# Novels, are you critical of them?



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I read a lot. I like a good book and I look around for authors I haven't read before to give them a chance.

Today I downloaded a book on Kindle. I don't think I'll name it as that might be a bit unfair given what I'm going to say.

It's set in WWII France and is about a young woman who is asked to join the resistance and form a new cell. Her husband was killed fighting the German advance so she readily agrees.

She goes to the first meeting with her new controller where she's given verbal instructions and passed a magazine which she's told has a telephone number written on page 10 that she should memorise and that there is an envelope containing money taped to page 12. As they leave the meeting she's told to be constantly vigilant to make sure she isn't followed. That's how chapter 1 ends.

Chapter 2 begins with her having arrived home, lit the fire and made a hot drink because it's a cold day. She suddenly remembers the magazine which she's left on the hall stand. It then also occurs to her that she didn't check to try to see if she was being followed. 

At this point I find it very quickly becoming unbelievable. Much more of that and this book gets binned. The woman would have been @@@@@ing bricks all the way home. The magazine would have been burning holes in her pockets and her controller would have known better than to attract attention by constantly looking round. Oh well I'll try a bit more but ...

Are any of you equally critical of the books you read? Alan.


----------



## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

I've just watched the 39 Steps and it was so unbelievable that I do not know how the book became a classic big seller.


----------



## cabby (May 14, 2005)

Yes and no, I read for enjoyment and if the book gives me this then I will forgive it many things.However I agree with where you are coming from and have had disappointments. One of the mistakes i use to make when younger was to try and read all the authors books in turn, rather than reading a different selection.
A lot of people will let themselves be guided by who or what the author is.Take that MP who went to jail, he wrote some excellent books which I thought were very good.My only gripe is with American authors, they to tend to pad a book out with uninteresting detail about guns and such, ok for home readers I suppose, but not for me.

cabby


----------



## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I'm a sucker for war films, no matter how gung-Ho, far fetched or unbelievable. However as soon as I see a soldier wearing a beret that looks like the flight deck of an aircraft carrier it ruins the whole movie.

Apologies for straying off topic.


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Fantastical plots may sometimes be forgiven I think. James Bond, Harry Potter etc. John Buchan is special in my view being the father of the spy novel.

But when characters don't behave as we all know people would it stretches my credibility too far. Similarly having an experienced spy giving obvious signals of furtive activity in a public place just doesn't gel for me.


----------



## suedew (May 10, 2005)

in a nutshell yes, some books are so predictable, with unbelievable characters. I really enjoyed one free first book, sadly author does not appear to have written any more.
This from someone who, according to my mother, would read the back of the cornflake packet if there was nothing else available.

sue


----------



## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

I hate authors who have obviously not researched any of the the background to the novel they've written.

A year or two ago I was reading a detective novel by an American author supposedly set in Blackpool in the UK. 
It was Blackpool, Lancashire but fairly early in the story it described Blackpool and the harbour and the streets which ran down the hill to the harbour.
If you've been to Blackpool you'll know it has no harbour and you'll be hard pressed to find a slope let alone a hill.

That was the last I read of that book or that author!


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Thanks all.


----------



## an99uk (May 12, 2005)

I can't help being critical about a book. Even books by my favourute authors. I think there is too much pressure from publishers to keep producing book after book.Some of them are terrible and should never have reached the shelves. 

I have never read so much rubbish since getting a kindle. Trouble is I can't resist a freebie:grin2:.


----------



## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

I have discovered I can download books from my library even when here in Spain so I don’t feel I have to plod on with a book that doesn’t capture my imagination ( narrative greed?) any more, I just dump it.


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I used to be an avid reader, anything would do, quite eclectic, then I started to wear glasses and my interest dropped, just couldn't get the book at a comfortable distance, but my interest was re-kindled (sorry) by the earths children series of books by *Jean M Auel*, I got as far as book four, then for some reason, I got out of the habit, still have them so perhaps I should put them in the van where there is less intrusion.

Tried book on the tablet, not for me, you can't beat paper, it doesn't need charging, and you can read in the sunshine.


