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The book Lovely Bones was highly recommended to me by so many people....I bought it and could not get into it. I couldn't get past the fact that this was a child telling her story of how she was molested and murdered and she is telling her own story. Too much for me. Gave me the creeps.
When I read it years ago, I found it a bit odd and unnerving too. I had just picked it up at the bookstore.
There most definitely is a big difference between a great storyteller, and a great writer. I agree with you that some of King's works fall into the category of great storyteller instead of great writer, but he is such a modest person, himself, until I don't think he has ever referred to himself as a great writer -- prolific, I seem to recall.
Some of the best storytellers are lousy writers when you get down to it.
The book Lovely Bones was highly recommended to me by so many people....I bought it and could not get into it. I couldn't get past the fact that this was a child telling her story of how she was molested and murdered.
It seems as if a lot of people didn't like it. I thought Alice Sebold was a beautiful writer, though, and I couldn't put the book down. I felt that it demonstrated the healing power of grief. Out of such a horrific experience for the young girl, there seemed to be a measure of hope at the end.
My all time least favorite book: Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I had to read it at age 20 and didn't understnad it at all. More than twice that many years later, I doubt that I'd comprehend any more of it.
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Originally Posted by CA4Now
My all time least favorite book: Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. I had to read it at age 20 and didn't understnad it at all. More than twice that many years later, I doubt that I'd comprehend any more of it.
LOL Faulkner is not for everybody...my mother's family is from MS, so Faulkner makes total sense to me.
It seems as if a lot of people didn't like it. I thought Alice Sebold was a beautiful writer, though, and I couldn't put the book down. I felt that it demonstrated the healing power of grief. Out of such a horrific experience for the young girl, there seemed to be a measure of hope at the end.
My mother gave me a copy of The Lovely Bones. I, too thought it was a beautiful novel.
The book Lovely Bones was highly recommended to me by so many people....I bought it and could not get into it. I couldn't get past the fact that this was a child telling her story of how she was molested and murdered and she is telling her own story. Too much for me. Gave me the creeps.
And then, it just got ridiculous, with her coming back long enough to have sex with her boyfriend. One of the worst books I've ever read.
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. That book really cheats the reader. The book is marketed as a police detective story and it is at first. But half way through it takes a turn into what you'd see in any number of Twilight Zone episodes. It starts out with 2 police detectives traveling to an island off the coast of Boston to investigate a murder at a mental institution. Halfway through the book you start realizing that (spoiler) they are actually inmates in the institution and this all a fantasy. Total ripoff.
I disagree, and so do a ton of people who read it, including the critics. Not that I agree with them so much. As far as knowing how it turns out, thats the case of practically every book I've ever read. I can't even think of a book that had a surprise ending. If any of you have read one that did have one, please let me know. I would love to read it.
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