Tyson Adams's Blog, page 48
July 27, 2017
Book review: The Water’s Edge by Karin Fossum
The Water’s Edge by Karin Fossum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre fiction is all about escapism, said no crime fiction fan ever.
A young boy’s body is found in a remote park. It is clear he has been abused and then dumped. The only lead Inspector Sejer has to go on is the man a young couple passed before discovering the boy. And then a second boy goes missing.
This was an incredibly hard book to read. There’s nothing quite like the lurid details of crimes against children to really make you squirm. Karin Fossum doesn’t just make you squirm from the crime itself, either, she seems to want you to be disgusted with humans, as she peels back the layers on all of the characters. Goal achieved.
While this was a tough read, it was still a good solid crime novel. Unlike many other crime authors, Fossum seems to be able to poke at the reader. This is both a good and a bad thing, as it makes The Water’s Edge hard to recommend to others – especially if you have kids – and to give 5 stars to. One for hardened crime fiction fans I’d say.
Tagged: Book review, Book reviews, Crime, crime fiction, Genre, Inspector Sejer, Karin Fossum, Right What You No, The Water's Edge, Tyson Adams
July 25, 2017
That isn’t literature too
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I recently reblogged an article from The Conversation about how awesome the Harry Potter books are, but how snobby (some?) literary people are about them. The vitriol and chastisement of the Harry Potter books reminds me of a time when I too was not on the Potter bandwagon. Oh how wrong I was.
Stupid kid’s books. It’s just The Worst Witch with a Chosen One narrative. That’s not literature!
And once again we come to my favourite book chest thumping topic. How worthy is Harry Potter and how wrong have the snobby people been about it?
I think it is worth addressing a few of the arguments that are levelled at JK Rowling and genre fiction in general. Let’s use Rowling as a stand in for all genre authors. Because all genre authors are just as successful and beloved…
Mostly the arguments revolve around Rowling not having the correct goals in her writing. Of course, these supposed goals are rather arbitrary and change depending upon who is deciding what Rowling’s goals should be. Because apparently writing an entertaining book series that sells hundreds of millions of copies, has devoted fans, promotes laudable social principles, and got some kids reading books who wouldn’t have otherwise isn’t enough for some people. They also tend to expect the world from the Harry Potter books, something that I’ll delve into further below.
Take for example this piece by Nicholas Lezard in The Guardian:
Do I need to explain why that is such second-rate writing?
If I do, then that means you’re one of the many adults who don’t have a problem with the retreat into infantilism that your willing immersion in the Potter books represents. It doesn’t make you a bad or silly person. But if you have the patience to read it without noticing how plodding it is, then you are self-evidently someone on whom the possibilities of the English language are largely lost. Source.
Ugh. I’ve got two words for you, Nicholas Lezard, and they are what your mum should have said to your dad on that fateful day.
There is so much to unpack in that small quote. Lezard starts by insulting fans of the books, then says he isn’t insulting them, then insults them again. Someone who could write a paragraph such as this is self-evidently someone upon whom the possibilities of the English language are largely lost. He’s insulting the use of speech identifier verbs whilst failing to understand the audience and style being utilised. If you expect YA to be using the same style as the Man-Booker winners you’re gonna have a bad time.
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But why insult fans, young and old, of the series? Why insult Rowling? Although she is probably insulated from such lowly criticism in her gold-lined money castle. He didn’t like something, he can critique it, but he is forgetting that a literary critique stands on argument, not insulting people for disagreeing with him.
This speaks poorly of Lezard and other such critics. In a previous post I discussed literary people defending Fort Literature from the invading Lesser Works. But this is Lezard leading a charge against the peaceful village inhabited by the Lesser Works. He has marked himself the despotic bigoted scourge of Fiction Land, seeking to crush all those who would dare be different from him.
Other critics of Harry Potter have argued that the series didn’t do enough to change the world. This piece comes from the unsupported opinions at The New York Times:
But in keeping with the intricately plotted novels themselves, the truth about Harry Potter and reading is not quite so straightforward a success story. Indeed, as the series draws to a much-lamented close, U.S. statistics show that the percentage of youngsters who read for fun continues to drop significantly as children get older, at almost exactly the same rate as before Harry Potter came along. Source.
Of course, the problem with this argument is that it requires one series by one author to change the lives of all kids worldwide… The article itself cites the series as having sold 325 million copies worldwide in the decade since the first book’s release (a third of that in the USA alone). Out of the 1.9 billion kids and 7 billion people in the world that means only 17% of kids, or 4.6% of people have bought a Harry Potter book (because nobody ever bought the whole series, or two copies of one of the books, or saw a copy in a library). To put that 325 million copies for the entire series in perspective, roughly 175 million people paid to see A film in the cinema that was tenuously about cars. A similar number paid to see the final Harry Potter film. Let’s face it: reading isn’t that popular.
Let’s break this amazing phenomenon down a bit further. There have been several studies that have looked at readers, particularly kids, and how many of them have read the books.
