 |
| Image credit |
I ask because I've recently read a few books that didn't work for me. There was nothing technically wrong with the books, but a few elements stood out in a bad way, and it kept me from enjoying the story. Specifically:
1) Character issues. I didn't care for the way the heroine treated the hero, and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why he stayed with her.
2) Pacing. This book started out fine, but the last 20% became a mad dash to the finish line, with the plot unfolding in increasingly ridiculous directions, almost as if the author realized they had 'x' number of scenes left to shove into 'y' number of words.
Even though I wasn't excited about these books, I stuck with it and finished them because I figured they would be good examples of what not to do. It's like eating peas--I hate the way they taste, but I know they're good for me (or so I've been told--I have my suspicions on that front). Sometimes I can learn more reading a book I don't enjoy than I do from reading one I like. Still, since I read for pleasure, I don't do this very often.
What about you? Do you struggle through to the bitter end so you can use the book as a primer on what not to do, or do you drop a book that's not working for you because life is too short to read books you don't enjoy?
I’ve become more aware of things that are ‘wrong’. I think I could sense them previously, but couldn’t specifically put my finger on the issue. Pacing, of course, grammar (though if everyone wrote as though they came from a grammar text book, we would have problems), repetitititiveness.
ReplyDeleteThe things that I’ve always been aware of, but that hit me much more strongly now have to do with characterization. You can tell when a character is ‘made’ to do something he wouldn’t normally do. I don’t mean an action that would be somewhat out of character –We have all seen situations where someone goes outside his or her zone of comfort and rises to (or falls below) the occasion. A situation where a character was envisioned as being a specific TYPE of character, but grew and developed into something bigger and better – and yet, when the crucial time came, was cramped into the old mold, which did not work.
Interesting post!
Diana at Diana Wilder – About Myself, by Myself
That's a really good point, Diana--a character 'breaking' during the story is always distracting, and I think it is a nasty form of author intrusion, whether intentional or not. I think in those instances, the writer has chosen to sacrifice character for the sake of a pre-determined plot point, which can yank you right out of the story.
DeleteLara, I'm finding more and more books I don't want to finish and don't. I've always been an action/suspense and eclectic reader but now it's just let me find five really good books out of 50. I hate author intrusion.
ReplyDeleteAmen! I used to never put down a book--I'd always struggle through, but now, as my free time dwindles, I'm a lot more protective of how I spend it.
DeleteTotally with you on both issues. I find I'm far more forgiving of a heroes flaws than heroine. This is because it seems the issues I've noticed lately from them are being overly bitchy and or naggy--both things I can't stand. It makes me wonder why on earth the hero is with them, and in love with them! It's an awful TV trend of 90's sitcoms invading books: let's make the husband a bumbling, but genuine and nice, fool and the wife a complete b!tch who's always right and gets her way through nagging and/or tricking the husband. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
ReplyDeleteTara W.
Ooh, good parallel Tara! I didn't even make the sitcom connection until you pointed it out--I _hate_ those tropes!
DeleteYes! My tastes have changed. Books I once would have loved I now can't stand. And I'm finishing less and less of them when I used to finish everything because I felt guilty. There are books I don't like but finish anyway to learn from them. And I think I do learn from them, but I can't do it too often. It makes me uncomfortable and unsettled and I can't live like that all the time. I have to have happiness and joy in my reading too. Unfortunately those books are becoming harder and harder to find.
ReplyDeleteExactly! :) I no longer feel guilty when I don't finish a book, which has been surprisingly freeing. I agree in that it's hard to find a really great book these days--I'm pretty forgiving of flaws and faults, unless it's something really egregious or the book just doesn't connect with me. I'd love to find something that shuts up my inner editor--I feel like even when I'm reading for pleasure, my inner editor is still working in the background, judging the book.
DeleteNot sure... I think it's more a matter of having read a lot, and a matter of time. I used to plough through Sidney Sheldon and VC Andrews in my teens (even while also reading Hemingway and Joyce and Bukowski and so on)... I wouldn't have the patience for those now, not with so many other books on the TBR pile!
ReplyDeleteI seem to have had a lot more lazy days to read for hours when I was younger - and for writing too. But I definitely edited a lot less...
Isn't it amazing how much free time we had when we were younger? I don't know about you, but I couldn't _wait_ to grow up and do Important Adult Things. Now there are days when I would seriously consider giving up my car for an afternoon nap. :)
Delete