07-11-2013, 09:38 AM | #121 | |
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The blurb says "Find out what these men want from him and where he goes to find out." That's a strange thing to put in a blurb, because it really doesn't give you any information about the story. But we never do find out what these men want from him. Instead, one of "these men" talks to him very briefly, and says something vague like "You think it's going to be one way, but it's going to be the other way." Then nothing. We never find out what the one way or the other is; nothing happens with his stalkers. If you're going to explicitly say "find out" in the blurb, that's a promise that the reader will find this out. But we do find out where he goes, it's kind of obvious, he goes to an ICU waiting room. I guess the best I can say for this book is that I've actually seen worse. Oh, the book ranks #4 in free medical fiction books. That looks impressive until you see there are only nine books in that category. Last edited by QuantumIguana; 07-11-2013 at 01:42 PM. |
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07-11-2013, 08:02 PM | #122 | |
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This pointed out a recent "red-flag" for me...first person present tense for the entire novel. I muddled my way through The Time-Traveller's Wife because the story was compelling, but most days, if it's FPPT, I refuse to even purchase it, no matter how compelling the blurb is. I have lots of other personal red-flags, but this excerpt reminded me how much I hate FPPT. |
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07-12-2013, 02:09 PM | #123 | |
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I had to fight my way through the Hunger Games trilogy (which I really enjoyed otherwise), but I find Present-Tense (first person or otherwise) so jarring that it takes something really well written and original to make me finish the book. |
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07-12-2013, 04:50 PM | #124 |
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Actually it's 2nd person present that really gets to me.
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07-12-2013, 05:08 PM | #125 |
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07-12-2013, 05:09 PM | #126 |
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I don't believe I've ever seen a book written in second person, past or present. Would you give some examples?
I am not terribly fond of present tense in general, but I wouldn't rule something out just because it's present tense. I find it distracting because unless or until I get swept up in the story, I keep wondering just why the author chose it. |
07-12-2013, 05:17 PM | #127 | |
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07-12-2013, 05:33 PM | #128 | |
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Helen |
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07-12-2013, 06:28 PM | #129 | |
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I did a set of recommendations of <a href="http://elf.dreamwidth.org/344152.html#cutid2">fanfic written in 2nd person</a>; a couple of them are classic fairy tales. (In 2nd person future tense.) 2nd person is good for:
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07-12-2013, 07:47 PM | #130 | ||
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In small doses it can be effective, I suppose, but for a whole book? It feels like the commentary you get at the beginning of a game ("You receive a letter and must go and save your friend ..."), or a Choose-You-Own Adventure. |
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07-13-2013, 03:23 AM | #131 |
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Charles Stross' Halting State is written in 2nd person present tense, and I think the sequel Rule 34 is also.
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07-13-2013, 12:50 PM | #132 |
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Weren't the old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books written in second person present tense? A while back I was talking to my fifth-grade daughter about the different tenses, and that was the only example I could come up with off the top of my head.
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07-13-2013, 01:34 PM | #133 | |
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07-14-2013, 11:00 AM | #134 |
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I actually like 2nd-person POV. It can be very good when done right, particularly if you want to surprise or create mysteries.
That said, it's much harder than the standard 3rd-person / random-omniscience that's taken over fiction writing, because any breaks from the POV stand out more and authors have to pay attention to POV. It's not like 3rd-person where authors can stick in omniscience whenever it's convenient / they forget what POV they were using. OT: Sloppiness bothers me. Switching POVs (particularly sudden random omniscience) annoys me a lot. So does bad characterization or sudden plot changes. Same thing goes for grammar or spelling - I'm fine with a few issues, but if there's too many they get distracting and I lose interest. If the writing, story or characters aren't important enough for the author to pay attention, I don't really want to waste my time paying attention. Also, I'll put a book down or edit the book (Sigil is awesome! As is whiteout) if I run into a sex scene. If I was interested in that, I wouldn't be reading. |
07-14-2013, 08:58 PM | #135 |
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You would actually edit out a scene of the book? I've read of people making formatting corrections and even corrections to typos, but that's the first time I've read of someone removing narrative. Interesting.
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