Disappointed by an author

[TheEarl]

Don't you hate it when a really good author disappoints you? I don't mean writing a stinker; I mean when you're reading a really, really good book and then they've done something which makes the facade crumble. Suddenly, you're out of the story and so very aware that what looked like a vibrant scene is nothing more than words pasted together by a selection of clever tricks.

"The three overhead fans paddled apathetically at the hot air..."

Was just reading Bag of Bones by Stephen King and loved this description to bits the first time it came up, enough for me to notice and remember it. Which was a pity as he's used almost exactly the same words about four or five chapters later. I'm suddenly very aware that he's a writer like you and me and that this is a story, not me watching in on Mike Noonan's life.

I'll fall back into it with no problem at all as it's a terrifically written book, and I'll bet 9/10 people wouldn't have noticed. It was just disappointing to be disillusioned; I wanted him to stay a magician.

The Earl

 

[sophia jane]

I started a book tonight by an author I've enjoyed in the past. I got about 50 pages in and gave up. It was just shitty writing.

Maybe I'm too aware of things now that I'm writing a bit myself, but it was just terrible.

I really needed a good read tonight, too.

SJ

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Don't you hate it when a really good author disappoints you? I don't mean writing a stinker; I mean when you're reading a really, really good book and then they've done something which makes the facade crumble. Suddenly, you're out of the story and so very aware that what looked like a vibrant scene is nothing more than words pasted together by a selection of clever tricks.

"The three overhead fans paddled apathetically at the hot air..."

Was just reading Bag of Bones by Stephen King and loved this description to bits the first time it came up, enough for me to notice and remember it. Which was a pity as he's used almost exactly the same words about four or five chapters later. I'm suddenly very aware that he's a writer like you and me and that this is a story, not me watching in on Mike Noonan's life.

I'll fall back into it with no problem at all as it's a terrifically written book, and I'll bet 9/10 people wouldn't have noticed. It was just disappointing to be disillusioned; I wanted him to stay a magician.

The Earl

King does repeat words a lot, but not so much that you can't not noticed it. I read that book and didn't notice it at all. In truth, I think it might be his best.

Might be best to remember that only repeating one phrase in an entire book is fairly good writing, when we tend to write many things with similar descriptions. He's in Sara Laughs for most of the book, describing different things about the place and different things going on in the place, but seldom does he get repetitive. He's good, even with that being caught.

Did you finish it yet?

Q_C

 

[Quiet_Cool]

I started a book tonight by an author I've enjoyed in the past. I got about 50 pages in and gave up. It was just shitty writing.

Maybe I'm too aware of things now that I'm writing a bit myself, but it was just terrible.

I really needed a good read tonight, too.

SJ

Sounds like when I tried to read Carrie.



Q_C

 

[cantdog]

He was wicked young then.

 

[ElizabethWest]

I started a book tonight by an author I've enjoyed in the past. I got about 50 pages in and gave up. It was just shitty writing.

Maybe I'm too aware of things now that I'm writing a bit myself, but it was just terrible.

I really needed a good read tonight, too.

SJ

I find that happening to me now too. I can read some of the works by my favorite writers, and I am rewriting it in my head to sound better.

 

[Quiet_Cool]

He was wicked young then.

He was young when he wrote 'Salem's Lot as well, and it wasn't written nearly as bad. Well, what I read of it. I managed to start but not finish Salem's Lot, The Shining, and several other books by him. The Stand was very well-written, and written within 7 years of Carrie's publication.

Just rambling I guess. My point was, it stood out as bad, easily worse than the early stories of his I've read.

Q_C

 

[TheEarl]

He was young when he wrote 'Salem's Lot as well, and it wasn't written nearly as bad. Well, what I read of it. I managed to start but not finish Salem's Lot, The Shining, and several other books by him. The Stand was very well-written, and written within 7 years of Carrie's publication.

Just rambling I guess. My point was, it stood out as bad, easily worse than the early stories of his I've read.

Q_C

I struggled to get through Carrie as well. Very rough that one.

No, I haven't finished Bag of Bones yet, but I have to say I'm impressed so far. It's characterisation of the kind which he brings out in The Stand, Misery and Insomnia. I don't blame him for using the same description twice; hell, the only reason I noticed it at all was because I thought it was superlative the first time around. I just hate the feeling when the illusion is ruined; dumb chance on this occasion.

