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/lit/ - Literature

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542971 No.542971 [Reply] [Original]

Okay, /lit/, how much do you persevere with an author who has a good reputation but who you personally do not enjoy?

Do you not even finish one book before giving up on them? Get through just one book and then give up? Or do you read several before cementing your opinion that they're not all you were led to believe?

What about examples. For instance, Jane Austen - I got about half way through Emma before I decided I couldn't take anymore and wouldn't try and read her again. I got through two Dickens novels before I gave up on him.

You, /lit/?

>> No.543000
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543000

Well, I tried Peter Hamilton, as I had been wanting to explore space opera and he had come very highly recommended to me by a large amount of people. The book I chose was Pandora's Star.

I didn't like it at all and was halfway through before I put it down and never picked it up again. That was inconceivable to me beforehand, as I have never put down any book in my life before finishing it

I believe the reason I didn't like it was the unnecessarily dense nature of his writing. Heinlein manages to pack a lot of detail into a small sentence. Hamilton manages to pack a lot of sentence into a small detail.

Of course, I haven't bothered with other books by the author, as I have had a lot of reading material I am positive I will enjoy.

What would be some good space opera series or authors?

>> No.543028
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>> No.543030
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>> No.543039
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>> No.543060

>>543000
I've never read much space opera. The Forever War,was very good, is about all I've managed (got some more on the shelf though).

Actually, on topic, I'm trying to read through SIASL at the moment and I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it, as I'm not enjoying it, and I wonder if I'll ever feel like reading more Heinlein again.

>> No.543096

Generally I'll ask someone who enjoys that particular author what the feel their best work is, and make sure I finish at least that. I can't stand Twain, but my husband loves him, and won't let me dismiss him outright without rereading Huck Finn outside of a high school setting, and reading Puddnhead Wilson. Even though I can't stand anything I've tried with Twain, I'll finish those.

>> No.543103

>>543096
Also. Aside from examples like that, I do think it's kind of stupid to force yourself to read a bunch of shit that you don't like just because they're "classics".

>> No.543125

It applies to modern stuff too though.

I have a friend who loves Chabon so I gave TAAOKAC a try and couldn't get past 100 pages. I share really close tastes with this friend so I'll probably give another of his books a shot but I just wonder where people draw the line.