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Post by Vassaggo on Feb 1, 2020 4:08:29 GMT
Anybody else find it kind of arduous and a little grating to read anthologies/short story collections?
The constant short build up and climax just makes reading more than a few short stories at a time just exhausting.
At best I don't mind a book of a few novellas together. I like to read like 100-200 pages at a kick and that can encompass a shit ton of short stories. (depending on length.)
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Post by ant-mac on Feb 1, 2020 5:47:22 GMT
Anybody else find it kind of arduous and a little grating to read anthologies/short story collections? The constant short build up and climax just makes reading more than a few short stories at a time just exhausting. At best I don't mind a book of a few novellas together. I like to read like 100-200 pages at a kick and that can encompass a shit ton of short stories. (depending on length.) No, I enjoy a broad array of genres in fiction, regardless of their length. I recently read THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett and 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Now I'm re-reading some short stories by Arthur C Clarke. It really comes down to what I'm in the mood for.
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Post by Vassaggo on Feb 1, 2020 5:50:22 GMT
Anybody else find it kind of arduous and a little grating to read anthologies/short story collections? The constant short build up and climax just makes reading more than a few short stories at a time just exhausting. At best I don't mind a book of a few novellas together. I like to read like 100-200 pages at a kick and that can encompass a shit ton of short stories. (depending on length.) No, I enjoy a broad array of genres in fiction, regardless of their length. I recently read THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett and 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Now I'm re-reading some short stories by Arthur C Clarke. It really comes down to what I'm in the mood for. You should check out World Without End and A Column of Fire from Follett. It's a continuation of sorts from Pillars. Takes place in the same town Kingsbridge, but down the line in time.
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Post by ant-mac on Feb 1, 2020 5:56:07 GMT
No, I enjoy a broad array of genres in fiction, regardless of their length. I recently read THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett and 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Now I'm re-reading some short stories by Arthur C Clarke. It really comes down to what I'm in the mood for. You should check out World Without End and A Column of Fire from Follett. It's a continuation of sorts from Pillars. Takes place in the same town Kingsbridge, but down the line in time. Yes, I intend to. I just wanted to break it up a bit with a change of pace. However, I never expected to finish 11/22/63 so quickly. That one really caught my attention and imagination. I enjoyed THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, but I can't remember the last time I became quite as absorbed and obsessed as I did with 11/22/63. So now I'm killing time with Arthur until I can get hold of the Ken Follett sequels.
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Post by Vassaggo on Feb 1, 2020 6:08:55 GMT
You should check out World Without End and A Column of Fire from Follett. It's a continuation of sorts from Pillars. Takes place in the same town Kingsbridge, but down the line in time. Yes, I intend to. I just wanted to break it up a bit with a change of pace. However, I never expected to finish 11/22/63 so quickly. That one really caught my attention and imagination. I enjoyed THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, but I can't remember the last time I became quite as absorbed and obsessed as I did with 11/22/63. So now I'm killing time with Arthur until I can get hold of the Ken Follett sequels. Cool Beans. I read Pillars back in the 90's and loved it. Didn't know until like last year that the other 2 were basically/sorta sequels, so I had to grab them. 11/22/63 shows off King's ability to lull you into burning through a massive book quickly. It also has the type of King ending I like. One that fits the story but isn't the typical happily ever after. Also if you are a Dark Tower nerd you can find a lot of examples things adding to 19 in 11/22/63. (also mentions the Takurio Spirit car)
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Post by ant-mac on Feb 1, 2020 6:15:46 GMT
Yes, I intend to. I just wanted to break it up a bit with a change of pace. However, I never expected to finish 11/22/63 so quickly. That one really caught my attention and imagination. I enjoyed THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH, but I can't remember the last time I became quite as absorbed and obsessed as I did with 11/22/63. So now I'm killing time with Arthur until I can get hold of the Ken Follett sequels. Cool Beans. I read Pillars back in the 90's and loved it. Didn't know until like last year that the other 2 were basically/sorta sequels, so I had to grab them. 11/22/63 shows off King's ability to lull you into burning through a massive book quickly. It also has the type of King ending I like. One that fits the story but isn't the typical happily ever after. Also if you are a Dark Tower nerd you can find a lot of examples things adding to 19 in 11/22/63. (also mentions the Takurio Spirit car) I saw the miniseries of THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH several years ago and was aware that there was a novel. A few weeks ago I came upon a cheap secondhand copy in my local book store. It was too good a find to pass up. It was at that point in time I became aware of the sequels. 11/22/63 is my second favourite King novel behind THE STAND. I've not yet read a huge number of his novels, although I've mostly enjoyed the ones I have. However, I've rarely read one which had what I would consider a "happy ending".
