Savoring a story

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Hum, the sentence about Wheel of Time may have come across differently than I meant it. I really do mean that I'm glad you find all the Wheel of Time books good and don't see an fall off. We are all here sharing a love that we have, i.e. reading.

Yes. I actually envy the ability to read a very long series and still enjoy the later books as much as the first. That's an ability I don't really have. I become bored.

That's especially true in fantasy, where the whole series is almost always one continuous story. Less so in thrillers and mysteries, where every book is often its own separate story and can be enjoyed independently of others (though I still always try to read a series in publication order).

[Tarana]

I start another story at the next opportunity, although I generally go to a different genre for the next book. I love short stories and novellas. I've read a fair number of series (with more than 10 books) in their entirety and none in fantasy, although I'm currently catching up with Terry Brooks and Terry Pratchett. Ok, caught up with Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, so I guess that counts.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Hum, the sentence about Wheel of Time may have come across differently than I meant it. I really do mean that I'm glad you find all the Wheel of Time books good and don't see an fall off. We are all here sharing a love that we have, i.e. reading.

Not a problem, I took it as you meaning well.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes. I actually envy the ability to read a very long series and still enjoy the later books as much as the first. That's an ability I don't really have. I become bored.

That's especially true in fantasy, where the whole series is almost always one continuous story. Less so in thrillers and mysteries, where every book is often its own separate story and can be enjoyed independently of others (though I still always try to read a series in publication order).

Perhaps I do have a different ability, but even though I can continue to enjoy, I still need to regularly change the genre, and not read too much of the one type for long. That is especially so with Fantasy, and I avoid reading different Fantasy authors consecutively, and certainly never at the same time.

Perhaps it is a case somewhat, of absence makes the heart (and mind) grow fonder. A bit like chocolate, where at least for me, you can over indulge and get sick of it.

While I sometimes step out of publication order, it is usually only on a re-read and because there is a different chronological order. It can also make it a bit more fresh or different, to read in chronological order. Aside from that, reading out of order can often be more demanding of your mind, as you are continually trying to make things fit together logically ... it can make for a less relaxed read I find.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Tarana

I start another story at the next opportunity, although I generally go to a different genre for the next book. I love short stories and novellas. I've read a fair number of series (with more than 10 books) in their entirety and none in fantasy, although I'm currently catching up with Terry Brooks and Terry Pratchett. Ok, caught up with Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, so I guess that counts.

Certainly for me, as I have said, changing genre regularly, keeps me on task more easily, and sometimes I go straight from a Fantasy story to a Mystery one for example, with barely any pause to reflect for long.

Talking about reading order. I well remember my start with Terry Pratchett, an author that had been recommended to me by a friend. With the exception of Piers Anthony and Hugh Cook (New Zealand), I much preferred straight Fantasy and nothing that sends it up or is too silly. So I wasn't enthusiastic about Terry Pratchett at first, because his work did not seem serious enough. However, his novel Mort grabbed my attention a bit, and seemed like it might be worth reading.

Being the stickler I am, and not wanting to risk anything by reading out-of-order, I had to read the three novels that came first, before reading Mort.

The first novel, The Color Of Magic, did not impress me much. It had something attractive, but I could not relate to the main character Rincewind, who was somewhat a silly anti-hero. I don't mind anti-heroes, but usually ones cut from a better cloth, than some irritating cowardly wizard.

Anyway, I don't like to leave things unfinished, so read the second novel, The Light Fantastic. I did like that slightly more, and was also more relaxed with the world Terry had created, so I went on straight to book three, Equal Rites. Now I really liked Equal Rites, and it put me in a better place to read book four, Mort, which I absolutely loved ... and the rest is history, with Terry Pratchett being close to my favorite author ... has been a good while now.

Most of Terry Pratchett's fans seem to have very fond memories of his first two Discworld books, and consider many of the later ones inferior in comparison. Not so me. I think he improved with nearly each book in the series. A few felt like a miss rather than a hit, but I enjoyed them never-the-less, if less so in comparison.

To me, Terry is a very very clever wise man, a genius in fact. Sometimes he is laugh out loud, but mostly he is very deep and very funny in very clever ways, that I suspect go over the head of many people ... perhaps even over mine sometimes. A rare man I have had the privilege to read and laugh with and ponder the wiles of humanity.

EDIT
Yes, I heartily recommend you read the Discworld series in order, even if only to get the good background in the first two or three novels, and wonderfully set the scene for later novels.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Timboli

EDIT
Yes, I heartily recommend you read the Discworld series in order, even if only to get the good background in the first two or three novels, and wonderfully set the scene for later novels.

...cue the discussion of the "proper" reading order for the Discworld books in 3...2...1...

