For those of you who are super annoyed with this books mini-series, you'll be happy to know that this is the last post I'm doing on it!
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Would you rather read a book with terrible writing but a good story OR a book with a terrible story but good writing?
Do you know how many times I've reread Ready Player One? I would much rather have a good story than good writing.
Would you rather not be able to read any new books OR not be able to reread any books ever again?
I would not rather not be able to reread books. I mean, I would really miss my old favorites, but there's so much excitement in every new book that it might become one of your new favorites!
Would you rather be able to only read the first page of a book OR only read the last page of a book?
Oh, this is a tough one. I guess I'd like to be able to read the first page of the book and imagine the story from there. But I guess you could do the same thing if you read the last page. The last page is usually full of names of characters you don't know, though, so I think I'd rather read the first page.
Would you rather be able to read 1 book a year for the rest of your life OR be able to read 100 books this year but never touch a book again?
I mean, it would have be one book a year. But what would I spend all time doing if I weren't reading?!
Would you rather have a book’s ending spoiled for you OR never know the ending?
I'd rather never know the ending, I guess. I could imagine the ending myself.
Would you rather read only one genre for the rest of your life OR read any and all genres except for your all-time favorite genre?
I'd rather give up my favorite genre. I'd have to decide what my favorite genre is, though. Romance? Fantasy? Sue Grafton and JD Robb mysteries?
Would you rather be stuck on an island without a book OR be stuck in a room full of books you don’t like?
Stuck in a room full of books I don't like. Surely I can find something that's at least educational in there, right? To not have any books at all sounds like a worse nightmare than the whole stuck on an island thing.
Would you rather never read a book again OR never watch a movie ever again?
I'd definitely never watch a movie again. I barely watch movies as it is! But to never read a book again!! Egads!!
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Sound off in the comments, friends. Which of these scenarios do you strongly disagree with me on?
I agree with all of these answers— but some really tough questions here!
ReplyDeleteYou should have seen some of the questions I deleted because the choices were too hard for me!!
DeleteThese questions are too hard to answer! The only one I'd disagree with you on is the one about knowing the ending. That doesn't ruin a book for me in the least. But I would hate not knowing for sure what the ending was.
ReplyDeleteI truly have no idea what to think about writing quality vs story. I enjoy Blake Crouch books, which seem to me exemplary of great story, mediocre writing (sorry Blake!) but I might rather enjoy a beautiful sentence and some ongoing backstory without ever having a plot? I DON'T KNOW.
The island question is impossible. IMPOSSIBLE.
I would be so annoyed with beautiful sentences if they never went anywhere. I 100% know this about me. I would probably write a mean review about it being "overwritten." I don't even know what overwritten means, but it probably means in my world that there was no plot. LOL.
DeleteIf you want to see a great example of "overwritten", try reading anything by Henry James, but especially The Turn of the Screw.
DeleteCount me in with the folks who are annoyed that this series in ending!
ReplyDeleteThese are tough choices but:
- Story > writing
- New books since even if I couldn't reread my favs I'd still remember them.
- First page > last page
- 1 book of course!
- Never know the ending. With that said, there are times when spoilers have been appreciated. Loving Frank is a prime example of a book where I needed a heads up about the ending going in.
- I don't have a favorite genre so this is an easy one for me!
- Island please! I'd have my island and memories of my favorite books. A roomful of books that I don't like is useless.
- You would think this would be a hard choice since I love movies...but it's the easiest question on the list. Bye bye movies, I gotta have my books!
A roomful of books I don't like is better to me than no books! I'm sure I can get SOMETHING out of those books, but with no books there's not even a chance. Also, I do not want to be on a desert island. I think maybe that's even the sticking point for me. I'd rather be in a room than outside on an island!
DeleteHmm, I'm of a different opinion than you on a few things. I don't mind a spoiler so I wouldn't mind knowing what would happen BUT I really like a good first page. I would much rather have good writing than a good story, terrible writing is irritating to me. I would also die if I couldn't reread my old favourites, I am such a rereader as you know! So I'd take that. I would take ONLY my genre, forever. I am so glad we don't have to actually face these choices!! Because the desert island would be tough, but I agree with you, I'd take the shitty books over no books.
ReplyDeleteAlso WHO doesn't like this miniseries? I love it! I love that you did this!
The more I think about rereading, the more I think that it's not too bad of a choice, either. I mean, I have read A LOT of books in my life. Rereading some of them would be like reading a brand new book again. I think I might have been too hasty in my decision about that question. I do like the excitement of a new book, though. That's a very hard one for me.
