Thursday, February 28, 2013

Good but boring VS. Plain but captivating

I was "talking" to a friend on goodreads the other day and we were discussing some recent books we've been reading. She said she had read the first book in Kim Harrison's books with Rachel Morgan. I told her I've read the first one too but it didn't captivate me enough to keep going and she said she was discouraged by the heroine's attitude towards things and how she seemed a too reckless and distracted. I agreed but the series is quite known and well liked by so many but taste is not my point here and then I thought about something else.

How much do we hold on to a book or a series in the long run?
I mean, when books aren't the best, aren't favorites or DIK's or 5 starts or really good, how do we measure their life expectancy?

I always try to finish all books I read, even when I'm not enjoying them that much. In a way I feel I'd be cheating if I gave up on them. But I get why some people would move forward.

Then there are some series that are so normal, already seen too much and too predictable but still there's something there that catches the eye, even when you know how it's going to be and end and you just know it will be simple and easy to finish the last page and almost without a care to start a new book right after. But still some part of us enjoyed it a bit and it had something to make us read the following one just for that little clue or thing.

So, my question is, is it harder or easier to give up on well written, respected/acclaimed books that you're not enjoying or to keep reading a plain book or series you know it's not giving you thrills but still make you curious enough?
To stop a book you see it's structured and well written, with beautiful prose but you can't enjoy that much?
Or a plain, almost predictable one that it's just satisfying enough but not amazingly done?

I'm still a bit confused about this but I see myself doing the second...I guess no matter how beautiful a book is if it's not that appealing there's no going back, while a more OK one can be saved for it's interest even as small as it can be...
What do you think? Have you been conflicted about this? Has it ever crossed you mind? lol
:)

1 comment:

  1. Personally, I think it's all a matter of expectations. You expect different things from different books and it depends whether they fulfill it or not. For a lot of series, going into the books, you know what you're going to get right? Versus new authors that you've never read and are wondering.

    For me, at the end of the day though, it's all about enjoyment and less about writing.

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