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Post by Vassaggo on Feb 1, 2020 6:32:02 GMT
Cool Beans. I read Pillars back in the 90's and loved it. Didn't know until like last year that the other 2 were basically/sorta sequels, so I had to grab them. 11/22/63 shows off King's ability to lull you into burning through a massive book quickly. It also has the type of King ending I like. One that fits the story but isn't the typical happily ever after. Also if you are a Dark Tower nerd you can find a lot of examples things adding to 19 in 11/22/63. (also mentions the Takurio Spirit car) I saw the miniseries of THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH several years ago and was aware that there was a novel. A few weeks ago I came upon a cheap secondhand copy in my local book store. It was too good a find to pass up. It was at that point in time I became aware of the sequels. 11/22/63 is my second favourite King novel behind THE STAND. I've not yet read a huge number of his novels, although I've mostly enjoyed the ones I have. However, I've rarely read one which had what I would consider a "happy ending". Yeah usually "good" wins at a horrible cost, although there are more than a few that "bad" wins or it's a tie. To use really inaccurate childish terms 
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Post by ant-mac on Feb 1, 2020 8:23:54 GMT
I saw the miniseries of THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH several years ago and was aware that there was a novel. A few weeks ago I came upon a cheap secondhand copy in my local book store. It was too good a find to pass up. It was at that point in time I became aware of the sequels. 11/22/63 is my second favourite King novel behind THE STAND. I've not yet read a huge number of his novels, although I've mostly enjoyed the ones I have. However, I've rarely read one which had what I would consider a "happy ending". Yeah usually "good" wins at a horrible cost, although there are more than a few that "bad" wins or it's a tie. To use really inaccurate childish terms I'm certainly not complaining about it, because I do enjoy a variety of outcomes in my fiction, whether it be in a book, a film or on TV. Having a never-ending parade of happy, safe, wholesome conclusions does become a little sickening and tiresome. Although sometimes, even the more... morbid, risky and sad endings can also feel clichéd, if they're overused. At the risk of spoilers, when I was nearing the end of DUMA KEY, I could tell that SK planned to kill off one of the principle characters... and sure enough he did. The main body of the story was over and the character's death contributed nothing to the overall narrative, which had already been brimming with suffering and loss. It just pissed me off and left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well... 
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Post by Vassaggo on Feb 1, 2020 8:31:26 GMT
Yeah usually "good" wins at a horrible cost, although there are more than a few that "bad" wins or it's a tie. To use really inaccurate childish terms I'm certainly not complaining about it, because I do enjoy a variety of outcomes in my fiction, whether it be in a book, a film or on TV. Having a never-ending parade of happy, safe, wholesome conclusions does become a little sickening and tiresome. Although sometimes, even the more... morbid, risky and sad endings can also feel clichéd, if they're overused. At the risk of spoilers, when I was nearing the end of DUMA KEY, I could tell that SK planned to kill off one of the principle characters... and sure enough he did. The main body of the story was over and the character's death contributed nothing to the overall narrative, which had already been brimming with suffering and loss. It just pissed me off and left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well... Trying to think of the ones where the bad guys win, but also don't want to spoil anything. I'll just spoil one It's almost 30 years old . Pet Semetary the bad guys win.
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Post by ant-mac on Feb 1, 2020 8:35:25 GMT
I'm certainly not complaining about it, because I do enjoy a variety of outcomes in my fiction, whether it be in a book, a film or on TV. Having a never-ending parade of happy, safe, wholesome conclusions does become a little sickening and tiresome. Although sometimes, even the more... morbid, risky and sad endings can also feel clichéd, if they're overused. At the risk of spoilers, when I was nearing the end of DUMA KEY, I could tell that SK planned to kill off one of the principle characters... and sure enough he did. The main body of the story was over and the character's death contributed nothing to the overall narrative, which had already been brimming with suffering and loss. It just pissed me off and left a bad taste in my mouth. Oh well... Trying to think of the ones where the bad guys win, but also don't want to spoil anything. I'll just spoil one It's almost 30 years old . Pet Semetary the bad guys win. Oh, don't worry, I actually enjoy spoilers. I like to know if my time will be well spent.  They're not mandatory, but I've got nothing against them. I also don't mind a good twist ending. Agatha Christie did a few good ones and I've also enjoyed several films and TV series that included them.
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Post by Vassaggo on Feb 1, 2020 8:39:54 GMT
Trying to think of the ones where the bad guys win, but also don't want to spoil anything. I'll just spoil one It's almost 30 years old . Pet Semetary the bad guys win. Oh, don't worry, I actually enjoy spoilers. I like to know if my time will be well spent. They're not mandatory, but I've got nothing against them. I also don't mind a good twist ending. Agatha Christie did a few good ones and I've also enjoyed several films and TV series that included them. I remember having to write a paper on it. I took the tact of it was a Darker take on the Monkey's Paw. A lot more death and murder by demonic reanimated toddler. At the end the Dad gets his wish and doesn't have a chance to cancel his wish like the Parent's in Monkey's Paw.
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Post by Zos on Feb 1, 2020 11:45:14 GMT
Can read novellas but anything less I find annoying, you just start getting into it and it's over, rather not bother. Only exception I make is Thomas Ligotti.
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Post by ant-mac on Feb 1, 2020 18:18:44 GMT
Oh, don't worry, I actually enjoy spoilers. I like to know if my time will be well spent. They're not mandatory, but I've got nothing against them. I also don't mind a good twist ending. Agatha Christie did a few good ones and I've also enjoyed several films and TV series that included them. I remember having to write a paper on it. I took the tact of it was a Darker take on the Monkey's Paw. A lot more death and murder by demonic reanimated toddler. At the end the Dad gets his wish and doesn't have a chance to cancel his wish like the Parent's in Monkey's Paw. In some ways, 11/22/63 is not unlike THE MONKEY'S PAW... with an enormous price for interfering with fate, or history. It's simply presented in a manner I personally find more appealing. And I can't remember the last time I had to present a paper on something... I was going to say the early 1980s, but then I remembered I returned briefly to study in the early 2000s. Either way, it's not long enough. 
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