Ever put down a book because you were afraid of what would happen?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by copyrite

Yes! I don't know if as a 20 something if she can watch that episode or not. LOL

I think that was one of their funniest scenes.

Amazing the amount of useless trivia cluttering up my head!

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by copyrite

Yes! I don't know if as a 20 something if she can watch that episode or not. LOL

What's wrong with that scene? Nothing really terrible happens

[copyrite]

At least not where Joey's concerned!

I read more romance than anything else, and it's funny, how in that genre I don't want anything to happen to the main characters, but in any other genre it isn't as big of a deal for me when something happens to a main character!

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by copyrite

At least not where Joey's concerned!

I read more romance than anything else, and it's funny, how in that genre I don't want anything to happen to the main characters, but in any other genre it isn't as big of a deal for me when something happens to a main character!

I don't mind if a story turns out or runs differently than I expect, but if something happens to a character I really like, it can take me some time to resume reading (or playing, in case of a game).

Spoiler:

In the Shannara point-and-click adventure game, the protagonist Jack Ohmsford meets a childhood friend, Shella Leah. At around 75% of the game, Shella not only dies, but Jack has to actually kill her himself, to make sure she's not possessed by the dark magic of the Warlock Lord and come back as a monster.



(Scene from 12:45 minutes onward.)

When I played this game for the first time, 20 years ago, it took me a week to pick the game up again and actually finish it. Each time I replayed that game I had to stop after that scene and continue the next day.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by dynabook

I have read "Far from the Madding Crowd" and enjoyed it. My daughter told me to read "Tess" and I have been meaning to read it for a long time. I realize Hardy is not sympathetic to his characters but my reaction is irrational, I agree.

--MH

Hardy is extremely sympathetic to his characters. It's the rest of the world that isn't. And strangely that's true of the world around him as well as the world inside his novels.

After writing "Tess" he stopped writing novels for a while, as I recall, because of the public's shocked reaction. It was thought that since Tess was an unwed mother even though that was due to being raped, that there was nothing important to say about her. In fact initially his publishers refused to publish it.

Wikipedia says he gave up writing novels because of the reaction to "Tess" and "Jude". Both of these are wonderfully sensitive novels.

I've read quite a few of his novels and all of those I've read have been excellent. Yes they're sometimes tragic but beautifully so.

Barry

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I don't mind if a story turns out or runs differently than I expect, but if something happens to a character I really like, it can take me some time to resume reading (or playing, in case of a game).

Two examples from TV series come to mind:

M*A*S*H

Spoiler:

Colonel Blake is finally going home, everyone's said goodbye, and then they get the news that his chopper crashed and he's dead.

24

Spoiler:

Jack Bauer's first really bad day is at an end, all the terrorists have been vanquished, and he returns to CTU headquarters to reunite with his wife--and we find out that she's been shot to death.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Catlady

M*A*S*H

Spoiler:

Colonel Blake is finally going home, everyone's said goodbye, and then they get the news that his chopper crashed and he's dead.

Actually....

Spoiler:

His plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan, it spun in, there were no survivors.

Very powerful scene.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by barryem

After writing "Tess" he stopped writing novels for a while, as I recall, because of the public's shocked reaction. It was thought that since Tess was an unwed mother even though that was due to being raped, that there was nothing important to say about her. In fact initially his publishers refused to publish it.

I read this in 6th or 7th grade as an assignment. During the class discussion, I told the teacher that Tess just needed to get over herself and stop whining!

I suspect I'd have a very different point of view as an adult with a better understanding of the cultural mores at the time of the novel.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Two examples from TV series come to mind:

M*A*S*H

Spoiler:

Colonel Blake is finally going home, everyone's said goodbye, and then they get the news that his chopper crashed and he's dead.

24

Spoiler:

Jack Bauer's first really bad day is at an end, all the terrorists have been vanquished, and he returns to CTU headquarters to reunite with his wife--and we find out that she's been shot to death.

Spoiler:

Radar was handed the script to that scene right before it happened. The producers wanted a genuine reaction.

Decided to spoiler my answer.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by dynabook

I have tried to read "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" but only got to the point in which she was picked up to be taken to a manor as a governess/nurse(?).

I have an impression from somewhere that something bad happens to her and I am so invested in her well-being that I can't read further.

Does this happen to you or do you say "It is only fiction, I will continue"?

I have had this happen to me with others books but managed to keep on with a feeling of dread. Maybe I am not as invested in the character or I feel it will turn out okay in the end. But Thomas Hardy takes no prisoners.
--MH

I do it all the time. Some books just get too violent or too angsty or I just do not want to read about x, y or z happening. Reading for me is for enjoyment. I can handle a certain amount of adventure or bad things, but I will no longer keep reading if a book upsets me. Sometimes I'll read the last chapter because usually it ends okay, but I'll generally avoid the author in the future. Everyone has limits. I pretty much know mine!

[Cinisajoy]

The last fiction book I quit reading was because the author had the characters doing very unrealistic things and he had thrown in unnecessary nudity.
It was obvious what group of "authors" he had been listening too.
Sorry, in a thriller I do not need to know what the protagonist is wearing or not wearing unless it is relevant to the scene.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

The last fiction book I quit reading was because the author had the characters doing very unrealistic things and he had thrown in unnecessary nudity.
It was obvious what group of "authors" he had been listening too.
Sorry, in a thriller I do not need to know what the protagonist is wearing or not wearing unless it is relevant to the scene.

Sometimes, though, in a mystery or thriller, what seems irrelevant turns out not to be--turns out to be a clue. I've read books where an author will offer descriptions of clothes or decor, and one of those seemingly throwaway descriptions is important. But if only that one important one was included, the reader would pounce on it and pick up the clue way too early.

Even what seem to be unrealistic things might not be. I read a thriller recently where a character's therapist was influencing her to do some things that seemed to be kind of far out to overcome her phobia. I was getting annoyed, but I don't abandon books, and eventually it turned out that there was a reason for therapist being so odd--he wasn't a therapist at all.

[barryem]

I think I've been confused about the intent of this thread. I had assumed that everyone was talking about those times when you just have to stop reading and walk away for a few minutes before continuing. I didn't realize that the topic was quitting the book. I can't imagine doing that. That's kind of like jumping out of an airplane because it's going too fast and too high.

Barry

[ApK]

Originally Posted by barryem

I think I've been confused about the intent of this thread. I had assumed that everyone was talking about those times when you just have to stop reading and walk away for a few minutes before continuing. I didn't realize that the topic was quitting the book. I can't imagine doing that. That's kind of like jumping out of an airplane because it's going too fast and too high.

Barry

No one's ever died because they stopped reading a book. For a closer analogy, plenty of thrill rides and other intense forms of entertaiment offer an emergency stop button.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Sometimes, though, in a mystery or thriller, what seems irrelevant turns out not to be--turns out to be a clue. I've read books where an author will offer descriptions of clothes or decor, and one of those seemingly throwaway descriptions is important. But if only that one important one was included, the reader would pounce on it and pick up the clue way too early.

Even what seem to be unrealistic things might not be. I read a thriller recently where a character's therapist was influencing her to do some things that seemed to be kind of far out to overcome her phobia. I was getting annoyed, but I don't abandon books, and eventually it turned out that there was a reason for therapist being so odd--he wasn't a therapist at all.

No unfortunately, these unrealistic things were not clues but just stupid. The first was two joints for a couple. A lady of the evening laughing at the size of a john's male part. And the last one was details about a guy cleaning his undies with his hands. Closed and deleted the book.
The author had listened to others that told him ALL books need unnecessary sex and very graphic details.