is.

I really enjoyed the movie quotes that started each chapter. It was fun to try to figure out what movie they were from, but for those of you not as movie literate as me(not that I got them all), here's the complete list:

Chapter 1: Rebel Without a Cause
Chapter 2: Ghost World
Chapter 3: Porky's
Chapter 4: Rushmore
Chapter 5: Say Anything
Chapter 6: Saved!
Chapter 7: Weird Science
Chapter 8: Rumble Fish
Chapter 9: Napoleon Dynamite
Chapter 10: The Breakfast Club
Chapter 11: American Graffiti
Chap. 12: Back to the Future
Chapter 13: American Pie
Chapter 14: Pretty in Pink
Chapter 15: Footloose
Chapter16: Dazed and Confused
Chapter 17: Risky Business
Chapter 18: Clueless
Chapter 19: Gidget
Chapter 20: Sixteen Candles
Chapter 21: Heathers
Chapter 22: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Chapter 23: Grease
Chapter 24: I Love You, Beth Cooper (coming in 2009)

Any teen movies you wish Doyle had used qoutes from? For me personally, I would have liked to see a little Pump Up The Volume. I love me some Christian Slaters in the early 90's.

While reading the book I did find myself having to "Go Google it!" a few terms. But I wish I hadn't, as there is probably a good reason that those words aren't common terminology. At least not in the circles I hang in, thank God.

Subject: I did such a good job!! Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:58 am

I'm going to start by giving a shout out to the one true love of my life...Mr John Cusack. I fell in love with him as Lloyd in SAY ANYTHING. My favorite line was when he said "I'm looking for a dare to be great situation." Well that and the whole "buy anything, sell anything, process anything" speech, that was great!
I loved this book! It does pretty much follow the same basic plot line of all the other teen highschool movies. Which is hard to ignore with all the different quotes on each chapter. But I for one liked all the quotes because I love those movies. And aside from that there is something truly original and unique about the book and this story.
My favorite character was Rich. I loved at the end of page 54 when it explains how he sees his life like a movie. If I had to pick one for how my life would turn out I would go for SIXTEEN CANDLES. Smart ass best friend, corky family, and a night of crazy adventures that gets you no where but ends up being the time of their lives for everyone else, then when you really start to believe that nothing is ever going to go your way, a really hot guy shows up with an awesome car and brings you a cake, but hopefully not your underwear because that would be really awkward.
I also loved the way he wrote the character of Beth. He made her real with crazy problems. She wasn't the popular girl with a heart of gold. There is substance to her but she's not perfect. I liked at the top of page 230 when he sums her up perfectly by owning the fact that her life would unlikely get any better than it was but she accepted it...and it impressed the hell out of Denis.
This book was really light and easy to read. Very entertaining and fun. I loved it. I laughed out loud too often for me to keep count and I would love to read more from Mr. Larry Doyle. lol!

Subject: Miss-quoted Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:08 am

Not to be to picky or anything, but did anybody else catch where Doyle miss-quoted one of the movie quotes.
For chapter 3 he uses the following quote from Porky's;
"Holy s**t! It's the mother lode"
But in the actual movie the line is;
"Jesus Christ! It's the mother lode"

I know I know, I'm the biggest dork in the world just for noticing that. Sorry!

Subject: Re: I Love You, Beth Cooper Discussion Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:04 pm

Dork is too stong a word... nerd is good. XD

I too liked that Beth Cooper wasn't perfect, she didn't have the wealthy parents or the bright future that so many of the "perfect" girls do in 80's movies. Although if this book had followed teen movie formula 100% then Denis would have ended up falling for his smart ass friend, Rich a la Some Kind of Wonderful. Does anyone else miss Eric Stoltz and Lea Thompson?

Rich was a great character. He really just jumped feet first into the whole adventure of the evening, while it took Denis a little bit longer to go with the flow.

I really enjoyed the part of the book that discussed Beth's driving skills and the flashback for Rich. Hmmm, what about a possible Rich/Beth hookup someday?

I like that the book is open ended. If I were to fill in the blanks of what I think happens, this would be it: Denis sees Beth right before going off to school and they hang out again. Much fun and chaos ensue, but they keep the relationship platonic except for a kiss. Denis gets to school, newly filled with confidence and the occasional trip back home and sporadic meetings with Beth (I'm picturing her working somewhere in retail hell) bolster his self esteem. As Denis is emerging, he helps Beth with a problem at work- let's say she's being sexually harrassed. He and Rich come up with a scheme that basically gets rid of Beth's hands on boss and gets her a manangement job. Suddenly Beth has found her niche and her future no longer seems so bleak. Denis meanwhile actually starts to date some college girls, and learns some moves. Rich is discovered by Hollywood when he has a meltdown in a fast food restuarant over some undercooked fries, and suddenly he's the next Jack Black. He gets an swanky apartment which he covers in mirrors, discovering that it's himself that he is truly attracted to, but nonetheless goes through a string of asian girlfriends. After college Denis and Beth, now on more equal footing, finally consummate their relationship and eventually get married and have three horrible but funny kids. The End.

That's just my outlook on it, what's yours?

» I Love You, Beth Cooper Playlist
» I Love You, Beth Cooper by Larry Doyle
» Twilight Discussion
» New Moon Discussion
» Eclipse Discussion