McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
despite the flack I'm going to get....
Thrythlind:
I haven't read Meyer yet, but Anne Rice's book is only the second one that I set down without ever finishing. The other being Moby Dick.
I've read the Silmarillion multiple times for the fun of it, even the Book of Lost Tales and Unfinished Tales (rife with Tolkien's son putting in commentary all over the place so that it breaks up the text)...heck I got an unabridged audio CD copy of the Silmarillion which I read along with to make sure it was unabridged...
and enjoyed it
But Rice?
Rice...
I don't think there's enough money to make me pick up another of her books....ever....
One bout of torture was enough
Rice's Interview book just plods and plods and plods. It's like an emotional black hole that just leaves you with a numb lack of interest where the only thing keeping you going is a sheer determination to finish any book you start reading.
Seriously, she's the Mordor of the writing world and I'm not going back into that.
As to King, his writing style seems to be somewhat inconsistent (some parts are incredibly more technically competent than others) but I'm wondering if that's not on purpose. One thing I can say, I thoroughly enjoy most of his stories.
Enjorous:
Read this topic and my head just exploded. I don't think I could post a reply right now without getting banned.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: Thrythlind on July 31, 2010, 12:49:31 AM ---I haven't read Meyer yet, but Anne Rice's book is only the second one that I set down without ever finishing.
--- End quote ---
*cheeerlead*cheerlead*cheerlead*
--- Quote --- The other being Moby Dick.
--- End quote ---
...darn. And you were doing so well.
Moby Dick is awesome, it's like the Cryptonomicon of the 19th century, and also does amazing pacing things.
Biffy Pyro:
--- Quote from: MoSeS_ on July 30, 2010, 03:31:43 PM ---I had to fix that for clarification, it was a little ambiguous, and I added some more comments.
I agree that Rowling is a much better writer, but I have read King's writitng and he really isn't a very good writer so I am not sure where he gets off telling a girl almost half his age that her writing isn't very good.
Kind of like if I took a elementary school kids paper and told him it sucks, and that his writing is not as good as mine.
--- End quote ---
1) JK Rowling is NOT a good writer, she is popular there is a difference, for one her constant use of deus ex machina (roughly translated "gods in the machine") excludes her from ever being great and her books often suffer from pace and clarity issues especially her later ones.
2) the same goes for stephanie meyer from what i hear although i have never read her books.
I don't hate twilight per se but i hate the massive amounts of attention it gets and the fans
Enjorous:
--- Quote from: MoSeS_ on July 30, 2010, 03:43:25 PM ---I have also read much of King and I kind feel the same about King as I do Meyer. It's like the both have potentially GREAT stories, but they also have an equal amount of shortcomings as the do quality material. (except King has had more time to improve but doesn't, in fact I think he get worse and worse)
--- End quote ---
I have to fundamentally disagree with this statement. Yes some of Kings books are long winded, wordy, twisting, etc. But he has all the elements necessary to tell a story correctly, his characters always develop naturally (even when they do take a long while to make basic changes), conflict that develops from page one. Take The Gunslinger for example conflict is established on the first line. "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed." Meyer does very little of this. Twilight for example has no real hard hitting conflict until several hundred pages in, the character development is almost non existent and when it does exist it is very artificial. A character going from avoidant to co-dependent in the course of a few months is absurd.
--- Quote from: MoSeS_ on July 30, 2010, 03:43:25 PM ---I have read many classics as well such as Ernest Hemingway, etc. in school, so I have an idea of what is considered good prose.
--- End quote ---
Hemingway is not a good example of good prose. He's a reporter at heart and it shows in his lexicon and syntax. For good prose look to: Twain (for his use of dialect) Orwell, Steinbeck, and for someone writing in a similar time and style Jack London has much better prose than Hemingway
--- Quote from: MoSeS_ on July 30, 2010, 03:43:25 PM ---To me Jim has a nice balance. Not overly pretentious (which Anne Rice might be a little), and not overly simple, but simple enough to enjoy, and not all over the place bouncing off the nuthouse walls like King.
--- End quote ---
I have to agree that King does tend to bounce from place to place, It comes to mind. But as darenthered said he writes without scope, he doesn't limit himself to one character or one particular event. A lot of his books take place over long periods of time with the build up happening slowly. Very rarely does he start in medias res as Jim does.
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