07-15-2013, 02:37 PM | #61 | |
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I do indeed. And mayhaps I simply wasn't in a good head-space for it last year. {shrug}. Who knows? I've plowed through a lot of other books that were "classics" because I think it's important to read them for myriad reasons. I was, as I said, really surprised that I was so put off by it. Hitch |
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07-15-2013, 04:08 PM | #62 |
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I think that it's important to remember that books like "The Three Musketeers" were written the way they were because people had to rely on the text to tell them a lot more than a book written today does. There were no video feeds or even photographs to fill in details like now days. When an author set the scene back then he/she had to go into a lot more detail than we'd think to include. Lew Wallace's "Ben Hur" is a good example. He describes the lay of the land (literally) in great detail. Maps weren't common back then and most people would never be able to travel to the area where the book was set so the book runs longer. Now days we also tend to live faster paced lives than people did back then too. It took weeks to cross the Atlantic ocean not so many generations ago and now we do it in a matter of hours.
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07-15-2013, 04:54 PM | #63 | |
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I'm actually one of the few who likes a lot of descriptive detail. I don't skim over that. I tend to skim info dumps and exposition that is indicative of lack of skill on the part of the author. I'm fond of Michener, et al. I don't have the attention span of a two-year old. My issues with TTM were a bit different than that. Can't say further than that, as I put it down last year, as I said, to my own surprise, but mostly, I found the "heroes" sort of loathsome; obviously, that's viewed in a more modern-day context, as I wasn't alive then, but even so...{shrug}. Hitch |
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07-15-2013, 05:57 PM | #64 | |
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I wasn't trying to pick on you in particular, just say that in general that's one thing that a lot of people see about the old classics today. |
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07-15-2013, 06:40 PM | #65 |
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I'm about to DNF a contemporary romance, because nothing happens in it - two nice people get to know each other, have some misunderstandings, talk it out, and fall in love. No conflict, really, no reason to keep reading. It's well written, great descriptions, good dialog, but it's boring. nothing really happens.
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07-15-2013, 06:45 PM | #66 | |
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07-15-2013, 07:21 PM | #67 |
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it's indy. I'm giving it up to read another indy author, Courtney Milan, who never disappoints me.
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07-15-2013, 07:47 PM | #68 |
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Does the author whose book you're giving up have other published books? You have to wonder if they have written anything worth the purchase if they made such a hash of this one.
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07-15-2013, 07:55 PM | #69 | |
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Hitch |
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07-15-2013, 10:07 PM | #70 |
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Well maybe 'hash' isn't the right word but no matter how well written a book is if there is no real story tension it's going to fall flat as far as I can tell.
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07-16-2013, 01:48 AM | #71 |
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crich70: The fact is that different people enjoy different things. To admit that the book is well written, but that you personally didn't enjoy it, is not to say that there may not be others out there that will enjoy it. There are other, very popular, books out there that have been accused by some of having nothing happen.
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07-16-2013, 04:05 AM | #72 | |
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07-16-2013, 05:49 AM | #73 | |
cacoethes scribendi
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This highlights the importance of not relying on just one element of tension in your story. By having multiple lines of tension you get to play them off against each other in ways that highlights each to the reader, and that sometimes creates something quite different. (The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.) |
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