Just lived through this phenomenon. Wife went to a store to purchase a shirt (which became 3 pieces of clothing), I went to the bookstore next door to “see if I can find one interesting book”. Six books later, I am here writing about it on a forum.
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Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?
- Thread starter Huntn
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Only six?
This experience is more than familiar to me (the books, rather than the shirts, although I have been culpable in that regard, as well).
I was able to refrain from buying more (I probably had 10 or 12 in my basket at a certain point) probably because I used a very specific language (“one book”) rather than being generic (“a few books” or the more hypocritical “a couple of books”). By being able to quantify the damage (600% of the initial plan) I was able to quickly develop feelings of guilt and shame.
I wonder how many of us have had the experience of standing outside a bookshop (new or second-hand) and just felt that a book was calling us in.
I was doing just that one day, when my mind heard a book calling me. I went in and found a book of letters written home by women from PNG's colonial period. I had to buy it because my mother was one of one of those women who was given a fancy pen (Parker 51) by her family to write home with when she first went up to PNG with husband.
I was doing just that one day, when my mind heard a book calling me. I went in and found a book of letters written home by women from PNG's colonial period. I had to buy it because my mother was one of one of those women who was given a fancy pen (Parker 51) by her family to write home with when she first went up to PNG with husband.
Collected some books earlier this week from the library, and looking forward to settling down with them.
I have been thinking about those writers who - while they may write many, perfectly competent books - write one book where everything - plot, character, dialogue, setting, narrative arc and narrative tension - comes together, and works exceptionally well, - a book that is simply excellent, one that you find yourself recommending to others - and where nothing else they have ever written before or since match this one (often superb, or, at the very least, excellent and compelling, moving and thought-provoking) work.
Now, some authors will keep to the same genre, or write in the same style - and for many, this is a large part of their appeal. Others manage to write excellent work no matter what they publish.
However, re the one stand out book - a truly compelling work - in a body of work several that come to mind, or, to my mind, include (and this - obviously - is by no means an exhaustive list):
Ken Follett: The Pillars of the Earth. His masterpiece.
Nothing he has written before or since - not even when he returned to the same world - equals it.
Louis de Bernières: Captain Corelli's Mandolin. A book which worked superbly on every level: Setting, story, characters, narrative.
Again, nothing he wrote prior to the publication of Captain Corelli - or, much more tellingly, nothing he has written subsequently - has come anywhere close. And I now realise that nothing he writes ever again will approach the sheer quality - depth, range - of that work.
Jean M Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear.
The first - and unforgettable - book, which was completely original, compelling, extraordinary, was also the first in a series where each succeeding book was somehow worse than the one before, for, although the second and third were not too bad,they nowhere matched the power of the first book - culminating in two very poor final works. Actually, the last book in the series was worse than very poor; I would class it as dire.
Garth Nix: The Abhorsen trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen).
Again, he has written some a good many books since, - some of them very good indeed - but nothing to compare with the sheer stunning compelling power of the Abhorsen trilogy.
Now, some authors will keep to the same genre, or write in the same style - and for many, this is a large part of their appeal. Others manage to write excellent work no matter what they publish.
However, re the one stand out book - a truly compelling work - in a body of work several that come to mind, or, to my mind, include (and this - obviously - is by no means an exhaustive list):
Ken Follett: The Pillars of the Earth. His masterpiece.
Nothing he has written before or since - not even when he returned to the same world - equals it.
Louis de Bernières: Captain Corelli's Mandolin. A book which worked superbly on every level: Setting, story, characters, narrative.
Again, nothing he wrote prior to the publication of Captain Corelli - or, much more tellingly, nothing he has written subsequently - has come anywhere close. And I now realise that nothing he writes ever again will approach the sheer quality - depth, range - of that work.
Jean M Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear.
The first - and unforgettable - book, which was completely original, compelling, extraordinary, was also the first in a series where each succeeding book was somehow worse than the one before, for, although the second and third were not too bad,they nowhere matched the power of the first book - culminating in two very poor final works. Actually, the last book in the series was worse than very poor; I would class it as dire.
Garth Nix: The Abhorsen trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen).
Again, he has written some a good many books since, - some of them very good indeed - but nothing to compare with the sheer stunning compelling power of the Abhorsen trilogy.
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Good post, however I wonder how much the reader’s expectation after reading the “masterpiece” book influences the judgment of the following books. Often readers want more of the same.
All too often, I'm afraid, especially if that "masterpiece" was the first work by that writer that the reader has encountered.
For myself, I have found myself returning to writers whose "masterpiece" I had read, - especially if that was the first work of their I had encountered - and, time after time, I have found myself hoping (in vain, alas) for the quality of that work to be repeated in subsequent published works.
