discussion question about plot??? Anyone wish to take a gander??

[laboi_22]

Interesting topic. Wish I knew where to find it also.

 

[Stewart]

la_boi, rather than King, Brown, or any other writer how about trying a Pulitzer prize winning novel like, ooh, let's say Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides? Excellent book, sold fairly well due to its Pulitzer status, and is beautifully written with some skillful techniques.

 

[Billy]

I think it depends too on what you see as 'good writing'. For instance Charles Dickens is considered a good writer, but seriously I found it very difficult when I began to read Bleak House. After the first paragraph or two I got the point that the fog was thick. That kind of 'good writing' bores me to tears. I have read many books that are not written well, but the story has been great and it wasn't until I finished and read other books of the same genre that I realised just how poorly the roiginal ones I read were written. So I guess experience is a big thing. The more you read the more you realise what is well written and what isn't. But I still read crap if the story is good.

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

I agree with Billy. I tend to pay more attention to the actual plot of the book that I am reading, rather than to the quality of writing. I oviously don't know how to pick "good writing" from "bad writing" as well as most people on the board because of my age, but when I do pick up a book that I recgonise to be poorly written, at least IMO, I try to forget that and instead immerse myself in the plot.

And like Billy said, "good" writing and "bad" writing differs greatly from person to person.

MonkeyCatcher

 

[london]

I think a good plot can make a huge difference but, as somebody else already mentioned, good writing is fundamental.

Ideally, you should find a balance. FIrst example I can think of is 100 Years of Solitude, GG Marquez.

Am not much into Dan Brown, I read the book and found it quite boring...sort of...nothing new under the sun. If you read Eco, The name of the Rose you know what I mean.

I believe the biggest difficult for a writer is not finding a good story/plot/character but developing, putting everything into writing. And this is is no nonsense because even if it may sound obvious, nowadays there are bookshops everywhere filled with huge books and most of them are full of useless details etc. For example, I was very disappointed by G. Eugenides, Middlesex: first 100 pages are stunning but the rest is so boring and useless. They probably decided to publish the whole lot cos a smaller book would have not looked so 'attractive', I believe..

Cheers

London

 

[Metaphor]

...I was very disappointed by G. Eugenides, Middlesex: first 100 pages are stunning but the rest is so boring and useless. They probably decided to publish the whole lot cos a smaller book would have not looked so 'attractive', I believe..

I was very shocked after reading this quote, particularly because I have heard such positive reviews concerning the book. I am not sure, but didn't this win the Pulitzer Prize upon publication (if I am wrong, please do not hesitate to correct me)? Having not yet read the book myself, I have no right to judge the novel, but was the plot really that "boring and useless?" If so, maybe I will halt all future plans of reading this book...

 

[london]

but didn't this win the Pulitzer Prize upon publication (if I am wrong, please do not hesitate to correct me)?

Hi,

Yes it did and that was the reason why me and three other friends decided to have a 'book club' meeting about the book. All of us read it and when we meet we all thought it was very disappointing.
Guess you can say all of us have different feelings about the same thing, but that's how I felt.
I think the author is great in telling the love story but is not really concinved about telling the story of the main character or the whole would sound more 'honest' and it would be easier for the reader to symphatize with it.

Again, personal feeling. You may read it and love it, tell me you also loved dan brown's style and you hate donna tartt...all I can say is...I tend not to read a book when it's out or after reading stunning comments from the media cos I had often the feeling they review a commercial product more than a sum of emotions...