A Book considered great that you did not like

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cherryalakei
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Re: A Book considered great that you did not like

Post by cherryalakei »

Life of Pi. I just couldn't get into it, it seemed so slow paced and boring to me. I didn't understand everyone's fascination with it.
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konnapap
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Post by konnapap »

Dracula by Bram Stoker. I really really couldn't get into the story. I found the writing style too descriptive for me and it turned out a struggle to finish it.
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DATo
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Post by DATo »

konnapap wrote:Dracula by Bram Stoker. I really really couldn't get into the story. I found the writing style too descriptive for me and it turned out a struggle to finish it.
I agree. The first time I read it (Dracula) I expected it to be excellent, but the writing itself left much to be desired and detracted from my enjoyment of the book. I felt the same way about the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. In both cases the story was great but the writing style was very flat and droll.

I am currently reading Band Of Brothers by Steven Ambrose who IS a very accomplished historian / author. The true story, which centers on one group of paratroopers and what they experienced in WWII, was produced in the form of a collaborative miniseries for HBO-BBC and it ranked at one time as the highest rated production of any kind on Internet Movie Database at 9.7 - higher than The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption, or Shindler's List. I find that the book however, though resplendent in facts, is boring reading. Ambrose has no flair to his writing at all. It is just a collection of stories told by the actual soldiers who were there. In contrast, Bruce Catton (also an historian), who wrote a trilogy of American Civil War stories among which was A Stillness At Appomattox which won the Pulitzer Prize, wrote in an enthralling manner and his nonfiction books read almost like novels.

This is why I always say that, for me, a good book must have two ingredients - a compelling story as well as a well written story. The style in which a book is written is just as important as what the story has to tell.
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
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Book_Wyrm
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Post by Book_Wyrm »

At the urging of many friends, I tried to read the Twilight series. I barely made it through the first book. Had no interest whatever in attempting to read any of the rest.
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Post by Mark Johnson »

Papillon by Henri Charrière. It started off great, but then slowed down and lost my attention.
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Post by Violet Devreaux »

KatiRae wrote: 11 Jan 2017, 13:56 I so badly disliked Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. I feel like I should go back and try it again now that I'm older (sometimes that helps) but at the time, I hated it so much. I was totally into it and then when it ended, I was so angry, I threw it across the room.
I've never been able to enjoy a single Steinbeck book. I have to agree with you on this one.
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