Book Club

[insomniac]

I don't mind reading books with hundreds of pages. I do, however, intensely dislike when a hundred (or more) of those pages are loaded with filler.

It's as though the author submitted a story, and the editor wanted the book for be "fatter." So the author expanded on details ad nauseum (much as a student would do when writing a paper for a  class).

Anyway, it really bothers me when I'm reading something that's simply reiterating what's already been said (and maybe more than one time).

There's a nonfiction novel about Robert Louis Stevenson (Nancy Horan's Under the Wide and Starry Sky) that had (IMO) way too much filler. I felt as though I were getting caught in a stretch of boggy land that just wouldn't let me progress. Cut some of this out! I kept thinking. I GET IT.

Anyway, can anyone name other books that have struck them as being needlessly large?

[luv-the-Q]

Just about every book I've read lately goes on and on toward the ending.  It does seem like the stories are being drawn out needlessly.

[DoneTryin]

LOL!  That harkens back to Dickens' time, when writers were paid by the word.  Usually a Stephen King lover, I absolutely hated Tommyknockers &, oh horrors, did not even finish it.  Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy gets pretty wordy, but it's considered a classic so what ca I say.  I did have to finish that one because I was reading it for a literature class.

Oh, BTW, just now finishing The Martian which has been a real page-turner for me & I'm not much of a sci-fi fan.

[Zita]

Insomniac, you've really hit a nerve with me. I find this issue over and over in the newer books (not talking about the 19thC early 20C books). As a writer myself, I am keenly aware of wordiness and overly long passages. I think the book editors could cut at least 10% of any published book, but with the prices of hardcover and even PB books, I think the publishers feel that their authors have to "pad" the stories in order to justify the costs.

Descriptions are too long, too much exposition, repetition, etc. characterize so many books. Stephen King is the worst. Simply can't read him. Other books, I find myself turning pages rapidly until the action begins. Maybe we live in such a fast-paced world, we don't want to waste time on characters who ruminate and rant on in their internal dialogs.  The old saying still works for me:

SHOW, don't TELL.

Thanks for the post!

[ChynnaBlue]

I'm reading a non-fiction book right now that's not too long at 392 pages, but it's VERY repetitive and has taken on the tone of a never-ending rant. I think the author could still have made her point in a much shorter book. I'm not sure I'll finish and that's too bad because I agree with everything she's saying. She really needs a better editor.

The book is Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, by Jennifer L Pozner.

[lovescats]

with so many books today it seems like the hype about the book is a lot better written than the actual book. 

Another thing I don't like is reading a book where it seems the author got their ideas from watching tv.

too many books today need a good editor.

I received an ARC of Smoke by Catherine Mckenzie from amazon/netgalley and it has glowing reviews on goodreads and a beautiful cover but my reaction is huh? That's not the book I'm reading.     

[Marsha2003]

I just wish all books had decent copy editors.  I'm so tired of reading books with misused words and typos. 

[tansy]

James Michener's books popped immediately into my mind.  With some of his novels, I could skip every other chapter and not miss one bit of the story. 

[Lilysmom]

@insomniac, this hits home for me.  I just finished a book and this is how it went with me...read 70 pages and it was the same thing over and over again about this woman trying to escape from a cabin in a remote area.  I went to the last two chapters and it was like I never skipped a page.  Found out who was responsible.  Saved myself 200 pages of dribble😩.  Hate wasting my time when there are so many good books.

But, then, there are those rare books that you never want to end.  Don't you just love them???  LM

[sunala]

I thought The Martian was great, BUT had too much technology and scientific "filler." I guess some people enjoy reading such minute techicalities, but I found those parts totally boring, and I found myself skipping pages to get the "meat" of the story. 

Once I gave in to skipping, I thought it was a great book.