The Earl

 

[English Lady]

I'm reading "Earth,air,fire and custard" by Tom Holt, the third in the JW Wells series of books. The first two were masterpieces,especially the first one "The Portable door." Tom Holt scrambles my brains with his earlier work, it's good but there is no real structure to it, hops about all over the shop, well "The Portable Door" read like he'd grown up, got his stuff sorted and actually wrote a story, not just a collection of ideas, the follow up "In your dreams" was like that too. However, this one started out well but about half way through I've got a headache again. It's just flown out into a million tangled lines of plot and story and I just can't get it.


I'm completely gutted. I was adoring this series, now I can barely force myself to pick up the book to finish it, I ALWAYs finish books,well nigh on always.

 

[TheEarl]

I'm reading "Earth,air,fire and custard" by Tom Holt, the third in the JW Wells series of books. The first two were masterpieces,especially the first one "The Portable door." Tom Holt scrambles my brains with his earlier work, it's good but there is no real structure to it, hops about all over the shop, well "The Portable Door" read like he'd grown up, got his stuff sorted and actually wrote a story, not just a collection of ideas, the follow up "In your dreams" was like that too. However, this one started out well but about half way through I've got a headache again. It's just flown out into a million tangled lines of plot and story and I just can't get it.


I'm completely gutted. I was adoring this series, now I can barely force myself to pick up the book to finish it, I ALWAYs finish books,well nigh on always.

You have the complete opposite opinion to him that I have. I love his earlier work and think his new stuff's terrible. The Portable Door, Falling Sideways, Little People, etc are all just the same book written again and again with the same weak nerdy character who likes women who are mean to him.

Expecting Someone Taller and Wish You Were Here are his best IMHO.

The Earl

 

[English Lady]

You should chat to my husband he's forever trying to get me to re-try some of his older works, but they give me a headache!*L*

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I HATE it when that happens, Earl!

It's sad when your idols go bad. It's like the literary version of one-hit-wonders; they write one great story, and then they just repeat it again and again, changing the names and places.

It's like, "hey, do ALL of your heroïnes have to be called Berengaria?"

 

[TheEarl]

I HATE it when that happens, Earl!

It's sad when your idols go bad. It's like the literary version of one-hit-wonders; they write one great story, and then they just repeat it again and again, changing the names and places.

It's like, "hey, do ALL of your heroïnes have to be called Berengaria?"

I'm quite interested to learn that EL likes his new stuff. I was of the opinion that he was phoning it in, having built up a cult following, but he's obviously attracting a different audience.

EL: 'Expecting Someone Taller' would probably be your best starting point. Very linar storyline to that one.

The Earl

 

[English Lady]

Earl - Are you my husband in disguise? He's been trying to get me to read "Expecting someone taller" since the last Wells book. I'm determined to get to the end of "Custard" but then I can see me rushing to read anything More by him.


I love his one liners, he's very, very, funny. The Portable Door, to me,is the only book he's written that reads like a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. I adored that booke, devoured it in a few days. I feel very cheated by Custard -though it doesn't help that i don't like Custard in the slightest and every mention of it makes me feel queasy *L*

It's funny how people have different views on which are an Authors good writings.

 

[amicus]

The Earl: "..."The three overhead fans paddled apathetically at the hot air..."

That's a great line and should not have been repeated even closely.

When I am attracted to a writer, I read everything they wrote, be it Heinlein, Asimov, Norway, Wilbur Smith, Hemingway, or whoever and I read a lot, thousands of books, hundreds of authors.

And yes, it is disappointing, I think, to find that they are all, 'human' after all, just like you and I, writers conveying thoughts and ideas, always trying to be fresh in our presentations.

Our world is a world of fiction and there are perhaps finite ways to describe a sunset or a sunrise or copulation, should that be your meteir.

But infinite are the twists and tangles of human relationships and it is that upon which we should concentrate and hope and pray we do not plagarize or repeat ourselves in our verbiage.

Thanks for the insightful post...


amicus....

 

[Kassiana]

FYI, Stephen King must hate Patrick Hockstetter. He killed him off horribly in It and also in Firestarter.

When an author re-uses a name like that, it makes me wonder if the character is based in real life and what the bastard did to her/him to get such infamy.

 

[Sabledrake]

John Saul must really have it in for someone named Jeff ... must be 75% or more of his books have a character named Jeff who meets a bad end. Then, once, there's a Jeff that survives ... just to confuse us and throw us off guard ...

