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I skim Dean Koontz
and Stephen King, too!
John Wiswell had an interesting post the other day:
THE LAST 8 BOOKS I ABANDONED
It got me to thinking.
The only book in recent memory that I have abandoned
was Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE:
I did so because he told the story instead of showing it. I even had the ghost of Mark Twain awaken me to criticize it:
"Hi, Sam," I yawned. "So you hate THE PASSAGE, too?"
"Hate it? Son, I love it! Why this Cronin fella gives me more ammunition than James Fenimore Cooper ever did."
"Hate it? Son, I love it! Why this Cronin fella gives me more ammunition than James Fenimore Cooper ever did."
I haven't abandoned any other books ...
but I will admit to skimming some books of Dean Koontz and Stephen King.
Not for the horror of them.
Because they linger too long (for me) on the torture of others.
The villains in THE GOOD GUY and THE FACE get entire chapters ... long ones ... where they leisurely torture and murder helpless victims.
I skimmed large sections of THE STAND because they focused on characters I disliked or had little interest in.
Now, THE GOOD GUY and THE STAND are great books ...
that I made better for myself by skimming those sections that were not for me.
Do you do that?
What were the last five books you skimmed through sections ?
What were the last five books you abandoned
and why?
Books I've skimmed: like you, I skimmed parts of the unabridged 'The Stand' by King, (with all the original cuts by the editors put back in). I was getting bogged down in the cornfields. . .
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I'v skimmed pages of some of the physicists that write scifi because they stay too long explaining the science/physics of the event or scene.
If 'Ender' by O. S. Card is going to be made into a film or series, it will be interesting to see how they deal with the mother trees and father trees later in the series.
Hi, Roland:
ReplyDeleteI abandoned the Hannibal Lectre series. I tried really hard to get through each one but I couldn't handle the gory details of all the victims. It gave me nightmares and had me looking over my shoulder. As for any other books I abandoned...well...some of the classics. Too many details make my eyes glaze over, but then I purchase then via audio. It makes the description less daunting to get through.
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
Hope all is going well for you.
I usually finish most of the books I start but I stopped at page ten of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
ReplyDeleteI've abandoned Wolf Hall - but I may return to it in the future!! LOL!!
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (re: the Desert Rocks comment) I skipped all the bits about the magazine (The Millenium) - which was a shame as the core of the crime/mystery and Lisbeth were fab but for some reason whomever edited the book thought it wise to keep the boring bits about saving this stupid magazine!!!
Take care
x
It would probably take a long time for me to remember the last five books I abandoned/skimmed. I generally read them no matter what. The last one I remember was The Perfect Husband by Lisa Gardner. It was...not good. Boring writing, two dimensional characters, a plot I could see through a mile away. If I had a choice between finishing it and watching Sharknado again, I'd go with Sharknado.
ReplyDeleteI found Red Dragon dry and ended up abandoning it. I've skimmed many a Stephen King book...I love hos stories, but they do get long winded. I like getting to the action.
ReplyDeleteYes, with me it was the unabridged THE STAND that I skimmed. The science part of the Sci Fi I dwell on for the second reading if I like the book enough. As for ENDER'S GAME, movies tend to opt for simplicity. And if that doesn't work, they just leave it on the editing room's floor! :-)
ReplyDeleteShelly:
I have never read any of the Hannibal Lecter series - though I have watched most of the movies -- I can fastforward through the gruesome parts and listen to the dialogue. :-)
Audio listening to favorite books sometimes brings me up with a shock -- I can't skim through the parts I did while physically reading them!!
The Desert Rocks:
Would you believe that THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO was one of the 5 most abandoned books on Goodreads?
Kitty:
I guess since the author was a reporter, he was attached emotionally to the SAVE THE MAGAZINE section! Sometimes authors get turned around in their writing by their own biases.
J E:
WOW! Watch Sharknado again? Now, that had to be some boring book!!
Michael:
I found Isaac Asimov to be mostly dry reading. I only read his books for the novel twist to science facts and theories he came up with. And Stephen King sometimes dwells too long on the torment and torture of his characters -- as if he had a really bad day and was taking it out on them!!
I just finished reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, and I had to skim sections that dealt with describing the settings. I really just don't like reading long winded passages describing scenery.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, most of the A Song of Fire and Ice books get huge sections skimmed. Again long winded descriptions.
I do skip sections and whole chapters that involve characters I don't like.