Is it ever hard to find books that completely blow you away?
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Is it ever hard to find books that completely blow you away?
- DATo
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In my case I find that about one in 25 books is what I would call exceptionally good by my standards. This extends, in my case, to movies as well, and the percentages are about the same - 1 : 25. But like everyone else I keep looking for that next hit and filter as much enjoyment as I can from what I manage to find in the meantime.
To your question ....
Your question asks if it is hard to find such books. I don't think you can set out to find in advance the type of book that will blow you away. It's like romantic love - it just happens when you least expect it. I have gotten books that I didn't especially feel were going to blow me away, I just got them because someone recommended them, or I had heard the title bantered about a lot and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Some of these books didn't even fall into what would be the areas of interest (topics or genres) I would normally visit to find a book but they still blew me away. Others which I expected to have a big impact upon me fell flat and proved in some cases to have been a huge waste of time.
― Steven Wright
- bookowlie
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What an interesting post! I agree with your comment that finding a "blows me away" book just happens. It's just one of those things, like having a day that is just perfect from start to finish.DATo wrote:I think I speak for many when I say that reading books can be like substance addiction. Once we have experienced a mind-blowing book, or even a mind-blowing incident in a book we are hooked, and we look for that next hit. For others it is just an addiction to quantity rather than quality and they read books with the rapidity of a smoker smoking cigarettes. One is addicted to the rush of a powerful and immediate high and the other to nothing more than the knowledge that they have a book in progress.
In my case I find that about one in 25 books is what I would call exceptionally good by my standards. This extends, in my case, to movies as well, and the percentages are about the same - 1 : 25. But like everyone else I keep looking for that next hit and filter as much enjoyment as I can from what I manage to find in the meantime.
To your question ....
Your question asks if it is hard to find such books. I don't think you can set out to find in advance the type of book that will blow you away. It's like romantic love - it just happens when you least expect it. I have gotten books that I didn't especially feel were going to blow me away, I just got them because someone recommended them, or I had heard the title bantered about a lot and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Some of these books didn't even fall into what would be the areas of interest (topics or genres) I would normally visit to find a book but they still blew me away. Others which I expected to have a big impact upon me fell flat and proved in some cases to have been a huge waste of time.
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- moderntimes
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This is such mostly because I'm a writer myself, several novels and lots of short stories and articles, etc. I "know the tricks" and so it's harder to pull something new for me. And besides writing, I read a lot -- I review mystery novels for a website and I also enjoy reading mysteries, SF, and some supernatural thrillers. So with my fairly extensive reading, it's not easy to find new stuff.
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- DATo
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Ummmm, no. In my case, since last year, I almost always finish the book. Last year I was ready to stop reading one book which seemed to be going nowhere and then (((WHAM))) right out of left field came one of the best plot turns I've ever experienced. I'm talking .... laying-the-book-down-and-walking-around-the-room-in-circles-with-both-hands-on-your-head ... type experiences.rayjamrac wrote:Absolutely! I can so relate. I often feel like a bad book lover because I pick up a book, fully anticipating being blown away, only to be let down and not able to finish the book.
On the other hand I can see what you're saying. It's sort of like that TV show Let's Make A Deal. Would you rather have the time you might waste by reading further? Or would you like to trade that time for one of the three curtains our lovely Carol Merrill is standing in front of? Behind one curtain is a great second half of the novel, and behind the other two are goats.
― Steven Wright
- AndyPandy
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I also find it very hard even though i read lots of "good books" , there are really few that are "mind blowing"aaa1234 wrote:Yes I find it very hard actually. Any suggestions anyone?
Maybe you could try The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini or City by Alessandro Barricco (This one is really weird and you feel kind of lost throughout the whole story but when you finally close it you feel like it all made sense, it's a really strange feeling).
Also there is the Cancer Ward by Alexander Soljenistyne that really marked me. Finally I've been really touched by Extremely Loud and Incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer.
If you ever read one of them (or have read one already) I'd be curious to know what you thought about it
ps: please forgive my English (it must be irritating for literature lovers to see someone making grammar or orthograph mistakes), I'm French...
- moderntimes
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Steven King did this to me in Pet Sematary, which I still regard as his best novel.
For those who are interested in truly mind-shaking thrillers, stories that suddenly reach out and grab you, I'll make a couple of recommendations:
"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy. A stunning and very dark and graphic novel about a scalp hunting expedition in the early 19th century across Texas and Mexico. Not an easy read due to the horrific violence, but indeed a book that occasionally stops you in your tracks.
A superb mystery thriller, part urban fantasy as well, Michael Marshall's "Straw Man" trilogy. Start with the 1st novel "The Straw Men" and it should snag you totally. Stevie King loved it, by the way.
- Miss_Jane2014
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Well said.LivreAmour217 wrote:While most of the books that I read fail to "blow me away," I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. Not every book can be an awesome, life-changing experience. That's just not how life is, you know? Honestly (and I've said this in other posts), if I feel that my time was not wasted by reading a specific book, and I know that I would recommend that book others, I'm happy.
DATo wrote:It's sort of like that TV show Let's Make A Deal. Would you rather have the time you might waste by reading further? Or would you like to trade that time for one of the three curtains our lovely Carol Merrill is standing in front of? Behind one curtain is a great second half of the novel, and behind the other two are goats.
Also well said
What is grief, if not love persevering?
Grief is just love with no place to go.