OnlineBookClub.org

I can't say it distracted me, probably because I was envisioning him reading the book to me, rather than me reading this book as any other (if that makes sense).

holsam_87 wrote: ↑16 Mar 2018, 00:55 I actually didn't even notice these elements from his style. I guess I was so immersed in reading, that I wasn't distracted at all.

I guess that's great! Sometimes a story is so compelling that I forget I am reading. For me, that did not happen here (though I did like the subject matter), but I am glad that it was good for you!

GabbiV wrote: ↑16 Mar 2018, 10:38 I can't say it distracted me, probably because I was envisioning him reading the book to me, rather than me reading this book as any other (if that makes sense).

That totally makes sense. When I started college my theater history I professor told me that to truly understand Shakespeare you need to hear it aloud. So I taped myself reading it and listened back to it. Sometimes to "hear" instead of read is helpful. I am glad you had that experience!

I went back and forth on this one. I actually liked how the author was very clear each chapter who he was focusing on and where they were; it helped me keep all the characters straight. What often confused me was the sudden changing of tenses mid-sentence. I would be reading in the past tense, then jump right to the present and that threw me off my rhythm a bit. But overall, I enjoyed the story/concept so much, I found myself overlooking the stylistic issues in an effort to get to the end to see what happened.

I think distraction is the way of the authur,she stumbles in a few spots ,where the plot should of rolled with the nextparagraph,it keep me thinking that would of been better off somewhere else.i think it story needs too make some what sense.

I am so on the same page with you! In some places, he was telling a story, in others, it felt like a screenplay with a whole bunch of unnecessary dialog. Still other places, it felt preachy. When he started speaking directly to the reader about 2/3 in ... sigh, I found it very disruptive.

Sptlightstar wrote: ↑17 Mar 2018, 09:58 I went back and forth on this one. I actually liked how the author was very clear each chapter who he was focusing on and where they were; it helped me keep all the characters straight. What often confused me was the sudden changing of tenses mid-sentence. I would be reading in the past tense, then jump right to the present and that threw me off my rhythm a bit. But overall, I enjoyed the story/concept so much, I found myself overlooking the stylistic issues in an effort to get to the end to see what happened.

I have seen a few people reference the tense issue which is something I did not actually notice on my first read through. I decided to do a second read through to try and see if they book hit me differently and I noticed a bit of it. I am curious if I would have without others pointing it out. That is something I love about this group chatting about books, you see things you may have missed otherwise!

KLafser wrote: ↑19 Mar 2018, 10:01 I am so on the same page with you! In some places, he was telling a story, in others, it felt like a screenplay with a whole bunch of unnecessary dialog. Still other places, it felt preachy. When he started speaking directly to the reader about 2/3 in ... sigh, I found it very disruptive.

Thank you! I felt like I would start to like how it was feeling like a play (or screenplay) and then all the sudden those elements would drop out. I personally think that it would have been better as a play, which is something I plan to talk about in my review.

britt13 wrote: ↑19 Mar 2018, 21:04 Thank you! I felt like I would start to like how it was feeling like a play (or screenplay) and then all the sudden those elements would drop out. I personally think that it would have been better as a play, which is something I plan to talk about in my review.

Yes! I did discuss it in my review as well - I'll look forward to reading yours. I think the banter-ish dialogue would work better to close a scene. It wasn't bad but just didn't translate for me in the book.

To be honest, I didn't find it distracting at all. I loved his writing style. I feel that it further enhanced the plot.

britt13 wrote: ↑12 Mar 2018, 14:01

brunettebiblio wrote: ↑12 Mar 2018, 13:43 I DNF'ed this book because of the writing style. For me, it was an issue of too many points of view. I kept getting confused with who said/did what and had to go back numerous times to refresh my memory. Had this been a smaller amount, I think I would have definitely managed to finish, and maybe even enjoy, this story.

I agree. It also felt like backstory was given to a character that was only there for a few pages before they killed themselves/ killed someone else and themselves. I felt that info could have been given through articles or TV news that Vince was taking in. He did it anyway, so it seemed like that would have been less confusing and would have flowed better.

I can agree with this complaint. It is very difficult to follow what is happening with the main characters when so many minor characters are thrown in temporarily. There is not much of a point to getting to know much about them, if their part in the story ends right after it begins. I understood what Fleisher was trying to accomplish but sometimes I'd see a character's name and have to flip back to see who that was he was referencing.

britt13 wrote: ↑15 Mar 2018, 19:01

Honeybeetle wrote: ↑14 Mar 2018, 23:05 I already vented most of my spleen about this in my review, but I felt like the author's style absolutely killed the book's momentum. I found it a struggle to read all the way through as so much of the narrative felt unnecessary. The asides, the irrelevant business jargon, always jumping to a new scene... I honestly got pretty frustrated with it.

I felt the same way. I have yet to write my review because I am rereading the book to see if I was too harsh in my first evaluation of it, but so far I still feel the same way. I was actually surprised to find how many people really enjoyed the book. Just goes to show that people have all different types of tastes in topics, styles, and such in writing.

As long as I am really engaged in the story itself, I am less likely to notice problems with the writing. The thing that bothers me the most are OBVIOUS errors. I can't stand spelling errors especially when it's a character's name!!! I was mildly engaged in this book. Political commentary is pretty boring to me but Fleisher did a pretty good job except with the excessive dialogue from Vince. I also think, being reviewers makes us focus on many aspects of a book and so we don't tend to just immerse ourselves in a story the way we might otherwise. Those who are not reading to do a review may be less critical than those who know they are writing a review and must point out both the pros and cons of a book and those pros and cons must be all encompassing.

melissy370 wrote: ↑11 Mar 2018, 14:52 There were several things wrong with the author's writing style for me. I put all of my frustration with the book in my review for it. One was the odd side comments after some sections from the author. I don't think those were needed. Fleischer had good ideas but overwriting really killed it for me.

I also found the author's side notes to be oddly distracting. I wasn't expecting them at all, they were completely out of "left-field", and were distasteful. I wish the editor would have left it out- but it did seem the editor was a part of these odd side-notes. One second, I was right there with the characters and then all-of-the-sudden I was back outside the book; looking at it and shaking my head. I am glad someone else found those distracting.

Yes! The constant switching from commentary to story was difficult to read. I did find it interesting that the chapters that were political commentary or technical jargon about the watch were actually the most well written, with the fewest mechanical and grammatical mistakes. It made it seem as if the fictional story was an afterthought.

420waystoreachthesun wrote: ↑20 Mar 2018, 12:17 To be honest, I didn't find it distracting at all. I loved his writing style. I feel that it further enhanced the plot.

I agree with you! I like every scene, too. The author guides what place he wanted to tell the readers. I like the way he does it.