Do you think your reading tastes evolve

applesauce · 06-07-2012, 11:15 AM

Do you think your reading tastes evolve or change over time. I had thought once I was past 30 I would be really set in my ways in what I liked to read. Was I ever wrong. I use to love anything Sydney Sheldon. Yes I know trashy thriller, but they use to draw me in and I use to so enjoy them. A ten year break from reading and I was drooling over an afternoon spent lost in one of his books. Oh was I ever disappointed. I am so not a book snob and do not mind a trashy book but seriously this seemed so badly written . It just had no flesh to it, The characters where wooden and predictable, the suspense non existent. It was just awful. I had come from finishing the first book of Game Of Thrones and it was so well written compared to this.
So do others still find their taste evolving even after 30 or is it the huge gap between books.

applesauce

Rob Lister · 06-07-2012, 11:30 AM

In a word: Yes.

The trash I read 30 years ago is far different from the trash I read today.

Plot and action recipes used to work for [on] me but no longer by decades. I'm really not a snob that now insists books have deeper meaning and literary merit, but I do insist on some degree of provoking thought.

Apache · 06-07-2012, 11:33 AM

Evolve or change or whatever you want to call it.

Of course our reading habits change. We are exposed to new books, authors and thoughts. This is bound to affect not just your reading, but your life. Are you the same person physically and mentally as you were twenty years ago? Most people will answer no. I hope. It would be no fun to have a Petrified Forest personality.

Apache

Pomtroll · 06-07-2012, 11:40 AM

Of course they change. And then sometimes after being away from a genre for awhile, I go back & find new interests. I'm re-reading a book I read nearly 20 years ago for a book club. When I first read I remember liking it a lot, now I'm having a hard time getting into it.

Penforhire · 06-07-2012, 12:47 PM

Absolutely.

Thirty-odd years ago I adored the books of Robert E. Howard (Conan, Solomon, Kull, Cormac), Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan, Barsoom, Pellucidar), Doc Savage (various authors), and Perry Rhodan (various again).

When I read these again today I find most of them melodramatic, the characters two-dimensional, the pacing somehow wrong, and the vocabulary weak.

QuantumIguana · 06-07-2012, 01:31 PM

I'm reading the Barsoom books now. The language does show a century of drift. He talks about objects 'depending' from the ceiling, while today we would say the object hung from the ceiling or was suspended from the ceiling. The characters are, perhaps, a little too perfect, but I the opposite extreme can be just as problematic.

Catlady · 06-07-2012, 02:11 PM

Whenever I've revisited a book I loved many years ago, I've never been truly disappointed. Whenever I've revisited a book I disliked, I now enjoy some of them, and I still hate some of them (e.g., Jane Eyre is still horrible).

There are a few books that I won't revisit, though--I don't want to damage the memory by seeing them through adult eyes.

taosaur · 06-07-2012, 02:30 PM

"Evolve" can be a loaded term, as people tend to see it as moving toward some higher state as opposed to just adapting to changing circumstances over time. Still, there are going to be works you can't get much out of until you have the life experience and/or prior reading to put them in context. Other works, once you can see them in context (influences, contemporaries, philosophical or political underpinnings) there's just not much to them, even if they seemed novel before you knew where they came from, or what other people have done with the same source material.

Hopefully, everything you read broadens your experience at least a little bit, and it's only natural that certain authors or whole genres will get checked off your list as "been there, done that," while others will lead you into territory you never knew existed.

LovesMacs · 06-07-2012, 03:39 PM

Certainly reading tastes can change over time. Ten or fifteen years ago I might have found Dan Brown's novels exciting and thought-provoking. Now I just see all the flaws in them.

Synamon · 06-07-2012, 04:00 PM

I had never reread books until a few months ago, because I could still remember the plots and my favourite genre isn't very interesting if you know who the murder is when you start the whodunnit. It's been long enough that I decided to reread one of my favourite authors last winter, but I was worried that books I loved reading in my teens would no longer appeal to me. Fortunately Agatha Christie was as brilliant as ever. Now I'm inhaling some Dick Francis and finding them as enjoyable as I did when I first stumbled across them 25 years ago.

Either I was evolved at 10 or I'm stagnant, doesn't matter since I'm very much looking forward to savouring all my favourites again.

bathos · 06-07-2012, 04:08 PM

I've found ebooks have broadened my horizons by being able to read samples. I've found so many new authors that have become favourites. I've tried books that I would never have bought in paperback.

I've also tried so many books from recommendations here.

fjtorres · 06-07-2012, 08:16 PM

Are you the same person you were a decade or three back?

Some people do settle into a comfort zone and lock themselves in--entire countries do this--while others are always looking for new experiences, new stories, new themes.
Every person is going to be different, I think.

