|
View Poll Results: Do you like long or short novels? | |||
Really Short (less than 60K words) | 3 | 2.19% | |
Short about 80K is right | 7 | 5.11% | |
Medium (somewhere 'tween 80-120K) is perfect | 16 | 11.68% | |
Long (give it to me baby. Stephen King is my idol) | 62 | 45.26% | |
Don't care | 49 | 35.77% | |
Voters: 137. You may not vote on this poll |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
09-18-2010, 05:01 PM | #46 |
Warrior Princess
Posts: 5,038
Karma: 9724231
Join Date: Sep 2009
Device: PRS-505; PRS-350, PRS-T1, iPad, Aura HD
|
Me too. I like long novels, but I have to break them up with some shorter novels in between. I feel like my concentration starts to wander if I read too many long novels back to back. Also, sometimes I'm just in the mood for a quick read that I can finish in a day.
|
09-18-2010, 06:31 PM | #47 |
It's Dr. Penguin now!
Posts: 3,909
Karma: 4705733
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: (USA)
Device: iPad mini, Samsung Note 3, Sony PRS-650 (rarely used now)
|
|
Advert | |
|
09-18-2010, 08:02 PM | #48 | |
MR Drone
Posts: 1,613
Karma: 15612282
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DRONEZONE
Device: PB360+, Huawei MP5, Libra H20
|
Quote:
I am one of those who dislike long novels. SHORT novels all the way. I am glad publishers reject lots of long novels, most are not worth wasting the time to read. Stephen King and the like need an editor... or a bonfire |
|
09-18-2010, 09:32 PM | #49 |
Addict
Posts: 309
Karma: 500370
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Bangkok
Device: kindle
|
That's fine, reading is as personal a past-time as it gets. What I am alluding to is arbitrary dismissal based on a word count. Such act precluding the opportunity for choice and incidentally cutting readers off (at least 30% of them according to this insightful and scientifically organized Poll), from what they really like. Which is a whopping monster of an interesting read.
|
09-18-2010, 09:41 PM | #50 |
Fanatic
Posts: 517
Karma: 459442
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Alpha Centauri's Library of Alexandria
Device: Pandigital Novel
|
Novel size is immaterial to me, novel quality is what I look for.
I'll read the title, the author name, then open to a random point in the book and read. If it doesn't interest me, I'll try 2-4 more random places. Seldom check the first page. If I don't see interesting bits in those random checks, back on the shelf it goes. When I was a kid. The local library let you read books outside the kids' section once you turned 6 years old. Being a shy kid, I walked up to the next shelf I saw. On the spine of the books, along with author and title, were small drawings of space ships. I checked out 5 of them. 300 page novels. I found out later the librarian called my mom. I got to take them home. Before I got into the first grade, I was reading one of those novels in 3 hours. My reading speed has slowed down a bit since then. My sisters and I, around 10-12 years ago, tried to figure out how many books I had read. We decided it was around 8,000 to 10,000 books. Ereaders, with the proper sd card, can hold 10,000 books. I think I'm getting a bit behind in my reading. |
Advert | |
|
09-19-2010, 11:34 AM | #51 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
I like short stories.
|
09-19-2010, 04:50 PM | #52 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,970
Karma: 128903378
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
|
09-19-2010, 04:52 PM | #53 | |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,970
Karma: 128903378
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
Quote:
|
|
09-19-2010, 04:53 PM | #54 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 73,970
Karma: 128903378
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
|
09-19-2010, 09:51 PM | #55 | |
MR Drone
Posts: 1,613
Karma: 15612282
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DRONEZONE
Device: PB360+, Huawei MP5, Libra H20
|
Quote:
|
|
09-19-2010, 10:24 PM | #56 |
Banned
Posts: 3,724
Karma: 535488
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: the Mortuary
Device: Kindle 2
|
While I do enjoy really long novels, I'm also a huge fan of short stories.
If it is well written, I'll read it, no matter what the length. |
09-19-2010, 10:54 PM | #57 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,759
Karma: 30063305
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Singapore
Device: Boyue
|
I think another option you should have added long but in shorter chunks.
I like to read series more than single novels larger the series the better. The individual book size does not matter. |
09-19-2010, 11:28 PM | #58 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,451
Karma: 1550000
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Maryland, USA
Device: Nook Simple Touch, HPC Evo 4G LTE
|
Quote:
Also, I don't mind arbitrary word limits for unproven authors, again, if an author can't tell a decent story at 60-80K words, they are probably not going to be able to tell one at 200K words. I found the comment about short fantasy novels lacking something kind of interesting, if for no other reason than the fact that some of the seminal authors in the early days of the genre spent much more of their efforts on shorter fiction. Howard wrote mostly short stories, and only one of his Conan stories counts as a novel. Likewise, Fritz Leiber wrote a lot more short stories... -- Bill |
|
09-20-2010, 06:18 AM | #59 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 64
Karma: 1320
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Wörth am Rhein, Germany
Device: Kindle 3 (WLAN) & hp Jornada 568
|
James Clavell - need I say more?
|
09-20-2010, 06:39 AM | #60 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
Probably.
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
NASTY, BRUTISH & SHORT SHORT - by David Michael - $0.99 (or FREE) (Horror) | DavidRM | Self-Promotions by Authors and Publishers | 5 | 05-18-2011 05:00 PM |
Hugo Read-A-Long: Short Stories | Hatgirl | Reading Recommendations | 1 | 06-09-2010 02:44 AM |
Spinning (short short story) | kennyc | Writers' Corner | 9 | 09-13-2009 09:14 PM |
Why are SMS short text messages so darned short? | Bob Russell | Lounge | 12 | 07-27-2007 09:21 AM |
Long, long time... | Chaos | Introduce Yourself | 6 | 04-26-2007 11:34 PM |