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Books and readers

saliotthomas

saliotthomas

New Member
Why do we take to some books and others not, like people.It has to see with the quality of the writing,the story line,but not only.Ultimatly it's about what we bring to the read too.
One of the most contreversial writer in forums is Saramago,I read praise and despise in equal mesure,Cotezee too.
Some of us love Fantasy and Scifi and others loathe it as cheap Reads and some find literature boring and pompous(though they rarely say it openly).

I must admit that i try to have no prejudment and read is every direction,but one is not imune to the general praises.I sometime find it tiring the all aclaiming of a author at some times.Like Roth at the moment,and last year McCarthy,both diservered ,but like when a song come to often on the radio, one like it better when on first earing.
I like variaton betwin literature and genres,and try to keep alterning both.I find it help a fresh mind,break the routine that a line of reasing often bring.
 
I bounce around with different genres. I pick my subjects by what I feel that day or week. I like fiction for the escape, I read non-fiction or current events for the times I want to learn something new. I won't ever pick up a romance novel, but that's just me. I will read sci-fi, very few though. I have tried, but it just seems way over my head. I have read 4 out of the 7 Dark Tower books, and I would consider it sci-fi--some may not.
 
Interesting question. I believe reading tastes start evolving from the first books we read. Who we read in our childhood tends to define us, since they launch us on the road to writers of similar tastes. I can tell you most of my favorite writers - Borges, Saramago, García Márquez, Buzzati, Kundera - are all linked by themes, style, admiration, even friendship. Books lead to other books, books talk against or for other books, a writer recommends this or that writer. That's how it usually happens with me.
 
I'm the same-I never automatically reject a book based on genre or author. I don't think I've ever read a book that I've totally disliked...I can usually find something positive in it. Any book that evokes a powerful emotion tend to be my favorites, so naturally if I find a book that does that I'll end up reading everything by that author.

Isabell...for sci-fi you could try the Ender Wiggin series by Orson Scott Card. I wouldn't say I'm much of a sci-fi fan, but this series is a little easier to swallow than others of that genre I'd guess.
 
For me, life is too short to waste it on average (and bellow) books. I always try to select the best I can, and almost never start reading a book by accident (because it has catchy title, is number one bestseller, etc...)

It means a little bit of background research and selecting the right sources of book recommendations. It usually spares me from disappointments.

Besides that, I am not open for all genres. I tried SF and fantasy but haven’t found anything for me there. So I don’t think I will read anything of that any time soon, and I don’t have a feeling that I am missing anything.
 
Sin said:
For me, life is too short to waste it on average (and bellow) books. I always try to select the best I can, and almost never start reading a book by accident (because it has catchy title, is number one bestseller, etc...)

It means a little bit of background research and selecting the right sources of book recommendations. It usually spares me from disappointments.

Besides that, I am not open for all genres. I tried SF and fantasy but haven’t found anything for me there. So I don’t think I will read anything of that any time soon, and I don’t have a feeling that I am missing anything.
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People with certitudes are a bit scarry....

Some of my best read were complete surprises and what would be life without the unexpected?
 
saliotthomas said:
People with certitudes are a bit scarry....

Some of my best read were complete surprises and what would be life without the unexpected?
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Ups, I had to look up “certitudes” in a dictionary. Thank you for the new word.

Well, Halloween is round the corner so it’s the right time to be scary, isn’t it?:devil:

Somehow, surprises always find their way, even if you are not looking for them. I am just trying to steer away from unpleasant ones.
What I want to say is that there are so many good books that I would like to read. Even if I lived for 200 years I wouldn’t be able to read them all.
That’s why I like to read something that is confirmed. Whenever I tried to read some anonymous, it turned out that he was anonymous for a good reason. Maybe it’s just bad luck. I wouldn’t make a good gold miner.
 
George RR Martin's fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire" is one of the best series I've ever read, you can say because it's fantasy or you can say despite it. Either way, HBO bought the rights to make a series from it, so I don't think I'm alone in my opinion that it's absolutely brilliant.
 
I mainly move between Sci-Fi, General Fiction and Non-Fiction. John Scalzi, Allen Steele, Don DeLillo, Michael Chabon, Jim Crace and Harry Crews are some of the authors I've been reading lately from the first two categories and not everything is worthwhile, but they've mostly been good. I have yet to read two non-fiction books by the same author mostly because my interest in a topic is temporarily satiated once I read that book and then I move on. If I want more I tend to look for a new perspective from another author. I'll find a book by word-of-mouth, usually a recommendation from a family member, a review, my own searches on the Internet or maybe an author's blurb.
 
Action kind of fiction i like espically set in early 19 hundreds, i also love classic literature (Dickens, Bronte, Mc ewen)
 
Timing is everything. A great book in my hands in the wrong season is likely to be just as bad as the crummiest book imaginable. The trick is matching my need to the right book at the right time. Sometimes I choose wisely and the magic happens. If the timing is off, I'm left scratching my head, wondering what the fuss about that book was about anyway. I've got a long list of books I need to revisit someday.
 
abecedarian said:
Timing is everything. A great book in my hands in the wrong season is likely to be just as bad as the crummiest book imaginable. The trick is matching my need to the right book at the right time. Sometimes I choose wisely and the magic happens. If the timing is off, I'm left scratching my head, wondering what the fuss about that book was about anyway. I've got a long list of books I need to revisit someday.
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Very true ABC.Re-reading Anna Karenina 10 years after, brought a complete new light on the characteres.I didn't like as much the romantic one's whom i found egocentric and vain but was rather taken by the authenticity of Levin and Kitty.
Some books though never get to you,no matter how hard you try.Napaul is for me one of those.
 
I used to exclusively read fiction--however after finishing school I find myself reading more and more nonfiction. I guess in a way, I miss the textbooks--the concrete facts (as concrete as you can make any writing anyhow). Now I like to rotate. Read a story, learn some insight into the human condition, read some nonfiction, learn something specific and particular. It's a good way to keep interested and reading.
 
Sin said:
For me, life is too short to waste it on average (and bellow)
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Here!, here! You sir, are an intelligent and discerning reader of the highest kind. Kudos to you. Bellow was overrated and dreadfully boring. Absolutely horrible writing. I can't tell you how many copies of Ravelstein I see in second hand shops and at goodwill.:flowers::flowers:
 
It takes all kinds. Bellow is on my list with Herzog, especially for the character and the writing. I go for crazy stuff.
 
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