Yesterday, my little cousin celebrated her sixth birthday party. She's the youngest of three, and I brought her a Frozen necklace as a present. I also brought Flowers of Evil, which wasn't for her but for me, so I could read it conspicuously and potentially garner reactions. While I genuinely do like the poems in it, I sort of also use it as a prop because I like the idea of Being The Person Who Reads Baudelaire In Public Places. Or at least places where there's other people. You understand.
The eldest of my little cousins (who is nine and likes science) asked me what I was reading, and I held up the cover (he originally misread the title as Flowers of the Devil, and I corrected him). He said something to the effect of, "That's cool", and then when his friend came by, he went off with him and said, "Guess what book my cousin's reading..." (I didn't hear the end of that conversation.)
The wife of one of my adult cousins (who is in her forties and likes Doctor Who - I refer to the wife, not the cousin to whom she is married) saw me reading, asked what it was, and I said, "Flowers of Evil. Baudelaire." And she kind of laughed because she knew what it was, and she didn't find it funny per se, it was more like "so this is what you're reading now, oh my gosh". So I added, "I'm happy like this." Like reading Baudelaire is or indicative of some questionable life decisions.
I just like getting caught reading books with titles like Flowers of Evil and I like people's reactions to it.
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