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Post by Kunna Drakonis on Nov 18, 2009 5:04:20 GMT -8
Ooo! You just reminded me I wanted to watch Sailor Moon this morning.
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Post by Damiana Jones on Nov 18, 2009 10:55:53 GMT -8
I try not to compare Anne Rice to Stephanie Meyers because Anne Rice is in a league of her own. All her own. They really wrote to two very different crowds. I'm not sure that tweens nowadays would be able to appreciate Anne Rice and her books. And yeah, I know I'm only nineteen years old. But seriously, things were a bit different when I was fourteen. If Twilight came out when I was fourteen, I don't know if it would have been as big as it is now. I think most of us around my age have a sort of different appreciation for things like that. Hmmm...I don't know if I am wording it right.
Just that...I grew up watching things like Boy Meets World and Wonder Years...Famous Jett Jackson...So Weird..yada yada yada. Power Rangers even. The concept of love and obsession was never really portrayed to be so easily attainable in those teen shows that I grew up on. With all the tween shows out now, things are just so...superficial. And Twilight came off as something so superficial. And I hate that's what draws in the tweens nowadays. Everything is so superficial. No one really gets deep in their shows for teens anymore. Everyone wants to just play up that whole...Hannah Montana crap.
Anyway..>.> Back on topic. I prefer Anne Rice because she appealed to me. I like things provocative when done tastefully. I love sensual vampires. I like how they move with grace. I like how they may not be that great lookin, but they got that sensuality that draws you in still. My favorite thing about Anne Rice as a writer is how complicated she made her characters. I am in love with complicated characters. Ask anyone that RPs with me. I love complicated characters. There are so many things complicated characters have to overcome. There isn't a dull moment. You cry and laugh with them.
Stephanie Meyers' characters aren't complicated. They're static. Not dynamic. And it would be an insult to my ideals of character development to just...read those books.
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Damari
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Post by Damari on Nov 18, 2009 11:54:57 GMT -8
Insult to your ideals of character development? As I said before many many times, I despise Twilight. I read one chapter of it and I was done. I couldn't stand it. I hated the concept of everything. I hated that they were vegetarian vampires. I hated how obsessed Bella was with Edward. I hated how easily she was willing to accept he was a vampire. You've only read a chapter of the book? How can you make decisions like this based on that? It's a Young Adult Book. I love David Eddings, when I was 11 reading his books they were uber awesome. But I can't touch them now, I read them and I'm bored. I love the stories, I loved them when I was younger and that story was as complicated as you could get that could still talk to an 11 year old. Twilight. Five years ago isn't that long ago. Your reading experiences have only just started, or just getting rolling along. Why make blanket statements like that? You've already admitted you've only read the first chapter of the first book. It just seems a little judgmental for what you've read. Really, Puawai, I recommend reading any book by Jodi Picoult. The woman is -amazing.- And I think you'd enjoy her books. I will see. I'm not a fan of modern fiction but I do know she's good. If and when I read I like things that are way out of my life experiences. I find I critique modern fiction a little too much. I can't critique a world with vampires, cause, how the hell would I know. I haven't started reading them yet. I'm not racing to it. Just saying, I'll give it a shot. During my stint editing for a publishing company I read some serious shit, complete and utter garbage. I have a high tolerance, just little patience until I make a decision to give it a good try. Like now.
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Nyatta Leigh Kigarra-Morte
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Post by Nyatta Leigh Kigarra-Morte on Nov 18, 2009 12:23:35 GMT -8
The books, I'm sure, are brilliant if you're an overly angst ridden fourteen year old. I, however, prefer to have slightly more substance to my fiction. Angst comes from being a teen? Who knew? Anyway, good luck with that Puawai.
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Post by Damiana Jones on Nov 18, 2009 12:34:53 GMT -8
It is a little judgemental because I know myself well enough to know when I'm not going to like a book. For me, I only need to read the first chapter of a book to decide if it's something is worth my time of reading. I'll admit the synopsis of Twilight sounds great. But when I finished the first chapter of that book I knew exactly how it was going to end. It's predictable. It's Peach Girl with a shot of vampire and lycan drama added in the mix to give it some spice. That's really all it is. My reading experiences haven't just begun. I stopped reading YA books when I was eleven. I needed books with more substance. I needed books with complicated characters. I needed books where I can actually connect with characters. I needed books where I could actually appreciate the writer and their writing. I can't do that in this case because it does actually sound like a narrative fanfiction.
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Post by Louvain on Nov 18, 2009 12:36:35 GMT -8
Bathroom stalls could probably outdo these books.
