General Chat

I have just been struggling with a book I was looking forward to reading because of good reviews. What a load of hype I normally devour a good book in a day but after 3 days I’m only half way through and it’s going to the charity shop!

What annoys you about books?
My pet hates;

What should have been a short story in a collection stretched to make a full length novel.

Similar to above, writers that feel each book should be bigger than the last but no extra plot.

Writers that repeat incidents from previous books almost in a cut and paste fashion.
Instead of saying a character’s wife was killed in a car crash they retell the whole thing again to pad out the text.

The page and a half of naughty bits fitted in with no influence on the plot that’s not vaguely erotic, just plain crude.

Slow burn plots while the characters work out their son is a “Damien” clone we knew that when we read the dust jacket, just get on with the story!

A climax (not the naughty one) after chapters of tedious plot that is over in a page or two! All that reading just for that!

Mayfield.

The two I have read over the last two nights came close to 'unreadable'.

Pet hates:

Huge swathes of description...unless it is done very well, I really don't need to know that making a cup of tea, involves 'boiling the kettle, popping two teabags in a brown pot, and putting the milk in first, then poring it slowly into an 19th century bone china cup' unless it is essential to the plot.

Rambling on and introducing random characters who have no real role in the story, and then hurriedly packing the main plot into the last chapter.

Books where the title promises a 'specific' and that specific turns out to be one page and the rest is waffle.


edit oh yes, really dippy women as the 'heroine' that you just want to shake lol.

My pet hate is books which feature a different character in each chapter, only showing how they relate to each other by vague mentions at various points, then bringing them all together at the end, by which time I´ve lost the will to live.

Few sci-fi writers have ever bettered Ray Bradbury or Philip K Dick (Bladerunner).

For modern horror there is a shelf full of Stephen King and James Herbert. IMHO the latter is more scary. RIP.

For crime just stick to Ian Rankin and then you'll have no disappointments. Dick Francis also likes to have the plot move along and as a bonus there is lots about horse racing. If you get to the end of the shelf then Ed McBain (NYC), Margery Allingham, Ruth Rendell all write from the dark side of the street.

Reviewers write reviews for other reviewers to show how hip, erudite or cool they are, not for readers. Just like restaurant reviews. Long ago I learned to have a decent meal beforehand ...

ex libris

So why try and read boring crap ? There are reasons why the screenplay is often far more successful than the novel.

Wisechild, I have read several books like that recently and they are hard to keep up with, especially as I only usually have time to read myself to sleep so end up losing my place and having to go back a page or more.

It seems to be a fad that had sprung up to write in that fashion.

I am stubborn, even if I am not sure of a book I will usually continue reading to see if it 'perks up' - sometimes they do and I am happy that I persevered but some do make me throw it in the charity pile.

Lizx