FWIW: Me, sometimes my perception changes, sometimes not: some books I reread every few years and they still amuse or impress me as much as they ever did--others not so much.
Edgar Rice Burroughs' THE RIDER is a trifle and generally deprecated within his body of work, but for me it is endlessly diverting. And I keep coming back to it when I need a fluffy but amusing delight.
Conversely, the first time I ran into Tolkien I read the four volumes twice, back to back. In a week. (Not much sleep but it was summer anyway.) Five years later (after a lot more fantasy: from Fritz Lieber to Brian Daley, Stephen Donaldson, and Piers Anthony) I went back and it was a drudge. The world was still engrossing but the prose felt overblown and ponderous compared to other practitioners of the genre. A decade later I tried again and it wasn't as bad but not quite as magical as the first time. Familiarity bred... impatience.

I've learned that I favor storytelling over craftmanship; I will reread Doc Smith more readily than Harlan Ellison though I appreciate and accept both as very different poles of the infinitely mutable genre I love. Just as I've learned to appreciate the samples I run in my forays into other genres and fields.
For me reading is as much an education as an exploration and I *hope* my perceptions change over time. I'm not old enough to settle into comfortable old-foggy-hood.

xg4bx · 06-07-2012, 08:23 PM

not for me. i was born reading ad&d/robert e howard pastiches and i'll die reading ad&d/robert e howard pastiches.

i do read some other genres but pulp fantasy,horror, and sci-fi will always be my first and only true loves.

SteveEisenberg · 06-07-2012, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

The trash I read 30 years ago is far different from the trash I read today.

An excellent observation. I can't stand sci-fi anymore, but am finding it hard to resist the complete works of Faye Kellerman.

Overall, I become a more patient reader as I age. Right now I am finding The People of the Book: Philosemitism in England, From Cromwell to Churchill to be an actual page-turner. Twenty years ago, no way.

covfam · 06-07-2012, 10:45 PM

Yes
In the 70's when i was a kid i read a ton of choose your own adventure books and dragon lance fantasy, in the 80's as a teen i read alot of tom clancy books and my fantasy reading matured into tolkein and terry brook,s in the 90's i started reading thrillers from the likes of clive cussler and enjoyed the humor of terry pratchet, and the last decade i have read alot of mysteries wich i never had intrest in before. so yes my reading has evolved.

06-07-2012, 11:15 AM	#1
applesauce Addict Posts: 387 Karma: 3553492 Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Perth Western Australia Device: kindle oasis	Do you think your reading tastes evolve Do you think your reading tastes evolve or change over time. I had thought once I was past 30 I would be really set in my ways in what I liked to read. Was I ever wrong. I use to love anything Sydney Sheldon. Yes I know trashy thriller, but they use to draw me in and I use to so enjoy them. A ten year break from reading and I was drooling over an afternoon spent lost in one of his books. Oh was I ever disappointed. I am so not a book snob and do not mind a trashy book but seriously this seemed so badly written . It just had no flesh to it, The characters where wooden and predictable, the suspense non existent. It was just awful. I had come from finishing the first book of Game Of Thrones and it was so well written compared to this. So do others still find their taste evolving even after 30 or is it the huge gap between books. applesauce

06-07-2012, 08:23 PM	#13
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	not for me. i was born reading ad&d/robert e howard pastiches and i'll die reading ad&d/robert e howard pastiches. i do read some other genres but pulp fantasy,horror, and sci-fi will always be my first and only true loves. Last edited by xg4bx; 06-07-2012 at 08:27 PM.

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06-07-2012, 11:30 AM	#2
Rob Lister Fanatic Posts: 532 Karma: 3293888 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Virginia Device: Nook Simple Touch	In a word: Yes. The trash I read 30 years ago is far different from the trash I read today. Plot and action recipes used to work for [on] me but no longer by decades. I'm really not a snob that now insists books have deeper meaning and literary merit, but I do insist on some degree of provoking thought.

06-07-2012, 11:33 AM	#3
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,277 Karma: 90000484 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	Evolve or change or whatever you want to call it. Of course our reading habits change. We are exposed to new books, authors and thoughts. This is bound to affect not just your reading, but your life. Are you the same person physically and mentally as you were twenty years ago? Most people will answer no. I hope. It would be no fun to have a Petrified Forest personality. Apache

06-07-2012, 11:40 AM	#4
Pomtroll Guru Posts: 822 Karma: 1341819 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Minnesota USA Device: Sony 350, Sony T1, Kindle Touch, Kindle PW1	Of course they change. And then sometimes after being away from a genre for awhile, I go back & find new interests. I'm re-reading a book I read nearly 20 years ago for a book club. When I first read I remember liking it a lot, now I'm having a hard time getting into it.

06-07-2012, 12:47 PM	#5
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	Absolutely. Thirty-odd years ago I adored the books of Robert E. Howard (Conan, Solomon, Kull, Cormac), Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan, Barsoom, Pellucidar), Doc Savage (various authors), and Perry Rhodan (various again). When I read these again today I find most of them melodramatic, the characters two-dimensional, the pacing somehow wrong, and the vocabulary weak.