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Promethius
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Post by Promethius on Nov 18, 2009 13:15:36 GMT -8
I've outdone these books IN bathroom stalls
*ba-dum-psh*
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Persephone
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Post by Persephone on Nov 18, 2009 22:08:50 GMT -8
I actually enjoyed the books, but I also see a very different side to them. The vampires aren't what I picture them to be, but that doesn't mean that she needed to write them how -I- wanted them. It's not my book, it's hers. There's a whole lot of symbolism in them that I've seen because of my own background that I happen to share with Stephenie Meyer, and it was actually refreshing for me to read fiction from an LDS author that wasn't the same formula that we always have to carry in my bookstore. I hope you do enjoy them for what they are Puawai. She's an LDS author? Oooh, I'll have to read then most certainly. I've not read anything by a (reasonably devout) LDS member since Card's Alvin Maker, and Ender's series. Yup, you'll see tons of churchy references in there Joshie >.> Puts "sparkling beings" in a completely different light doesn't it, possibly even celestial? P.S. Remind me and I'll mail you my demos of Betsy Brannon Green, she's fabulous (well...for LDS fiction).
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Damari
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Post by Damari on Nov 19, 2009 1:06:55 GMT -8
I mean, dont' get me wrong.
I fully expect it to be shit. Hell, like Damiana's human, I might not make it past the first chapter. I'm not feeling it, not getting my hopes up, and have serious doubt of my ability to withstand the inspid characterisation, but.... I'm going to see.
Just because, if I do, I can say I tried. And that will be all. But I can't say, until I try ... so try I will.
I'm not going to take the high road and torture myself if I can't stand it. I'm not that good a person. *grin*
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Andre
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Post by Andre on Nov 19, 2009 3:42:50 GMT -8
The books, I'm sure, are brilliant if you're an overly angst ridden fourteen year old. I, however, prefer to have slightly more substance to my fiction. Angst comes from being a teen? Who knew? No no no. It's called a 'target audience'.
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virgo_shelly
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Post by virgo_shelly on Nov 19, 2009 9:28:52 GMT -8
I mean, dont' get me wrong. I fully expect it to be shit. Hell, like Damiana's human, I might not make it past the first chapter. I'm not feeling it, not getting my hopes up, and have serious doubt of my ability to withstand the inspid characterisation, but.... I'm going to see. Just because, if I do, I can say I tried. And that will be all. But I can't say, until I try ... so try I will. I'm not going to take the high road and torture myself if I can't stand it. I'm not that good a person. *grin* Simply because you're trying to read it before dissing the book, not that it means a whole lot, but I have a good deal of Respect for you Puawai. Its more then a lot of people would or will do anymore. Now days people read the back of the book and say they don't like it.
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Persephone
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Post by Persephone on Nov 19, 2009 9:38:55 GMT -8
Or just look at the cover. I see that -a lot-.
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Post by Damiana Jones on Nov 19, 2009 9:49:16 GMT -8
Well....isn't that the point of the synopsis? There is nothing wrong with reading the back of a book and determining it's not a book you want to read. That's like saying...Everyone should buy a book because the book may be good if they gave it a chance even though they don't like the basic plotline. And sometimes, the synopsis dresses things up so well, you get the book and you can't finish it cause it's awful. I can't tell you all the countless times I bought a book because I read the synopsis and it sounded great, only to hate the book because it was like choking down a box of nails to get through it. The synopsis is suppose to help with the decision of whether a book is worthy of the time it would take to read it. And if people don't like the sound of the basic plot mapped out in a synopsis, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Not reading a book because of the synopsis is not some new technique that people are doing nowadays. It's always been around. Just because some people may have read the synopsis of Twilight or any other book and decided it wasn't worth the read, doesn't necessarily mean they're in the wrong. Maybe they just saved themselves a great deal of money. I know for myself, if I don't like the basic plotline, the first thing in my mind is definitely not: "Oh my gosh. I don't find this plot really appealing. Hey! Let me go buy this book anyway." No, I won't buy the book. Why? There's a 50/50 chance I'm not going to finish the book because I still don't like the plot.
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Post by melkya on Nov 19, 2009 10:21:42 GMT -8
You would probably hate the stories I'm working on then. Most of my characters don't come out completely complicated right in the first chapter. That's not to say they're completed, but as the reader, especially in the ones that I plan on writing more than one "book" we'll say. I look at it like this, if you just met me, you may not know what, if any mental/emotional scars i may or may not have. You aren't going to immediately know my history. So let's say I have a character you feel is shallow, has no depth, or even seems complicated in the first chapter, that's because you just met him/her. I'm not going to start off a story with "John was a serial killer because his father abused him when he was a kid, and then made him watch while he tortured and killed his mother." because that'll take the fun out discovering that John's just not some murdering A-hole but indeed a tortured person.
I'm not defending anyone or condemning anyone, but simply saying that you're going to call characters uncomplicated, take the time to get to know them in the story. Yeah I'll look at the basic plot line on the back and decide if i want to read it, but i don't expect to "know" the characters in chapter 1 of book 1.
edit: add more stuff
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virgo_shelly
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Post by virgo_shelly on Nov 19, 2009 10:38:04 GMT -8
Judging a book by the back, to see if you want to read it, is one thing. But to say "Oh I hate this book why would you read it?" When you've never even cracked the cover. There is a huge difference there.
Melkya, I completely agree with you. You shouldn't know everything about a char in the first chapter, but instead get to know and love them through the whole book.
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