DeleteI think the non-bookish people in my blog world are a bit annoyed by this series. But if they are non-bookish people, why are they reading THIS blog, I say?!
Terrible writing but a good story...for SURE. A bad story is never redeemed by good writing.
ReplyDeleteI'd choose never reading new books. I'd be so sad if I couldn't re-read. (Though, thank goodness this is just a hypothetical Would You Rather because I would be so sad if I couldn't read new books too).
Easy - last page. My father actually does this with every book he reads, starting at the end and then going back to the beginning...
1 book a year.
Ending spoiled. I don't mind knowing how things work out before I finish reading. See above...maybe it's genetic?
One genre. I'd keep memoir and think I could be relatively happy with just that niche forever.
An island without a book. I like books, but hate reading bad books. At least on an island I could lounge in the sun and get some exercise. Being surrounded by bad books sounds incredibly depressing.
Never watch a movie again. I love documentaries (fit with my love of memoirs), but feel extremely Meh about movies...other than White Christmas each Christmas season. My husband would be the exact opposite. It has been years since he last read a book (I KNOW!!) but he absolutely loves, loves, loves movies.
And I'm with Nicole. Is there actually someone who doesn't love these posts? They're amazing.
There's a member of our book club who always reads the last page of a book before she starts it, too. Your father is not alone in his weirdness! I have only ever done that when I suspected a pet might die - I am NOT reading a book where the dog/cat dies (who thought Where the Red Fern Grows was a good book for children to read?!?!), but otherwise it seems so crazy to me to start at the end.
DeleteThere have been some folks who are not book readers who are not enjoying this series. LOL. I feel like maybe this blog isn't a great fit for them, but maybe they're here to read about the exploits of Hannah and Zelda.
There is a book called "No More Dead Dogs" by Gordon korman that addresses the 'dog dies' trope in children's literature. Great fun, and the dog lives!
DeleteI could give up movies bc we don't really watch them, but serial tv mysteries, however . . .
ReplyDeleteYes, if the decision had been books or television shows, that would also have been much harder for me.
DeleteSome of these are easy (never watch a movie again, obviously, never be able to reread would be okay) but some are impossible! For your first question (which is very difficult!) - really, Ready Player One has terrible writing? I was thinking of getting it for my son for Christmas! Is it really that bad? I guess the story is good, at least.
ReplyDeleteYou can keep talking about books as long as you like!
Ready Player One is a plot-driven novel. The characters are flat, the writing is spare, and it gets a lot of knocks for its writing. I think it's super readable and fun, though, so I still recommend it. I once convinced a boy I tutored who was reading hesitant to read RP1 and then he read Ender's Game and then he was a sci-fi fan! So, you know. It is what it is. I've never read another Ernest Cline book that was good, though, so I think he's sort of a one and done.
DeleteAgreed. Ready Player Two was not great, and RP1 was not well written but it has 80s video games! Sign me up. I enjoyed it.
DeleteWould you rather read a book with terrible writing but a good story OR a book with a terrible story but good writing?
ReplyDelete-This is a toss-up for me. I'd not be able to care about the story because I'd be stuck on the writing. At least with the good writing, I'd be able to appreciate that, but I'd be harping about how it's wasted on poor plotting, character development, etc. Ugh. Probably the latter. What an awful question.
Would you rather not be able to read any new books OR not be able to reread any books ever again?
-I abhor risk, so I'd probably say I'd rather give up new books and live happily with all my old friends since there are so, so very many.
Would you rather be able to only read the first page of a book OR only read the last page of a book?
-First page, no question. (Neither one offers much of anything, anyway, usually.)
Would you rather be able to read 1 book a year for the rest of your life OR be able to read 100 books this year but never touch a book again?
-One book a year.
Would you rather have a book’s ending spoiled for you OR never know the ending?
-I'll take the spoiler. How it gets there is really the thing.
Would you rather read only one genre for the rest of your life OR read any and all genres except for your all-time favorite genre?
-This is easy: I'll read one genre IF I get to pick. There are a lot of genres out there that I have zero interest in (sci fi, fantasy, mystery).
Would you rather be stuck on an island without a book OR be stuck in a room full of books you don’t like?
-This is difficult. I've sort of been in this situation when I've been without a book and had to find something to read. You'd be surprised at how frustrating it is to be surrounded by books that you seriously CANNOT STAND TO READ. I think I'd rather be on an island without a book; it might force me to write one.
Would you rather never read a book again OR never watch a movie ever again?
-I'd rather give up movies. I find it very difficult to find a good one.
What an awful question is how I thought about most of them, to be fair. I actually deleted some questions because I was all "don't make me choooooose."
