Can't put it down fast enough...

Today's LJ question, I found interesting from a reader's and newly published writer's perspective.

Can't Put It Down Fast Enough
How bad does a book have to be for you to stop reading, or do you always plow through no matter what? What are some examples of books you stopped reading, or forced yourself to keep reading until the end? What made these books so horrible?

First of all, how many people reading this have ever written fanfic, published a story, an essay, or any story? Did you get someone who told you it wasn't compelling? Boring? They hated the characters? How did you feel?

I've been on both sides of this question now -- enough to know that "boring" or "not compelling" is much like "beauty" in the eyes of the beholder.

From a reader's perspective - what makes me put a book down or be unable to finish is the following:
* boring or not compelling (I'm admittedly moody though in my reading habits, what might be compelling to me one day, isn't going to be the next.)
* none of the characters interest or appeal to me on any level
* The story doesn't work for me, offends me, or irritates me
* the narrative style is putting me to sleep and is too much work to get through in order to enjoy the story. (ex: Me and footnotes are unmixy things, unless the writer is Nabokov, who understood what to do with them.) Or it isn't working for me. (I can't stand most 19th and 18th Century writing styles, also a few at the turn of the 20th Century.)
* I also appear to have an aversion to puns or punnery...which I'm thinking may well be genetic. My immediate family doesn't like puns. My sister-in-law stated that she couldn't abide them, so maybe not genetic. Her brain just doesn't work that way. (This of course makes it almost impossible for me to understand the appeal of writers such as Terry Prachette and Roger Zelzany who get off on using puns and litter their novels with them. I've tried both. The only Prachett novel I enjoyed was The Amazing Maurice, mainly because it was about a cat and I enjoyed the character, also footnotes were at a minimum. Tried Monster Brigade, I think that was the title? It was about a woman dressed as a guy in the army, but I got bored halfway through and sick of the footnotes. Also tried Good Omens, which was good to begin with, but the jokes got stale half-way through and I found myself skimming. Meanwhile everyone on my flist adores Prachette...)

Here's a short list of best-selling and acclaimed books that I couldn't put down fast enough, that were either boring/not compelling or I just despised the story and characters, and seriously life is too short:

1. Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes (think Confessions of a Shopaholic meets Euthansia by way paralyzed billionaire - told in the same writing style as Confessions of a Shopaholic or Bridget Jones Diary. I gave up after 100 pages and would have returned it to Amazon for a refund, if I could.)

2. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis -equal parts boredom and offensive, with squicky passages that made me wish I hadn't read it. (The movie however...worked for me, it was funnier and more palatable possibly due to the female director who turned it into the satire it was meant to be.)

3. Atonement by Ian McEwan (hated the characters, particularly the lead, and found the gimmick or twist annoying. Movie wasn't bad though).

4. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (I tried, dear reader, I tried...but between the footnotes and the archaeic 19th Century style...I felt like I was wading through quick sand to get at the story. Not helped by the fact that there weren't any interesting female characters that appealed to me.)

5. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon...(I tried this twice. The first time I couldn't get through it. The second time...I pushed my way through the last 200 pages...I won't be reading another. The author relies far too heavily on rape as a plot twist or plot point or means of furthering her characters for my personal taste. I found it annoying after a bit. Also, I got bored of the main characters. The television series was more engrossing, but lost me half-way through as well.)

Okay, now from a writer's perspective:

Before I published my book - I sent it to two publishing contacts. Neither, it should be noted were professional editors. One was a Director of Contracts (no law degree - which is odd, you'd think they'd require it?) at a small publisher, and the other was a freelance magazine editor, and soon to be published novelist. The first told me that my book wasn't compelling and I should turn it into a thriller, remove key character bits, then maybe they'd look at it. The second told me that it was unbelievable to them and the attempted suicide offensive, and I should write a murder mystery or about my various weird job interviews. They also had issues with one of the major characters - who they thought was too passive or pathetic.

Then I sent it to two professional freelance line editors to look at it, people who actually knew something about narrative structure, character development, and writing - and they loved my book.
Found it hilarious, compelling, haunting, and far from boring.

So, I published it. It's gotten a wide range of reviews. Two people found it boring, not compelling and not believable - agreeing with the two acquaintances that I sent it to. I don't know who they are -- their names aren't familiar to me, if they are even real names, people tend to make up names on book review sites like Amazon and Good Reads.

Everyone else that I've heard back from? Loved the book. Two co-workers loved it so much that they went out of their way to write reviews on Amazon and Good Reads. One co-worker told me today that my book was so unique, so different from what she'd read. She adored the characters, felt they were real and actual people. And so believable, it felt real to her, the characters...etc. I remember responding - that's interesting, considering I got a negative review recently from someone who thought it was completely unbelievable. She said - well, maybe they aren't from NYC? People outside the city don't realize how crazy and gritty it is - that really anything can happen here. They think it's what they see in movies or tv shows.

Another friend told me that she found it to be very compelling. Her book group read it -- they enjoyed it so much they asked me to sign their copies, and invited me to join the book group.

For every person who can't wait to put down a book, there are fifteen people who loved it. For every person who adored a book, there are at least five who hated it. It's the law of averages apparently. This is why most smart writers don't read reviews. And writers like Harper Lee and JD Salinger published few novels and hid from the limelight. Sensitive writers have to deal with callous, fannish, lovely and crazy readers. (grins)

A friend of mine asked me an interesting question recently --

Why would anyone write a negative review about a book? If it was to warn someone away from something dire or harmful, I can understand. But a book? Why take the time to rip apart a book?
Why be malicious about a book?

I don't know. For myself, I think I write reviews to figure out what about the book or movie thrilled or annoyed me. And I try to only post negative reviews to books that well, are popular. I hope that I've never come across as malicious or ranty. But I'm sure I have - I remember feeling a bit ranty about Me Before You...to such a degree that I well understand the folks who got all ranty about 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight.

Same thing is true of television shows...for every die-hard fan of Buffy, Doctor Who, and Star Trek, there are people who scratch their heads bewildered that these television shows ever aired because they are sooo bad.

As a writer...I've learned not to read reviews of my own book. Which feels odd in a way - because how else are you to know if people connected to it or grokked it? Not everyone will, that goes without saying. Some will find it boring, some unbelievable, some stupid, some badly written (unless you've received glowing professional reviews and awards from credible sources - then maybe not), while others will find it engrossing, believable, amazing, well-written, and the best thing ever.

It never ceases to amaze me how differently people respond to the same work of art, almost as if they weren't reading or viewing the same thing at all.