Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Story is what matters to me. All the pretty descriptions and beautifully crafted sentences are a waste of time unless they serve the story.
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I tend to agree with you, but the opposite is true as well. The greatest story in the world needs a little pizazz in the form of narrative and/or dialogue to keep my attention.
Still while I like humor, and insight into the characters, timeframes, locations etc. I am not into reading a series of one liners or great whopping descriptions of the country manor, or long detailed descriptions of who did what to whom. It is about the story after all, but much is in the telling. Otherwise I could just read the first and last chapters.
Generally a book grabs my interest within the first paragraph or two. Not saying they have to, and many books I have enjoyed never have that initial pull, but I find that I like (sometimes even love) them enough to want to read others by the same author. And some authors fill their books with repetitive trite dialogue, but still I love those books. It’s kind of like the person who can tell you the same joke 47 times, and they are so happy, animated and enthusiastic in the telling that you actually still enjoy the experience. Others tell a different joke each time, but in such a manner, that by the time they get to the end you’ve forgotten they are even in the room.
Perhaps I should just chalk it up to magic or literary charisma, but it is something that has been puzzling me for a number of years, even while the normal part of my brain keeps saying shut up and read
Helen