tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post539465421204428348..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: Third Time LuckyStuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-47349603168492628882010-09-21T12:59:28.903+01:002010-09-21T12:59:28.903+01:00I so enjoyed everyone's responses to this, tha...I so enjoyed everyone's responses to this, thanks everyone! Such an interesting topic, once you scratch beneath the surface.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-69852898891406837872010-09-04T15:27:07.816+01:002010-09-04T15:27:07.816+01:00I generally only give authors one or two chances. ...I generally only give authors one or two chances. The only third time lucky syndrome that I can think of that applies to me is with E.M. Delafield. I bought an omnibus copy of Diary of a Provincial Lady and its sequels. Diary of a PL was readable, but I was disappointed. The same with The PL Goes Further. It was only with The PL in America that something just kind of clicked. I think that if I didn't have an omnibus edition, I probably would have stopped at Diary of a PL.A Bookish Spacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15352870732457077916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-78580491766631833122010-08-30T17:15:10.987+01:002010-08-30T17:15:10.987+01:00Great post and lots of fun comments here. I don...Great post and lots of fun comments here. I don't finish books that I hate, so if I manage to finish a book there was something redeeming about it and I will probably consider a second go with the author. <br /><br />I had the opposite experience with Penelope Fitzgerald. I was so/so on The Bookshop (which has grown on me) but I really enjoyed Human Voices.<br /><br />@Dark Puss: tbr means "to be read"Thomas Hogglestockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14284352537015457974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-65915495001069295952010-08-29T06:05:27.591+01:002010-08-29T06:05:27.591+01:00I so enjoyed Miss Buncle's Book this year that...I so enjoyed Miss Buncle's Book this year that I was eager to read anything else by D.E. Stevenson that I could find, but Mrs. Tim of the Regiment wasn't really my thing and I still haven't finished it. It's cute, but finding out it was basically cobbled together from her own diary as a military wife, it felt very odd reading it, not knowing what was fiction and what fact (I nearly drove myself nuts trying to figure that out while reading Proust too!) So it detracted from the story for me, although I know others love it. I also have Miss Buncle Married from the library and haven't really gotten into that yet either.<br /><br />I keep giving Dickens chances to prove himself and he keeps letting me down (finished Bleak House, couldn't get through A Tale of Two Cities or Great Expectations). However I still bought Our Mutual Friend recently, I'm much more willing to give classic authors of the 19th century persuasion more chances!<br /><br />I really liked A.S. Byatt's novella Morpho Eugenia (published in the book Angels & Insects) but couldn't get into The Biographer's Tale, the second book I bought of hers, for years. Finally I exchanged it for The Virgin in the Garden which was much better and then got onto Possession at last, which I also enjoyed. So there's a combination of second time unlucky but third (and fourth) time working out again.Carolynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11538459607519844826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-71850724023079783552010-08-28T07:07:16.464+01:002010-08-28T07:07:16.464+01:00It was the other way around for me. I did not like...It was the other way around for me. I did not like Spark's first two books I read but I did enjoy the third!!!Mysticahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10941269615559681014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-83425443786810409732010-08-27T19:00:12.282+01:002010-08-27T19:00:12.282+01:00There are some authors I run to again and again - ...There are some authors I run to again and again - mostly because I can predict the kind of challenge or satisfaction the book is likely to give me. When younger, like many people, I got 'stuck' on authors and read one title after another. I confess that in those days it tended to be the plot and the people that hooked me. Then there were the books about places - eg Daphne du Maurier's Cornish settings (Poldark popped in for the same reason) or books set in Suffolk, the Lakes, Yorkshire and so on.<br />Nowadays I look for a mood and something to sweep me into another place - and. maybe, time. Escapism? Perhaps, but a challenge too sometimes.<br />So it could be first, second, third or umpteenth go... with a particular author.<br />(I still can't face ICB though!)OVWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-46801798334286013712010-08-27T17:31:54.557+01:002010-08-27T17:31:54.557+01:00The little stranger by Sarah Waters was, for me, t...The little stranger by Sarah Waters was, for me, the perfect book found just at that time where I've been having bad luck with my selection of books. I enjoyed and savoured every bit of it. Even rushing home to read it. Unfortunately the second book I bought written by Waters was "nigh watch" which is the more famous one....but it was disappointing. I've left it to the side. Will try reading it again one dayedina monsoonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11676329585534709227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-43225071913471855732010-08-27T15:08:41.292+01:002010-08-27T15:08:41.292+01:00Just stumbled upon your blog...great stuff!
