How normal are you?

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1610966]
context

Comments

[andrewducker]

Awaiting the first person to complain that there are books that they both like and dislike by the same author.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

I'm your huckleberry.

(But I voted on "will I pick up works by this author in the future, or read the past works again")

[andrewducker]

Good criteria.

[matgb]

Is exactly what I did. I've read, I think, one Grisham, and I'm not a fan, but I'd read another if I was bored and it was there.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

Well, that's my opinion on King and Koontz, but on balance I have liked more than I disliked, so I took that option...

[ajr.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much what I was going to say about King.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

Yes, I originally ticked no for King but then remembered that I'd liked the first couple of Dark Tower books so changed it.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

That'd be me for Stephen King. =) a few of his books are terrific. But on the whole horror doesn't do it for me, and most of his books are pretty straight horror that I dislike. However that's a genre thing, mostly.

[feorag.livejournal.com]

Worse that that - the one book by the author I've read had good bits and bad bits, and my overall opinion was neutral.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

:) That CAN be a problem. In all cases, I think I voted "like" on the basis that I liked several of the author's works, and then they went on to churn out several dozen volumes of identical mediocre pap (likely with good intention). But that's as much as I expect from an author: if I say "read Stephen King" I mean, read Carrie or Firestarter, or one of the other early books, I think it almost goes without saying that you shouldn't read the later ones without a specific recommendation.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, I was addicted to early King. Misery is probably the last of his books I realy loved, although I enjoyed bits and pieces after that.

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Conversely, the good books, I really DID like: I know many people will find them samey, but several King books, several Chrighton books (Case of Need, Jurassic Park), Harry Potter, some Grisham I found as enjoyable as anything else I've read at the time.

I was reliably informed by a panel of independent judges who share different aspects of my taste that I personally would NOT like Stephenie Meyer

[andrewducker]

I really enjoyed Jurassic Park, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Pelican Brief when I read it.

I made it about a page and a half into The Davinci Code before having to put it down or commit assault on the book.

[andrewducker]

And I should claim youth as an excuse for Dean Koontz, who I remember as being perfectly readable at the time.

[ninebelow.livejournal.com]

Yes, I loved him when I was 12 but by the time TickTock Man came out when I was 15 I found him unreadable.

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

Not liking something doesn't seem to disqualify me from reading it - I really am an incurable optimist with some people. I read Dean Koontz while in middle school and then, as the years passed, began to really dislike his stuff without quite realizing why. It took me forever to stop reading his stuff because I was convinced that I did actually like him and all those books I hated were flukes.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

My mum is a big Dean Koontz fan, but she maintains that 5 or 10 years ago the writing style changed big time, and she thinks there is now a group of ghost writers who churn out the books.

Much like what happened with Tom Clancy.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

That's not necessarily the sign of ghost-writing at work.

Writers can change their style for various reasons, including physical or mental illness. One SF author of my acquaintance took a dive off the deck of his house and broke both wrists while facing a deadline. To deal with it, he switched to using speech recognition software instead of a keyboard -- and his style changed dramatically (and not for the better, in my opinion). Alternatively, strokes or other neurological conditions can cause changes ...

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Interesting, I can definitely imagine how it could have an impact. I wonder if anybody has ever examined the physical locations where authors do their best work... if there might be some commonality that helps create the best mental mindspace for creative works...

And I suppose at least Tom Clancy was relatively honest about it, by producing that whole swathe of 'Tom Clancy Presents' novels.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

The term for Clancy's business model is "sharecropping". It's an asymmetric alternative to collaboration between two or more named authors on an equal basis, on a continuum with the use of a "house name" (a pseudonym behind which a bunch of writers do work-for-hire) or multiple pseudonyms by one highly-productive author.

There's a lot of odd stuff that goes on in this business.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I wonder just how asymmetric it is...

I imagine warehouses of young writers chained to desks while the Clancy Police patrol up and down the aisles...

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

What surprised me when I read the context was that I hadn't even heard of James Patterson. I looked him up at amazon, and found that I couldn't stand his prose.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

The Rowling question makes me wish for a box marked "Read and liked well enough, but not so much that I would ever bother with the sequels".

