September Books 12) First Lensman

[nwhyte]

12) First Lensman, by E.E. "Doc" Smith

The Lensman books are sitting on the shelf, looking at me; and every time I feel I need to cut down the "unread" pile by another notch, they look like an easy quick option. I will probably trudge through them all in the end, but this is another whinge: awful style, awful plotting (especially the way in which

Comments

[watervole]

Save yourself the agony. I loved these as a teenager. Returning to them as an adult destroyed my memories as I drowned in cliches.

[inuitmonster]

I tried reading some of E.E. Smith books as a teenager. They were awful then, I bet they are really awful now. They don't even deliver on the wham bam space opera excitement, they just go on for ages and ages. urrggh.

[wyvernfriend]

I enjoyed this series in my late teens but I fear what a re-read would do to them and me!

[mizkit]

Why is it you must read these? I'm sure it's one of your completionist things, which I have great sympathy for, but but I had a revelation somewhere around age 15 when, having been given several Jack Chalker books and having worked my way through them and loathed them all unconditionally, I came across the next book in the series and thought, "Crap, I'm going to have to buy it and read it..."

...and then I realized I didn't have to! It was a great relief. :)

[londonkds]

Yes, some stuff that people loved in the past really is just appalling crap by today's judgement, even if you're primed to be forgiving. I had my latest realisation of this last night when I tried to watch an ep of the Adam West Batman TV series.