Shari

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by shalym

...cue the discussion of the "proper" reading order for the Discworld books in 3...2...1...

Isn't it the even numbered ones followed by the odds in descending order?

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by shalym

...cue the discussion of the "proper" reading order for the Discworld books in 3...2...1...

Shari

Ha ha ha ha.

On my first re-read, I reckon I might do them in groups of inter-series.
Like all the Men At Arms novels.
All the Death novels.
Unseen University novels. Including the Science Of The Discworld ones, but maybe just the fiction chapters, second time around ... my brain still needs a rest from the non-fiction science chapters.
etc.

One of the Tiffany novels (last), is close to my favorite. They could also be included with all the Witch novels.

Be interesting how I feel about the first two novels (Rincewind ones) when I read them second time around.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Isn't it the even numbered ones followed by the odds in descending order?

Some like to take drugs to mess with their mind ... others just read out of order .... ha ha ha.

[TuxGirl]

I think I'm kinda opposite you. When I finish a book that I really enjoy, I tend to read similar books for a while right after. This probably contributes to the fact that I often have details very muddled between what happens in similar books.

My daughter just reads the same book or series over and over... she's been reading nothing but the Harry Potter series (outside if assigned stuff for school) for a little over a year, no matter what enticements I have to try new books.... I mean, it's cheaper, but I'm willing to pay for good books....

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by TuxGirl

I think I'm kinda opposite you. When I finish a book that I really enjoy, I tend to read similar books for a while right after. This probably contributes to the fact that I often have details very muddled between what happens in similar books.

When I was much younger, I was doing the same, certainly with Fantasy, but after a while they all started to seem too similar, despite the differences. So I got bored and they started to lose their impact, so I took a break.

Counter-pointing that, I would sometimes read a big thick Fantasy novel, and feel emotionally drained afterward, perhaps sleep-deprived, so did not read anything else for a couple of days ... it sometimes involved me reading well into the early hours, so I guess I also had the need to catch up on sleep. Nothing like finishing a book in a zombie state.

NOTE - While I said I like to change genre after reading a book, I probably should have made clear, that if the book is part of a series or a trilogy etc, I might read all or several of them ... unless the series book was stand-a-lone, before moving on to another genre.

My daughter just reads the same book or series over and over... she's been reading nothing but the Harry Potter series (outside if assigned stuff for school) for a little over a year, no matter what enticements I have to try new books.... I mean, it's cheaper, but I'm willing to pay for good books....

Yep, I certainly went through some of that with two of my kids ... Harry Potter, Eragon, etc.

[lumpynose]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes. I actually envy the ability to read a very long series and still enjoy the later books as much as the first. That's an ability I don't really have. I become bored.

That's especially true in fantasy, where the whole series is almost always one continuous story. Less so in thrillers and mysteries, where every book is often its own separate story and can be enjoyed independently of others (though I still always try to read a series in publication order).

A series that becomes boring (as you say, especially true in fantasy) I blame on the author. A good author makes each book enjoyable. Too many authors come up with a good first book or few books and then proceed to grind out successive books. What surprises me is that people continue to buy their books after the series has clearly sunk into a rut.

[Timboli]

While I agree that some, perhaps many to some degree, do milk a series, I still admit to respect for someone who has the skill and talent to churn out a story.

So while you can say, that someone becomes lazy in their story telling, it is not laziness overall, but hard work, that results in a story, good or bad.

Often, a story is only considered bad or less, due to comparison.

Often an author, will have no idea why one story is liked more than another. A good percentage of a winning story, is not about hard work, so much as inspiration. And it seems to me from what I have read, that inspiration doesn't occur at the flick of a switch, and it can occur in a variety of ways ... sometimes through hard work, but often seemingly out of the blue.

So I judge a book, by not only how inspired it is, but also about how interesting and informative it may be. Sometimes a good book, can be a bit thin on the ground, and I really appreciate, like many others, when more detail is subsequently fleshed out. I sometimes love a book, because it takes me back to a world I love or that sets my imagination alive, and allows me to see more of that world.

In some ways you can equate it to the difference between a sunset and drama or action.

Take the Lord Of The Rings. For many, it is bogged down in too much detail, while for others, it is the detail that gives the story its depth and true brilliance.

At the end of the day, certainly for me, I grade a story on various aspects. If everything is there, then it is a brilliant story. But if it doesn't deliver on every aspect, it can still be a good or great story, and well worth the read.

Not every book I read, has to be brilliant, and it is often the contrast with such lesser stories if you like, that helps me appreciate to the full, when a story is indeed brilliant.

Further to that, time sometimes gives you a different appreciation of what you once thought was lesser. I have certainly found that in books, music and movies.