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I love a good book. I do, however, only like to read when it is very still and quiet. 
I am fussy about character descriptions. I cannot bear it when I cannot picture the character or distinguish them from one another. Flicking back to find out who the hell the author is talking about is enough to make me quit the book altogether. 
I agree about the plot line too. Although it is supposed to be fiction it has to at least ring a little true. The same with tv programmes. I am finding Silent Witness very frustrating at the moment. The main characters are acting like detectives not pathologists. I realise the two are linked but not to the extent the programme shows.


----------



## StephandJohn (Sep 3, 2007)

Its strange that this has been posted because I was thinking exactly the same thing this morning while trying to read a book highly recommended by a friend, Veronika Decides to Die by Paul Coelho. My friend says its changed her life and she couldn't read it quickly enough. I find it depressing, boring and irritating and am struggling to get through it. In fact I'd have given it up if it wasn't for hoping that I get to see in it what my friend saw.
If any one has read it I'd be interested to hear what you think.
To me the essence of a good book is one that keeps you absorbed and doesn't throw you out of the story. I get thrown out when the characters don't act in a believable way or say things in a believable way. I can be absorbed in many strange and unreal situations if the writing isn't 'clunky'.


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Yes I generally just dump them too. Dumped the one that had been annoying me a few minutes after posting yesterday evening as it got worse.

I've avoided free books on the basis that they may be rubbish, though maybe I'm wrong to generalise about them.

I'm glad I'm not alone.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

I used to read a lot, read some great books but I dont know if I just got fussy or if I just ran out of good stuff to read but I cant remember the last brilliant book I read. I seem to get half way or less into one, decide its crap and put it down never to be picked up again. My shelves are full of them but now I dont know which ones I started and disliked and which ones I havent read. 

I quite enjoyed Peter James Roy Grace series but I even got sick of them in the end.

So yes, I am very critical. The bar should be set high really as we have all probably read some crackers so you anticipate the next one being as good.


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Kinsey Millhone series - absolutely love them (on my Kindle - which I *can* read in the sun)

Jack Reacher ditto

All of Rebus also

Cheers

Dave


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I got into a series of books back in the 80s which were quite amusing and compulsive, but the title/author escapes me, one character was always saying "clicky ba twirl in my hand" wouldn't mind finding them again.

Google to the rescue, not quite as I remember it, but:-

Second Lieutenant Bill Sampson was an agent of the British Intelligence Corps on the Northwest Frontier.[1][3][4] Disguised as a native[5] (but given away by his blue eyes), he was armed only with two knives,[1] while his Oriental sidekick, Chung, made devastating use of a cricket bat bound with brass, which he called "clicky-ba":[6]
Clicky-ba thundered, and men with crushed heads squirmed on the path. Dreadful sounds echoed up the cliffs as the vanguard of Yahaw Khan's army swung this way and that, retreating and advancing in turns ... In sheer desperation they attacked, but found themselves opposed not only by Chung, but by the twin daggers of the Wolf. He used those blades with a skill that had yet to be equalled. When he struck it was as sure as the attack of a snake. Men dropped. The daggers in the hands of the Wolf were red to their silver hilts.[6]
Chung often apologised for his headbashing: "Lord, I am full of humble sorrow-I did not mean to knock down these men-'clicky-ba' merely turned in my hand".[1][7]
One scholar has suggested that Samson and Chung were based on Major Lumsden and Dilawar Khan in the first year of the Boy's Own Paper, 1879.[8] Chung,"apparently a Tibetan", was depicted as being as much a hero as the Wolf.[9]
During the Second World War, like other D. C. Thomson comics heroes, the Wolf and Chung combatted Nazis.[10] In 1941 they went behind Italian lines in Libya, and Chung stopped an Italian officer from torturing prisoners:
It was the last command that ever passed his lips. The foliage of a nearby tree rustled and a strange object flashed down. It landed with a thud on the soldier's helmet and even his steel helmet failed to protect his skull.
The object which had hurtled down was a cricket bat, much battered and ominously stained. The blade was split and bound in places with lengths of brass wire.
'Ho! I crack skulls!' howled a terrible voice. 'Tremble, little men who serve He-of-the-Chin! The Shadow of the Wolf falls upon you!'[11]


----------



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Love the Jack Reacher novels but have just finished a Kinsey Millhone one and found it very light weight on plot. Well written though.