There...Just stumbled upon your blog...great stuff! <br />There are a few authors I will automatically read, because they are so good and/or they publish so infrequently (Alice Munro, Mary Doria Russell.) With most others, even if I liked their previous work, I'll pick a book up and look through it to see if I think I'll like it. <br />I loved The Master Butchers Singing Club, but the next Erdrich book I read did not blow me away. That happens often.<br />Hello from a new blogger!Cathyhttp://windowsandpaperwalls.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-53548694836691687682010-08-27T15:06:55.450+01:002010-08-27T15:06:55.450+01:00Susan in TX, Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
Susan/Jac...Susan in TX, Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men<br /><br />Susan/Jackie, Margaret Atwood: Alias GracePaperback Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14579608422235511054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-69261593377014541182010-08-27T15:01:57.918+01:002010-08-27T15:01:57.918+01:00Sue in Tx, re: John Steinbeck. If you get a chance...Sue in Tx, re: John Steinbeck. If you get a chance, try: THE PEARL and OF MICE AND MEN. (I think these two may be novellas. At least, they're both quick reads.) Those are my two favorite Steinbecks next to EAST OF EDEN which, for me, qualifies as 'a great, thumping good read.' Don't give up on Steinbeck, lots of good reading there.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-52585001042373324122010-08-27T12:54:24.667+01:002010-08-27T12:54:24.667+01:00Susan in TX and famelanebooks: Have you read Lady...Susan in TX and famelanebooks: Have you read Lady Oracle? Pure classic Atwood at her best.Susan Dhttp://www.destevenson.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-62811806271428198482010-08-27T12:19:25.829+01:002010-08-27T12:19:25.829+01:00If I loved a book by an author, I always end up gi...If I loved a book by an author, I always end up giving them second and third chances. Can't seem to help it, heh heh. However, if I didn't like their first book, then it's likely I won't bother with the rest unless someone really recommends them to me. Great question Simon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-6375173578039092282010-08-27T11:14:30.287+01:002010-08-27T11:14:30.287+01:00Oooh what a good question Simon! Its a really subj...Oooh what a good question Simon! Its a really subjective thing with me. If I like the first book I read by an author I will read more but wont rush, if I loved it I hurry off and buy everything I can get my mitts on (well I do when I am buying books) and invariably take a while to read another.If I dont like a first book by a new, old, anything author I don't tend to rush out and read anything by them again unless I hear great things. <br /><br />Back to the question of third chances, I always give em. However... that would be my last chance saloon I think if all had been duds for me or the last two... I think!Simon (Savidge Reads)http://savidgereads.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-75431238745222933382010-08-27T10:09:16.551+01:002010-08-27T10:09:16.551+01:00I adore The Bookshop! I give authors one strike - ...I adore The Bookshop! I give authors one strike - and then they are out. Life is way too short.Bloomsbury Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12770210075581113565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-81235842433613580102010-08-27T07:37:04.498+01:002010-08-27T07:37:04.498+01:00What's a tbr pile?
;-))What's a <i>tbr</i> pile?<br /><br />;-))Dark Pusshttp://morganas-cat.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-91852759815098582322010-08-27T04:04:04.300+01:002010-08-27T04:04:04.300+01:00I did not imagine that any other book by Jane Gard...I did not imagine that any other book by Jane Gardam would come up to the high standard set by Old Filth. I have so far read three of Gardam's other novels and have yet to be disppointed.EllenBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-31908040271357840212010-08-27T03:17:34.101+01:002010-08-27T03:17:34.101+01:00Hmmm...I guess this is an author by author thing. ...Hmmm...I guess this is an author by author thing. I absolutely hated The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (got maybe 100 pages in before I chucked it), but she's one of my sil's favorite writers so I keep thinking I should give her another go, but you hit the nail on the head when you said, "are there too many good ones on the tbr shelf to give her another go?" -- I do think life is too short to waste time on bad books!<br /><br />That said, "classic" authors do tend to get at least two shots before I chunk them. Last year I read The Red Pony by John Steinbeck and found it very depressing, but I loved his Travels With Charley that I read with Cornflower and that was enough to prompt me to keep The Grapes of Wrath on the "someday I'll read it" list. Those were the first two authors that came to mind. I'll be interested to see how other people feel about this (of course, it may just boil down to how much free reading time you have).Susan in TXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09550766549670690646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-39926627490165633152010-08-27T01:30:55.547+01:002010-08-27T01:30:55.547+01:00I disliked all of Michael Gruber's early books...I disliked all of Michael Gruber's early books (could never get past the first couple of pages) but, for whatever reason - I think it was the subject matter - I picked up THE BOOK OF AIR AND SHADOWS and was absolutely blown away. LOVED it. Then THE FORGERY OF VENUS - same reaction. It was almost as if this was a different writer. So, it does happen. But not often. I generally only give a writer two books (any two, they do not, necessarily, have to be the first two). But I NEVER, for ANY reason, finish a book I'm not liking. Life's too short.Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-1588245848616899582010-08-27T01:04:39.122+01:002010-08-27T01:04:39.122+01:00I tend not to give an author more than two goes an...I tend not to give an author more than two goes and that depends on the author (as you say, if they're renowned then they are deserving of more time). I honestly can't think of a time where Third Time Lucky Syndrome has applied to me, I'm afraid, unless you count loving Mrs Dalloway the third time I read it...<br /><br />P.S. The Love-Child has "a quiet beauty to it"!Paperback Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14579608422235511054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-88228945541531486322010-08-27T00:37:05.945+01:002010-08-27T00:37:05.945+01:00I sort of wonder if this is going to happen to me ...I sort of wonder if this is going to happen to me with Penelope Fitzgerald. I liked both The Gate of Angels and The Bookshop, but neither really satisfied me, and I've yet to try a third.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04779787207182248909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-7096541681541473692010-08-26T23:59:49.781+01:002010-08-26T23:59:49.781+01:00Agh!! I hate predictive text! That should say Atwo...Agh!! I hate predictive text! That should say Atwood!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07698068501004755678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-62064649021281569732010-08-26T23:57:43.142+01:002010-08-26T23:57:43.142+01:00Great question! I'm willing to give authors se...Great question! I'm willing to give authors several chances as they often produce very different books. I have frequently loved a book and then failed to enjoy any of their subsequent ones and so it makes sense to keep trying with authors that haven't bowed me first time around. I'm still hoping that I'll find an Ian McEwan or Margaret Stood book to love.3rd time lucky?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07698068501004755678noreply@blogger.com