Comments | christina_reads: Maybe it's just me...

christina_reads

Maybe it's just me...

Jun 22, 2011 19:04

Ever read a book that all your friends were raving about, only to wonder what on earth they were thinking? I'm having a similar experience with The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

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misc: random thoughts

Comments 7

kiwiria June 23 2011, 07:41:53 UTC

I've read The Name of the Wind and thought it was okay, but not the literary marvel that most others seem to think. It was enjoyable and entertaining, but the amount of foreshadowing used and the HUGE cliff-hanger has put me off picking up the sequel yet.

Have you ever assumed you would like a book because everyone else did, only to be unpleasantly surprised?
Unfortunately yes. Both "Poisonwood Bible" and "The Kite Runner" were recommended to me as "the best book I'd read all year" by several people, and I was horribly disappointed by both of them. I'm sure there are more examples, but those two are the ones that stick out the most because they came SO highly recommended.

christina_reads June 23 2011, 19:31:02 UTC

Hmm, there's a cliffhanger ending TOO?! That makes me want to avoid it even more!

Sorry you didn't like The Poisonwood Bible or The Kite Runner. I have read the latter, and I liked it, but I wasn't IN LOVE with it like so many other people were.

kiwiria June 24 2011, 06:38:10 UTC

Yeah, to be honest I don't understand all the hype. It's good - I liked it. But I didn't LOVE it, and it had too many issues for me to recommend to others without disclaimers.

Have you read A Thousand Splended Suns also by Khaled Hosseini? I thought it a LOT better than The Kite Runner.

christina_reads June 24 2011, 19:20:10 UTC

Nope, I haven't read A Thousand Splendid Suns...it wasn't on my list, but you've piqued my curiosity.

Thread 5

iamfitz June 23 2011, 18:34:30 UTC

It does sound bad, but you can't judge a book by its cover (sorry, couldn't resist).

Read the first few pages or so and see what you think. It might just be a bad marketing job, you know? I'm never sure which books will grab me. I just talked about books I've read several times and Mariette in Ecstasy is about a nun in the late 1800s, hardly something that would usually grab my attention. Well, a little bit, because monastic life is kind of interesting to me. Still, one of my favorite books. (And here's the obligatory READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T!!!!!! But I think I've mentioned it to you before. My memory is not so memorable anymore.)

christina_reads June 23 2011, 19:32:24 UTC

Haha, fair point -- but we all do it anyway!

I suppose I should read a few pages before I make a definitive judgment, though. You're right that sometimes publishers make poor marketing choices, and I wouldn't want to miss out on something great just because the cover blurb is bad!

And yes, you have recommended Mariette in Ecstasy to me. Never fear -- it's on my TBR list!