----------



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I'm surprised that it took as long as it did for people to start listing the books they've read.

I had a bet with myself that it would have gone completely off topic before the end of page 1.


----------



## siggie (Oct 2, 2010)

erneboy said:


> I had a bet with myself that it would have gone completely off topic before the end of page 1.


Who won? Did you have to pay yourself or did yourself have to pay you? :grin2:


----------



## Easyriders (May 16, 2011)

I can't stand badly written books. Probably because I used to teach English and linguistics at university I tend to be very critical!

I read a hell of a lot, but for several years I have found it very difficult to find new books to read. At the bookshop, the stuff on display is mostly either stuff I don't want to read, or stuff I have already read! I'm really pleased when I find something new and readable.

We have so many books in the house that I recently went through them all and got rid of several hundred we will never want to read again (gave them to the local hospice shop). But I also found many that I have enjoyed reading again, and also found many that I thought were there are missing - probably books I have lent out that never came back. I've ended up buying some again, so I can re-read them!

I think the sign of a good book is one that you want to read more than once. Linda.


----------



## Garcia (Mar 5, 2010)

I am convinced that the major problem is the growth of on-line self publishing.
I find a cheap book on Amazon for Kindle and I`m immediately suspicious , even if it gets 5* reviews.
Prospective authors were rightly critical of the industry in the past . You cannot get published till you get an Agent. No agent will touch you till you get published!!!
Freeing the industry to self publication has thrown up a lot of books that would never have been read, but there`s also a lot of stuff out there now that should not have seen the light of day IMO.
Publishers, agents and editors , I think, did us a service, by at best, making a good idea into a good book. And by saving us from some poor stuff. Maybe they were too strict, but I think a good author will always value a second or even third opinion on a prospective publication.
If a good publisher says it is no good...maybe one needs to think again before self publishing.?
My simple guide.....steer clear of cheap books with LOADS of VERY SHORT chapters. 
Garcia


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> I got into a series of books back in the 80s which were quite amusing and compulsive, but the title/author escapes me, one character was always saying "clicky ba twirl in my hand" wouldn't mind finding them again.


I rembered Klicky-Ba as well - but thought it was just in a comic "The Hotspur" IIRC

Cheers

Dave


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

Back on topic - Yes I am quite critical - to the point that if I just "can't get on with" a book - I ditch it.

On my Kindle I have 2 folders for read books - "Been Read" and "Crap"

Been Read has currently 219 items and Crap has 45 - So either I am quite picky - or I have got hold of a load of old rubbish from somewhere.

I agree, some of the self-published items on Amazon are shocking with speling errurs and dodgy grammar.

I especially detest "affect" and "effect" being mixed up along with "there" and "their" to say nothing of "they're" intermingled with gay abandon

And don't get me started on "our" and "are" ("English as she is spoke")

Grrrrrr - 

Write 500 times "I must resist being pedantic"

Cheers

Dave


----------



## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

HarleyDave said:


> Back on topic - Yes I am quite critical - to the point that if I just "can't get on with" a book - I ditch it.
> 
> On my Kindle I have 2 folders for read books - "Been Read" and "Crap"
> 
> ...


Been and Being, of and off, and I'm rubbish at grammar, as my posts attest to innit like > >


----------



## HarleyDave (Jul 1, 2007)

patp said:


> Love the Jack Reacher novels but have just finished a Kinsey Millhone one and found it very light weight on plot. Well written though.


See - that's what I quite like about them - they are not trying to be an action adventure screenplay - they are just a recounting of what happened in a fairly believable way and her personal foibles (QP and Cheese, black dress etc) makes it all the more accessible and true for me.

I'm on W is for Wasted right now having started on A is for Alibi when we came out to Spain in October (I *have* read other stuff as well...)

I especially like the development of her personal relationships and also the familiarity of Henry and Rosie as fixed points in her life.

Cheers

Dave


----------

