The Friday Five

[jazzy_dave]

Still on a book theme here is my five -

Which was the last book you gave up on, and the reasons why?

Which was the last book you read the blurb of, constructed a version of in your mind, and were promptly disappointed by once you finally got around to actually reading it?

What book you expected to hate, didn’t, and then got angry about not hating it?

Do you read reviews of books? Before or after you read the books themselves?

And finally,mention any book with a twist that felt like a blow to the chest and why?

Comments

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Which was the last book you gave up on, and the reasons why?

Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason". Because I have been interested in Thomas Mann, I wanted to read Schopenhauer, who was a big influence on him, but to read him, I gathered one should read Kant first. Well, I tried, but it's a bit too dry and technical-ish, making me think of the joy of reading a manual on refrigerator repair.

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...don't really have answers to this one, either!

[sabotabby]

Which was the last book you gave up on, and the reasons why?

It was this self-published sci-fi novel that was in my library box. I don't remember the title. The blurb on the back made it sound rather funny, but it was so atrociously written that it was obvious why it had to be self-published.

Which was the last book you read the blurb of, constructed a version of in your mind, and were promptly disappointed by once you finally got around to actually reading it?


Hah. I guess that one. It had to do with scientists on a spaceship trying to get a grant, and the blurb actually included a parenthetical "they do get the grant" and I seriously thought it was going to be about depressed grad students in space. Which I guess it was, but it wasn't any good.

What book you expected to hate, didn’t, and then got angry about not hating it?


Well, I just finished City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Which was objectively terrible, and I'm ashamed of how much I enjoyed it.

Do you read reviews of books? Before or after you read the books themselves?

Sometimes. Usually after, unless it's an author I've not read and I'm trying to decide. I've put holds on a bunch of books lately based on Tor.com reviews.

And finally,mention any book with a twist that felt like a blow to the chest and why?

Very little will ever top China Miéville's Perdido Street Station for me, except maybe China Miéville's Iron Council.

PSS: The main character's awesome bug-headed artist girlfriend is presumed dead, and we readers have grieved, because their love story was so interesting and they'd faced so much adversity because relationships between humans and bug-headed people are not typically encouraged. But wait! She's actually alive—held captive and mutilated by one of the bad guys. They have a tearful and joyous reunion, and for about 30 seconds you actually think that everything is going to be okay...and then she gets her brain sucked by a giant moth. And he's left taking care of her knowing that she will only ever be a mindless shell of the woman he loved. Oh, and the guy he was trying to help who got them all into trouble in the first place is actually a rapist and doesn't deserve his help.

(I realize this sounds ridiculous but it makes sense in context.)

IC: It's about tragic bisexual Trotskyists, so you know it's not going to be a happy ending. Our Heroes are all on a giant train that is a functional socialist utopia, hunted by the militia in their city. It's set up so they are all going to die in a glorious last stand against the militia and serve as a symbol to inspire the city to rise up, etc., but at the last minute, one of the main characters magically freezes the train in time so that it can never attack and never be destroyed. Then he's killed by his ex-girlfriend for robbing everyone of their glorious deaths. The train and most of the characters are frozen forever. The last line is, "They are always coming," and it broke me, being so much more depressing than just simple death.

[cynthia2015.livejournal.com]

I read the book "Looking For Alibrandi". The movie didn't do it justice despite having a decent cast due to the fact they left a major scene from the book.

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

Tough questions. Not sure I can answer them all. :p

I gave up on A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens is a difficult read. At least I thought so.

I tend not to read the blurbs.

Not sure if I have read something I thought I was going to hate and didn't. I read one I thought I was going to like, but didn't. lol...

I usually don't read reviews of books. Occasionally if I am reading the Entertainment section of the news paper and see something that looks like it might be good I may read the review, but otherwise I don't.

Not sure I can think of something that fits that.

Answers are so disappointing. :(
Hugs, Jon

[sandman-jazz.livejournal.com]

1. The History of Mr Polly by H G Wells, the titular character was a whiney incompetent character I found really difficult to give a flying monkey for.

2. Doctor Who: The Space Age by Steve Lyons. Which sounded liked it was going to be a satirical alternative universe story about how the year 2000 had been perceived in the 1950s and 60s, instead it was something about an ongoing feud between a group of Mods and Rockers who have been transported to an alien world... and it was really dull.

3. I can honestly say that has never happened to me.

4. Occasionally before and sometimes afterwards. Notably I looked up Sexton Blake Detective to find out if I had a defective copy only to find the entire run had the same error.... one of the stories missed out the ending.

5. Not really, perhaps the Domino Effect.

[soundofsunlight]

Which was the last book you gave up on, and the reasons why? - The Windup Girl. The author made up a bunch of new words, and did not do a good job at explaining what these terms mean, so it was like reading a bunch of gibberish. I made myself read two chapters and also tried skipping ahead, in case it gets better - it doesn't.

Do you read reviews of books? Before or after you read the books themselves? - I usually don't read reviews, unless I'm considering reading something by an author who's unfamiliar to me, in which case I read a few reviews beforehand, to get an idea of whether it's the sort of thing I'd enjoy. When I do this, I make sure to read a selection of both good and bad reviews, because some people are really not objective in their reviews.

I can't answer the other questions.