The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[issybird]

Back to reading and not weather, please. There’s a weather thread in the Lounge.

[Cactus Chef]

When an Amazon book tells you to ignore its own product description:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BDOUAI

*** WARNING: Ignore Amazon's Artificial Intelligence Description; This Book Is Not About Bitcoin or Crypto!
*** 10th Anniversary Edition; Inflation, Crypto, Pandemics—Why a Fastlane Strategy has Never Been More Important.
*** International Best-Seller, Over 1,000,000 Sold: Translated/Published In Over 25 Languages

If they have the ability to edit the description, why not just remove the AI-generated crypto stuff? Why add a disclaimer?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

when its too hot and you keep falling asleep reading...




All I remember is the solid walls of dialogue where I had no idea who was talking.

I remember reading A Passage to India for the first MR Book Club. It was incredibly boring and inane. Even the storyline was awful. I cannot see how it ever got called a classic.

Sometimes the older books may be an issue to read because of the way it's written and not because of the. Storyline and when I see a movie or TV show adaptation, it's OK. But in this case, nothing can make it any good.

[issybird]

Why does every good book I’m reading seem too long? I’m not talking about the plethora of short, fun, fairly crummy books out there — nothing wrong and much good about that — but the books I’m really enjoying and which pass the “quality” sniff test, but I can’t help feeling would be even better if they were just a little shorter?

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by issybird

Why does every good book I’m reading seem too long? I’m not talking about the plethora of short, fun, fairly crummy books out there — nothing wrong and much good about that — but the books I’m really enjoying and which pass the “quality” sniff test, but I can’t help feeling would be even better if they were just a little shorter?

Are they by established authors? Or newer ones? Or maybe self-published?

Sometimes I feel like once an author gets established as successful the editors don't "edit" quite as much and books accumulate bloat. Stephen King for example has books where the newer editions (e.g., The Stand) are like director cuts and expanded and not necessarily for the better...

Some books I imagine we only get the "director cuts" version and not a perhaps tighter, more focused book with cruft removed.

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by issybird

Why does every good book I’m reading seem too long? I’m not talking about the plethora of short, fun, fairly crummy books out there — nothing wrong and much good about that — but the books I’m really enjoying and which pass the “quality” sniff test, but I can’t help feeling would be even better if they were just a little shorter?

Books I'm really, really enjoying - I usually wish they were longer.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Books I'm really, really enjoying - I usually wish they were longer.

Me too.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Are they by established authors? Or newer ones?

A lot of non-fiction I read falls into this category; I think the author is unwilling not to use every last bit of research.

Or maybe self-published?

Certainly not!

Some books I imagine we only get the "director cuts" version and not a perhaps tighter, more focused book with cruft removed.

I know “too big too edit” is a thing and I also think the publishers are complicit; they can charge more for a hefty tome and it requires less work than a closely edited book would.

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Books I'm really, really enjoying - I usually wish they were longer.

If I’m really, really enjoying it, I have a tendency to read it in smaller bits, both to prolong the enjoyment and to avoid bombing through it inattentively. But in the middle of too many longer books I start to feel as if the author is spinning his wheels rather than working out the story arc.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by issybird

If I’m really, really enjoying it, I have a tendency to read it in smaller bits, both to prolong the enjoyment and to avoid bombing through it inattentively. But in the middle of too many longer books I start to feel as if the author is spinning his wheels rather than working out the story arc.

Ah. Not me - I never do any deliberate prolonging with anything. Don't have the patience.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Ah. Not me - I never do any deliberate prolonging with anything. Don't have the patience.

I’m always reading several books at once, so it’s easy to switch to something else.

[Apache]

I have trouble putting down a really good book.
Apache