But I've always wondered who the original "Jeff" is and what he did.

-- Sabledrake

 

[bridgeburner]

Earl,

Yes, that is disappointing and it's something that would stand out since it's such a specific turn of phrase. I don't remember it from reading Bag of Bones --- which I really enjoyed --- but it's been several years since I read it so that's not too surprising.

However, I don't blame the author so much as I blame the editor.

Anyone who's worked on a multi-chapter story and re-worked it, and re-worked it again knows that it's possible to discover a turn of phrase that is particularly tasty and then accidentally misplace it and end up repeating it.

Of course, this leaves aside the case of the author who falls too much in love with how clever he is and reuses a description not only within one book but across two or more. Then it's left to the reader to decide if the author is an ass, or if the phrase will become a touchstone and trademark of that particularl author.



-B

 

[bridgeburner]

I need to ration myself or learn to read more slowly because I often find myself running out of things to read that I enjoy. Perhaps I should just broaden my tastes, but, honestly, that isn't such an easy thing to do.

The reason for all of this kvetching is that the authors I most enjoy aren't writing quickly enough to sustain my addiction and I've lost some of them by the wayside as they "tapped out" and started writing inferior books.

Here's a question: have you ever been turned off an author not because you found fault with his works but because you develop a distaste for the person himself?

I'm curious about authors --- their real backgrounds, their personal stories etc. but at the same time it's often not what I expect. If I like a book I tend to expect the author of such a book to be a lot like me and that's rarely the case; Or if I find that an author IS very like me then I feel betrayed if they do something in a book that I strongly object to.

Next week I've got the opportunity to go and meet one of my current "sure thing" authors. Lee Child is visiting my local library and will be speaking and then signing his newest book which I will make an exception for and purchase in hardcover. I've devoured every book in this series and am still in love with the lead character. I think the books would make great movies, but I don't want anyone to do them if they aren't going to do them well so I'd greet news of a pending film deal with both excitement and trepidation --- which is about how I'm looking at meeting the author himself. I'm both excited and worried. What if I don't like him? What if that colors my enjoyment of the books?

Why couldn't I just have an addiction to crack instead? Seems there'd be a lot less worry.


-B

 

[Quiet_Cool]

FYI, Stephen King must hate Patrick Hockstetter. He killed him off horribly in It and also in Firestarter.

When an author re-uses a name like that, it makes me wonder if the character is based in real life and what the bastard did to her/him to get such infamy.

He killed a guy twice in the Dark Tower books as well. Though it was the same character who simply dies more than once.

Did those two tak eplace in the same town? Perhaps he forgot that the guy was dead in the earlier work, and killed him off again by accident in the newer one?

Q_C

 

[bridgeburner]

I think King is very invested in the idea of alternate universes --- the publication of Desperation and The Regulators, the multiple returns to Derry, the crossover between Hearts in Atlantis and the Dark Tower series and so many other things. In some cases a character will be evil, or doomed, in others he's a hero. Some characters always seem to live and others apparently will always die.

A lot of people are bothered by the self-references, but most King fans love them. It's like a little love note he leaves to his Constant Reader and we smile our good-dog smiles and preen and feel special because of the attention. We know he's thinking of us fondly and we feel superior to those who just don't get it and assume that he's repeating himself out of laziness.

Not that I think it applies in the case of the paddling fans. ;->


-B

 

[Quiet_Cool]

Actually, most of his work somehow moves into the Tower Books, not just Hearts in Atlantis. The majority, in fact. Father Callahan resurfaces in them, and a child in Insomnia has a picture of a character struggling with Roland atop the tower (or something like that).

But yeah, Derry and Castle Rock (wasn't there a third) are his inventions. He'll always go back to them...

Q_C

 

[bridgeburner]

mmmmm.....now I'm getting the urge to go back and re-read a bunch of my King books.

Nice AV, btw!

 

[Kassiana]

It couldn't be the same character. One "Patrick Hockstetter" is a grown man who's a CIA operative; the other is a sociopathic teen.

 

[TheEarl]

Stephen King is a bastard. For those who haven't read Bag of Bones and want to DO NOT READ ON.






I can't believe he killed Mattie. That was the most ourageously heartless and cruel thing I have ever read. Beautifully done.

The Earl