[simont]

Yeah, I found myself wishing there was a box for "not great, but readable enough" too. Also one for "OMG IT BURNS TAKE IT AWAY", in the absence of which voting "don't like" just wasn't satisfying enough...

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

I chose "didn't like" for Grisham because I didn't *like* those books of his I read, but nor did I *dislike* them. They were just sort of there. If there was a box for "Would buy if you accidentally have to make a long journey on public transport you weren't expecting to make, with nothing to read or listen to, and they're for sale in a charity shop nearby for 75p", I'd have chosen that one for Grisham.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

This for me, for the Twilight books.

[eatsoylentgreen.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how people can read things they don't like.

Last time that happened with me, it was Goncharov's Oblomov, got to the last chapter or two, screamed out loud, tore the book in half and threw it against the wall. That was 1996 or so.

[matgb]

Sometimes it's a case of "well, I used to like this series" or in one case "there's a whole chunk of really good ideas in this, i just wish he could write" (hello Kevin J Anderson, I am thinking of you).

Other times "I paid good money for this and I'm told it's good" will keep me reading. I did that for at least two books. These days "I'm glad this is from the library, I'll drop it back in tomorrow" is a saving from that.

[poisonduk.livejournal.com]

Evanovich Stephanie plum books I love but other stuff she's written I hate. I've also outgrown king, koontz & Grisham.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Sparks or Evanovich but amazed to see how many I *had* read.

I used to like Stephen King. I truly disliked the one I was asked to review a while back, and have hate mail to treasure from his fans forever more.

[andrewducker]

Some jobs are their own reward :->

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Koontz seems to me from the evidence of his books to be completely insane. He think Utilitarianism is pure evil. Utilitarianism? It's the dullest ethical creed ever, like the Marks and Spencer of Philosophy.

[matgb]

Utilitarianism can be used to justify a lot of evil though. The greatest good for the greatest number can justify slavery or worse for the minorities &c.

Or so I learned in myh PolTheory courses, not sure I ever bought it, but it's a valid mindset supported by greater minds than mine.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

It can be, and there's good stories along those lines, like Omelas for instance - but Koontz's attitude to it seems frankly crazy to me. His baddies are just frothing maniacs. I quite like the film of Velocity though, with Doctor Cox from Scrubs as a psycho.

[pigwotflies.livejournal.com]

If I've not read any but Grisham (once. Never again) and Rowling, does that make me not normal? Or just a snobby reader?

[andrewducker]

It makes you atypical, but there are so many books out there that it's not surprising if you haven't read these particular writers.

[sageautumn.livejournal.com]

Hrm. Wonder if I'm the only one who "read and liked" most of these (8/10).

They aren't stuff that I'd run out and buy, but sure, I liked them well enough. Even Danielle Steele books have a spot to fill (sick and braindead reading you can still finish in about an hour or two).

But then I've known my tastes are pretty darned pedestrian.

(Never read anything by Ken Follett, and since the only thing I've ever read by Stephen King that I liked was "Eyes of the Dragon" AND I don't even like movies made from his books... yeah, I don't like him.)

[andrewducker]

Eyes of the Dragon is great.

I went through a long period of loving Stephen King, and then either he went downhill or the phase passed. Or possibly both.

[sageautumn.livejournal.com]

I'd be curious to know if those figures are from books or books/movies/TV.

Some how earnings based on mostly books/tours is more impressive to me.

[andrewducker]

I think this is based just on books. Not entirely sure though.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I'm admitting to Danielle Steel reading. It was reading one of her books when on a school trip that introduced me to the trick of dropping a library book to find the sex bits - they always fall open to them.

I'm really surprised Nora Roberts isn't in the top 10.

[ajr.livejournal.com]

Nora Roberts doesn't sell well outside of America. The authors in the top ten do. That's probably key.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

True, true.

[intelligentrix.livejournal.com]

I wanted a "read, but meh" button.

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

I want a 'Not read but did't like' button.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

I've only read the big fat medieval Ken Follett's, which I adore.