Too much of a good thing

Real-life shopaholics

I must admit that, for one time, I was into those Shopaholic novels by Sophie Kinsella. I read Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Takes Manhattan in just three days. The first book was really quite good; it was a pleasant surprise. I gave it to my female friends as gifts and most of them liked the book too. The second book was all right too, although it bordered on being overdrawn. Somehow, Becky Bloomwood's quirks in the 2nd book wasn't that catchy and hysterically funny anymore.

Nevertheless, I decided to read the third and fourth books of the series since I had quite a bit of fun with the first two. I would eventually finish the fourth book feeling dismayed at how shallow the story lines and characters have become. Kinsella was able to map out her characters and their signature traits in the first book quite effectively. After finishing the fourth, it seems that the characters have not only reached a plateau in terms of their being instrumental to the story, but that they have actually devolved into stereotypes. Becky's shopping tendecies, while whimsical in the first two books, have now become pathological. They're not even one bit funny. Kinsella, by having Becky's character marry a handsome millionnaire, has provided a ridiculous excuse for Becky to go on unbelievable shopping sprees.

There's a fifth book by the way -- Shopaholic and Baby. I've a copy somewhere, but I just haven't gotten to reading it yet. I probably never will though. Somehow, the thought of going on carefree shopping sprees seems obscene in these tough economic times when everyone wants to hang on to their cash and snip their credit cards. And you must admit, if you can't even handle your finances well, you probably shouldn't be having a baby.