Alas, it never is.
Hope springs eternal, and all that, but I keep trying, and I keep suffering disappointment.
Now, it is not - in many cases - that the subsequent works aren't good.
They are.
It is just that they are nowhere nearly as good as the "masterpiece".
And then, after a while, (after many years and many books, someday, in the shower, or, just thinking about things - perhaps in bed - or while listening to music) it belatedly dawns on you that these people had it in them to write one outstanding work, - but no more - and that to expect this standard to be met again in the future is wildly and impossibly optimistic, and that it is better to accept that they surpassed themselves once, rather than hope that they may repeat the exercise once more during what remains of their writing lives, or their writing career.
And that, then, means one of two things for the reader:
You can accept that the "masterpiece" is almost an aberration, or an alchemy of something unexpectedly wonderful, but can reluctantly accept that this is not that writer's habitual level, or normal standard.
That means that you can still revere the "masterpiece", - and indeed, re-visit it - but that you can also allow yourself to forget about trying the author's new works, to ignore them, or forget about torturing yourself when new works fail to meet the standard of the work that you had fallen in love with.
Or, you can choose to continue reading what that author writes, but secure in the knowledge that there is no way that this work will come anywhere near their acknowledged "masterpiece" (often the author's most popular and best loved work, and often a work that became an unexpected success through "word of mouth" recommendations, after which the various literary establishments belatedly discover them).
Rereading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (skipping around my favourite chapters this time vs. a straight read-through of all 14 books).
That is a rare series that I seriously struggled with - and one that I believe that Brandon Sanderson brought home and completed with respect to the original author's vision - commendably better - indeed, to my mind, far better - than Robert Jordan might have done had he lived.
I would politely beg to differ. The main character invents, if I remember correctly --
- Taming of wild animals (the lion)
- Horse riding
- Fire (I think?)
- Soap (again, IIRC)
- and the Bra.
Not fire, (they had that already, but she did come up with a faster, more efficient, more relaible way of starting fire).
And no, not soap; but she did ensure that the existence of soap was more widely known.
Little of that happened in the first book, which was by far the best in the series.
In the final book, she came up with the patriarchy.
Yeah sorry no. Sanderson did the best he could but he definitely wasn’t even close to Jordan.
Let's agree to disagree, or agree to differ.
To my mind, Jordan's narrative style and prose style were both exceedingly cumbersome - he took ages to get to the point - and he could have done with the servcies of an editor who was not afraid to.....edit.
Ahh so it was her fault then?
Saw the film a long time ago on TV (I think) not read the book.
Ahh so it was her fault then?
According to some, yes.
This is an excellent and thought-provoking read.
Fascinating, and also comes with material that is new to me: For example, I wasn't aware of the Japanese - what verb is appropriate here - Attack? Occupation? Assault? - on some of the islands off Alaska (which was not yet then a state, yes, I know), during WW2.
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I’m currently reading The Short Victorious War on my Kindle. It is the 3rd book in the Honor Harrington series.
Thanks to @Huntn, who recommended that series to me, I have read almost all of them.
However, I preferred the earlier books; the first five comprise their own arc (which I thought very good), and, indeed, up to around the ninth book, the series is pretty good.
I haven't read the two most recent works, but think - for a variety of reasons - that the series has disimproved in the later books.
My reading - and I read at least a book a week, usually more, - sometimes, a few at a time - is a mix of both fact and fiction.
Ref: Honor Harrington Space Opera- I can’t remember the exact count, but I think I’ve read 11 of them and maintained my interest. One thing that impressed me was the structure and description of the battles, how the technology was created by the author, but presented in such a way as to not overwhelm the reader, traps being set, and usually with each new book there was new technology and strategies that usually allows the smaller Kingdom of Manticore to whup up on the larger Republic of Haven.
Reading a couple of indie books from authors I've come to enjoy quite a bit:
In the Shadow of Truth by JE Leak - book 3 in her 'in the shadow of ...' series, WWII sapphic spy action romance series.
This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne - I have an ARC copy as it releases in June. I loved Thorne's "Can't Spell Treason Without Tea", which is a 'cozy fantasy' in the vein of Travis Baldree's "Legends & Lattes" ... and her follow up "A Pirate's Life for Tea" was also excellent. This one is not cozy at all - more of a horror thriller.
In the Shadow of Truth by JE Leak - book 3 in her 'in the shadow of ...' series, WWII sapphic spy action romance series.
This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne - I have an ARC copy as it releases in June. I loved Thorne's "Can't Spell Treason Without Tea", which is a 'cozy fantasy' in the vein of Travis Baldree's "Legends & Lattes" ... and her follow up "A Pirate's Life for Tea" was also excellent. This one is not cozy at all - more of a horror thriller.