DeleteYou can pick the genre you get to read, Nance. What genre do you pick?
I'd probably pick history. Or historical fiction. If I could really narrow it down, I'd pick 19th century history/historical fiction. I've only recently begun reading contemporary fiction. I was very entrenched in nonfiction for ages.
DeleteThanks for letting me pick.
Well, I strongly disagree with whomever is super annoyed with these book posts- I love them!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree with a lot of your choices. I would MUCH rather be able to reread books though. It sounds dramatic but it really is a mental health thing for me, the ability to be distracted and quiet in my mind while I revisit familiar stories. While I absolutely like discovering new authors and new books to me, that's a very active type of reading, and doesn't work for like, pre bedtime decompression for me.
When I am in a reading rut or if my life is going slightly off the rails, I definitely reread books. I completely understand. I don't want to admit how many times I've read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire or A is for Alibi. I might have been a bit too hasty about that question. I've read a lot of books in my life and that's still a lot to choose from!
DeleteOMG, Engie! How did you come up with these questions?! I don't have answers yet... and may end up writing essays for each of them... And I kind of want to save this list for a dinner party!
ReplyDeleteThese kinds of questions make me ridiculously angry, even though they are hypothetical. WHY DO I HAVE TO CHOOSE? WHY DO I HAVE TO THINK DEEPLY. lol
ReplyDeleteTerrible writing but good story, I GUESS. I have started books and been happy when I realized the writing was good, only to feel horribly betrayed when the story is lame.
New books over rereads, by a tiny tiny, barely discernible margin. Although I do always reread when I need a boost because 1. I know I like the book and 2. My memory is now so bad it's kind of new anyway. So I dunno.
First page of a book.
One book a year, but oy, like you said. Would I have to finally take up Pickleball?
Ending spoiled, I think. I would hate not knowing the ending. If it was a surprising ending I would be surprised whether I read it or heard it.
I would probably give up horror, sadly. There can be elements of horror in other genres, I'll console myself with that.
Roomful of books I don't like. Computer manuals and philosophy texts, bring it on.
Giving up movies, obviously. I do like movies, though.
I would choose good story over good writing. Good writing is so subjective and I think I am a more forgiving reader than some so I'd choose a good story.
ReplyDelete100% new books. I am not a re-reader.
First page of a book. The last page would not be satisfying for me at all! (not that reading only the first page would be but it would be more satisfying than reading the last page)
One book/year
I'd prefer the ending spoiled! I don't like not knowing the ending so I really hate it when a book ends and it's not clear what happened or is going to happen.
I'd read across genres. I would say my favorite genre is literary fiction but that is a pretty broad genre. That said, I could give it up and read a variety of other genres.
I could give up movies easily. I rarely watch them!
What kind of horrible world is this where I have to make these choices????
ReplyDelete-I guess I would choose good story over good writing.
-I'm not much of a re-reader, so I would for sure choose new books over re-reading.
-I would rather read the first page. I do sometimes read the last page of books when I'm browsing, but only if I don't think I'll read the whole book - if the last page is really good, I might decide to read the book after all.
-1 book over 100 books. I don't have the capacity to read 100 books in one year.
-spoiler vs. not knowing the ending... that one's hard. On the one hand, I hate spoilers - I sometimes will cover the next page in a mystery novel when I can tell I'm getting close to the end so I don't inadvertently read the solution. But sometimes I don't mind knowing what is coming up.
-I feel like genre is pretty fluid thing. So sure, take a way my favorite genre (whatever that might be.. maybe romance?) because there will always be love stories in other books.
-Stuck in a room with books I don't like. I'm with you - I'll find something to read. Unless maybe it's a room full of books about violence against women. That might be a toughie. Maybe in that case I'll just write my own books on a desert island.
- Yeah, I'm with you - I think I would be okay never to watch another movie ever again.
I pretty much agree with you on most of these, the only one I'd be thinking about would be #1 because I really, really enjoy good writing > the story (I think). I mean, if the story is super-boring, I don't think the writing could really change that, but I often decide if I want to read a book or not by reading the first few pages and if the writing is terrible, I won't read it no matter how good the story supposedly is.
ReplyDeleteI think for the genre question it depends on how specific it would need to be. If fantasy would include witches, fairies, time travel, vampyres, alternate realities, etc. I would forgo the rest. I was just wondering about it this morning and came to the conclusion that most books I really like are fantasy anyway.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with Lisa's answers except I see she skipped the island question and for that I would pick bad books over no books. I could probably live without books if there were card ganes and YouTube but if I were on the island with nothing at all, I would go crazy.
ReplyDelete