06-07-2012, 01:31 PM	#6
QuantumIguana Philosopher Posts: 2,034 Karma: 18736532 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch	I'm reading the Barsoom books now. The language does show a century of drift. He talks about objects 'depending' from the ceiling, while today we would say the object hung from the ceiling or was suspended from the ceiling. The characters are, perhaps, a little too perfect, but I the opposite extreme can be just as problematic.

06-07-2012, 02:11 PM	#7
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,418 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Whenever I've revisited a book I loved many years ago, I've never been truly disappointed. Whenever I've revisited a book I disliked, I now enjoy some of them, and I still hate some of them (e.g., Jane Eyre is still horrible). There are a few books that I won't revisit, though--I don't want to damage the memory by seeing them through adult eyes.

06-07-2012, 02:30 PM	#8
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	"Evolve" can be a loaded term, as people tend to see it as moving toward some higher state as opposed to just adapting to changing circumstances over time. Still, there are going to be works you can't get much out of until you have the life experience and/or prior reading to put them in context. Other works, once you can see them in context (influences, contemporaries, philosophical or political underpinnings) there's just not much to them, even if they seemed novel before you knew where they came from, or what other people have done with the same source material. Hopefully, everything you read broadens your experience at least a little bit, and it's only natural that certain authors or whole genres will get checked off your list as "been there, done that," while others will lead you into territory you never knew existed.

06-07-2012, 03:39 PM	#9
LovesMacs Fanatic Posts: 513 Karma: 2644386 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: iPhone, Kindle Touch	Certainly reading tastes can change over time. Ten or fifteen years ago I might have found Dan Brown's novels exciting and thought-provoking. Now I just see all the flaws in them.

06-07-2012, 04:00 PM	#10
Synamon Lunatic Posts: 1,691 Karma: 4386372 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Land of the Loonie Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch	I had never reread books until a few months ago, because I could still remember the plots and my favourite genre isn't very interesting if you know who the murder is when you start the whodunnit. It's been long enough that I decided to reread one of my favourite authors last winter, but I was worried that books I loved reading in my teens would no longer appeal to me. Fortunately Agatha Christie was as brilliant as ever. Now I'm inhaling some Dick Francis and finding them as enjoyable as I did when I first stumbled across them 25 years ago. Either I was evolved at 10 or I'm stagnant, doesn't matter since I'm very much looking forward to savouring all my favourites again.

06-07-2012, 04:08 PM	#11
bathos Zealot Posts: 135 Karma: 727000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: UK Device: iPhone XS, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, kindle Oasis	I've found ebooks have broadened my horizons by being able to read samples. I've found so many new authors that have become favourites. I've tried books that I would never have bought in paperback. I've also tried so many books from recommendations here.

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06-07-2012, 08:16 PM	#12
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Are you the same person you were a decade or three back? Some people do settle into a comfort zone and lock themselves in--entire countries do this--while others are always looking for new experiences, new stories, new themes. Every person is going to be different, I think. FWIW: Me, sometimes my perception changes, sometimes not: some books I reread every few years and they still amuse or impress me as much as they ever did--others not so much. Edgar Rice Burroughs' THE RIDER is a trifle and generally deprecated within his body of work, but for me it is endlessly diverting. And I keep coming back to it when I need a fluffy but amusing delight. Conversely, the first time I ran into Tolkien I read the four volumes twice, back to back. In a week. (Not much sleep but it was summer anyway.) Five years later (after a lot more fantasy: from Fritz Lieber to Brian Daley, Stephen Donaldson, and Piers Anthony) I went back and it was a drudge. The world was still engrossing but the prose felt overblown and ponderous compared to other practitioners of the genre. A decade later I tried again and it wasn't as bad but not quite as magical as the first time. Familiarity bred... impatience. I've learned that I favor storytelling over craftmanship; I will reread Doc Smith more readily than Harlan Ellison though I appreciate and accept both as very different poles of the infinitely mutable genre I love. Just as I've learned to appreciate the samples I run in my forays into other genres and fields. For me reading is as much an education as an exploration and I hope my perceptions change over time. I'm not old enough to settle into comfortable old-foggy-hood.

06-07-2012, 10:45 PM	#15
covfam Addict Posts: 304 Karma: 1139862 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Ipod Touch,Ipad3,Kindle fire, Samsung Galaxy tab, Samsung Galaxy S3	Yes In the 70's when i was a kid i read a ton of choose your own adventure books and dragon lance fantasy, in the 80's as a teen i read alot of tom clancy books and my fantasy reading matured into tolkein and terry brook,s in the 90's i started reading thrillers from the likes of clive cussler and enjoyed the humor of terry pratchet, and the last decade i have read alot of mysteries wich i never had intrest in before. so yes my reading has evolved.