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/lit/ - Literature

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3530544 No.3530544 [Reply] [Original]

I started this the other day. I'm 20 pages in and the writing style is God-awful. Is it worth finishing?

>> No.3530560

Yes.

>> No.3530639

>Reading Ender's Game for prose instead of plot.

>> No.3530649

>>3530544
No.

>> No.3530693

If the prose is bothering you, no. There isn't anytging substantial like philip k penis or anything. Just a fun story about space battles and stuff.

Personally, i thought the prose was pretty average for scifi shit.

>> No.3530773

>>3530639
I meant, is it worth putting up with the prose for the plot.

>> No.3530782

>>3530773
ender's game is for /v/ losers and star wars neckbeards; dont bother

>> No.3530789

>>3530773
no, if you're not having fun reading it, then fuck it. It's not that good, it's just a fun story

>> No.3530822

it has really deep theem and well - rounded character

>> No.3530982

>>3530544

are you positive ? Because one of the best things about Card is his writing style - he's very readable author with easy-going narrative. I've read far more better sci-fi, however - above the medium for the genre (medium = Asimov, Hainlain, etc.)

>> No.3531002

Why don't you read some good, modern science fiction authors like Peter Watts or Hannu Rajaniemi?

Card never came out of the closet - his conflicted hypocrisy leaks into all his books, rewritten as pointless discursions into the validity of hypothetical wars. It's dated too, what with the bloggers taking over the Cold-War style world.

>> No.3531023

>>3530544
Barely, I didn't bother reading the 2nd and other novels due to the recommendation of my father. It's a nice premise but not worth while in my opinion.

>> No.3531074

>>3530982
A few groan-worthy lines from the opening paragraph:

"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears and I tell you he's the one."
"Too willing to submerge himself in someone else's will."
"All right. We're saving the world, after all. Take him."

>> No.3531099

>>3531074
Why are they 'groan-worthy'?

>"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears and I tell you he's the one."
This is literal. They have been monitoring his sensory experience of the world, and after years of observation, the child they commissioned turned out to be just as expected.

>"Too willing to submerge himself in someone else's will."
Why do you hate this? The whole idea is discussing determinism, and Ender as the sum of his two siblings. They fear he may be too 'Val' instead of 'Peter' and influenced by the desires of others.

>"All right. We're saving the world, after all. Take him."
Again, why do you object to this? Is your hatred that his prose isn't flowery enough, or do you not understand it and think it's cliché? If you read on, the underlying themes will gradually be exposed (even more so in the next few books) and his choice of phrasing things will make more sense to you.

>> No.3531146

>>3531099
>"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears and I tell you he's the one."
The idea of having the main character be the chosen one is horribly cliché. This ain't The Matrix.

>"Too willing to submerge himself in someone else's will."
This just sounds like something an amateur would write.

>"All right. We're saving the world, after all. Take him."
“We’re saving the world after all” is a blatant plot hint and again sounds cliché. Why would two people having a conversation need to remind each other that they were working to save the world? It’s not exactly a thing you would forget. Yes, obviously it does need to be mentioned but this line is truly groan-worthy.

I’ve nothing against the plot so far and I don’t dispute that these lines will have later relevance. The ideas behind them are just not very well presented.

>> No.3531155

>>3531099
not the guy you're replying to, but these lines are beating the reader over the head with concepts. It's far too direct, the characters aren't really talking as people but more as instruments for a plot. Prose doesn't need to be flowery to be good, look at Hemingway or Orwell. But Hemingway's characters never talk like this.

This book is a "classic" in the same sense someone might think the Hunger Games is classic. Middle school reading comprehension, telling the reader what to think, low vocabulary, etc.

>> No.3531158

>>3531155
OP here, this is exactly what I was trying to say.

>> No.3531170

>>3531155
You have to remember that this was written as a children's book, and the plot is secondary to the themes explored.

>> No.3531182

>>3531170
Ok, I wasn't aware of that. A friend lent me the book and told me it was great. I knew nothing about the book bar the title and the supposed upcoming movie.

>> No.3531189

>>3531170
Talking down to children in your writing makes you a bad writer

>> No.3531229

>>3531170
yeah, i realized my mistake as i submitted the reply. all those quotes are basically the writer mainlining the themes into the reader. no thanks.

>> No.3531231

>>3531189
He's not talking down to them. He's opening with a reasonably complex scene –one where all children live in a monitored society, an agency has full access to the child's sensory input, they are getting over the effects of the first alien war and reading for the next...– and making sure they grasp this before he dives into military tactics, determinism, altered DNA, morality, multiple dimensions, metaphysics, alternative consciousness, global politics, theology..., and a range of other issues. He doesn't 'talk down' to the children in the slightest. in fact, that is one of his notable traits. He gives multiple character views on the genocide of a race, or the government secretly altering citizens genomes for intelligence, and lets the audience decide their stance. I mean, he explores things like the current political climate in Pakistan, and the moral implications of killing one to save two, but never talks down to, or spoon feeds views.

>> No.3531253

>>3531231
That's all very well but here's just not presenting it in a very good way.