And then there's this guy

[profbutters]

Adults Should Read Adult Books.  Discuss amongst yourselves!  I shouldn't be typing at all, since I just got a steroid shot to the wrist. Thank GOD I am not phobic about needles, but I still don't like it and it feels ikky.

Here's how the article starts:

"The only thing more embarrassing than catching a guy on the plane looking at pornography on his

Comments

[docnerd]

I seriously think he just trolled everyone, and is sitting back laughing at everyone going "RAEG" in the comments.

There was no "young adult" section in libraries or bookstores when I was growing up. I read "adult" books starting when I was eleven or twelve, and they were ones appropriate for a middle-schooler. Does that mean that those "adult" books should be "young adult" now? Lark mentioned David Eddings and Dune--I read those when I was a tween, and they still stand up as "adult" books. I certainly don't think the modern-day "young adult" books have less literary merit just because the target audience isn't "people who can vote." I might argue that some of them have less literary merit because they're poorly written with cardboard characters, but I can argue that about plenty of "adult" books and authors too.

I will admit to not reading Hunger Games. I've tried. I have. I really have. But it's first person present tense, which feels really, really, really awkward for me, and it's so distracting that I can't get into the story at all. It's a silly reason, but there it is. I know what the story is about, but much like Twilight, it's something that I will never read.

[profbutters]

Umm--does this mean you won't read anything written in the first person? I do hope not.

[docnerd]

No, not at all. I don't have problems with first person (Dresden Files yay!), but it's that combination of first person and present tense. Even third person present tense feels strange, but first person present... I can't get into it. Part of it is like, "if you don't know how this is going to end up, why the hell are you narrating? This could be the most boring thing ever, you don't know!" And again, because it's POV character, even in present tense there's no sense of suspense, because the author's not going to kill his POV character (except for very, very rare occasions, see also Dresden Files yay!).

The other thing I hate with first-person is head-hopping. It killed the Kane Chronicles for me, which is a shame, because I enjoy the Percy Jackson books by the same author. I allowed Rob Thurman to get away with it twice (and once it even worked out to her advantage, since the other head was a werewolf stuck in wolf form who was slowly losing his mind and going full-wolf), but if she does it again, she might go On Notice.

[profbutters]

My issue with first person is that you're stuck in the character's head. If you hate that character, you feel like you're in jail--at least I do.

[docnerd]

That's one of those things that will make me quit reading a book. If it's first person, or third person with one character as the dominant POV, and I don't like them, forget it. It's not even an "evil" character versus a "good" character. I don't mind seeing things from the "villain's" POV, as long as the character is complex and interesting. I can dislike the things a character DOES without disliking the character him/herself. If I don't like the character as a character, I'm out. Too many books out there to read that I will enjoy to read ones I'm already not enjoying.

[regacylady]

I usually hate present tense, and I was like "..fucking REALLY?" at The Hunger Games at first because of it. However, after forcing my way through the beginning, I forgot all about it. The book got so intense that I really couldn't imagine it NOT being in present tense. It was weirdtiems.

[docnerd]

I just don't want to have to force myself to read something I'm reading for fun. I did enough "forcing myself to read something I don't want to read" in high school (which, to be fair, was exactly twice) that I don't want to do it now. I have a stack of books I know I'll enjoy that I don't need to force myself to read anything.

[rosefyre]

Yeah, Hunger Games is really the one book that I think works best in first person present tense, because of the immediacy. At the beginning, it's weird, but by about chapter 10, I couldn't put it down and didn't notice the tense at all. It's interesting how they worked it with the movie, because I think it lost something in not being inside Katniss's head - we're missing a lot of her stuff - but it also gained something by not being inside Katniss's head, in that we got to see a lot of what was happening elsewhere as well.

[profbutters]

I agree with everything you just said there! EDIT: I also love the icon.

[rosefyre]

Thank you! I went icon-hunting the other day. :D

[leilia]

Dude, first person present tense annoys the piss out of me. Seriously. Most of the the time I can't handle it at all and it is one of the main reasons why I click back on fic/stories/whatever. Because in my opinion first person present tense is meant for speech and past tense is appropriate for writing.

So it was a huge stumbling block for me. Then there was the heavy-handedness of the transitions/segues to and from flashbacks. But, I was immediately interested in the world so I persevered.

Eventually I got sucked in, and I mean that. There were times I was thrown right back out because an editor did not do their job right (lots of typos especially toward the end). But that didn't detract from the story.

I ended up reading all of the Hunger Games this week starting on Monday Night into Tuesday and then finishing on Wednesday Night into Thursday.

But I will be the first to point out its flaws. There is a fanfic feel to it at times. There is the tense which I would particularly notice at odd times. There is the transition issue. But overall I enjoyed the books.

I actually finished them. Which is something of a miracle considering my real hatred of first person present tense.