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Source
This is a small survey of children (N = 233) looking at Harry Potter fans, but is consistent with other studies and with a Waterstones reader survey the researchers used to validate the small study. You can see that most kids had read the first book, but that quickly dropped off as the series continued. The studies showed that only 25-35% of kids had read all 7 books in the series, with the average fan reading 3.98 books in the series.
Another thing to note is that studies have also found that 46% and 49% had read a Harry Potter book. Or to put it another way, over 50% of kids hadn’t read any Harry Potter books, and many had only tried one (usually the first one). The most popular book series of all time still isn’t read by a majority of people.
But what about JK Rowling’s influence on reading?
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This study was of only 650 kids, but it does illustrate that particularly amongst secondary school kids that they were inspired to read. More books, more difficult books, and more fiction – and if someone can point out the difference between non-fiction and fiction I’d much appreciate it.
Another study of a similar size found supporting results:
Many, though not all, of our enthusiasts consider the Potter books a major contributor to both their self-identification as readers and their wider literacy development. Perhaps the most striking change they reported was the confidence and motivation to try more challenging books or more books in general. Thus, the Potter books—particularly the thicker ones—acted as a “Portkey” or “gateway,” transporting readers into the world of more mature fiction. Source.
The increasing complexity and length of the books was cited in both studies as giving people confidence to grow as readers. But it was also noted that one of the reasons given for not reading all of the books in the series was also the increasing complexity and length. In other words you can’t please everyone, especially not kids. Unless you have ice-cream. And the kids aren’t lactose intolerant.
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So the problem isn’t that the books are second-rate, nor that they aren’t encouraging people (kids are people too) to read. The problem is that even the most popular book series ever is going to have a limited impact. Rowling has managed to connect with a huge audience – for a book – which has had positive impacts on readers, such that they are more likely to go out and read more books, even the more complex books that keep the literary snobs in a job.
It is a big ask to expect one book series to have improved literacy rates. At the risk of labouring the point – any further – most people don’t read, and most people who do read won’t have read Harry Potter. The problem isn’t Rowling failing to inspire people enough. It isn’t that she wasn’t a good enough writer. The problem is that people love to make lazy attacks on genre fiction. They don’t want to admit that reading is not that popular and that what we have been doing is probably not encouraging new readers. At least Rowling was on the right track.
Tagged: Fantasy, Fantasy fiction, Genre, genre fiction, guilty pleasures, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, Literature, Right What You No, Science, Sciency, The Conversation, Tyson Adams, Worthiness, Worthy
July 23, 2017
July 18, 2017
Book vs Movie: The Sex of Game of Thrones – What’s the Difference
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This month CineFix do the episode of What’s the Difference? you’ve been waiting for. No, not The Game of Thrones differences. The sex scene differences of The Game of Thrones.
People are often surprised when I tell them I’m not a fan of The Game of Thrones. But after abandoning both the first book and first season, there isn’t much that could get me interested in coming back.
Some people have tried to convince me that there is plenty of nudity and sex in the books and show. I like to point out that 4% of the internet is porn. When I’ve tried pointing out that most of the characters either die or aren’t protagonists you want to follow, the response is always Tyrion Lannister is awesome…. So that’s one character. I can see why many people love both the books and TV show, but just not for me. Unless it is in a highlights reel format.
Thug Notes summary and analysis of A Song of Fire and Ice.
Wisecracks comparison to The Sopranos and Interregnum
Tagged: Book adaptation, Book adaptations, Book to film, Book to movie, Book vs film, Book vs Movie, CineFix, George RR Martin, Right What You No, Sex scenes, The Game of Thrones, Tyson Adams, What's the difference
July 16, 2017
Book Review: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Did you hear the one about the Vampire, the Were, the Shifter, and the Barmaid?
In this final Sookie Stackhouse novel, Sookie discovers she has many enemies. One group decide to frame her for murder. Another group decide to just murder her. Another decides to steal her boyfriend. Her friends have other ideas about letting any of that happen without a fight.
I haven’t been closely following Charlaine Harris’ series. I’ve enjoyed all the instalments I’ve read so far, and Dead Ever After was no exception. Although, I was surprised to discover this was the final novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series.* This felt like any other instalment in the series to me.
Apparently fans of the series were annoyed with the less than satisfactory ending. A lot of one star reviews have been thrown at this book. One thing seems clear, Sookie didn’t end up with the right guy. Apparently. So if you are an invested fan, this book will probably be used to heat your home in winter. For the less invested fans, this will be regarded as a solid instalment to the series.
*Yes, I can see the tagline on the bottom of the cover. Kinda hard to read when it is thumbnail sized though.
Tagged: Book review, Book reviews, Books, Charlaine Harris, Fantasy, Right What You No, Shifter, Sookie Stackhouse, Tyson Adams, Urban fantasy, Vampire, Vampires, Werewolf
July 13, 2017
Book Review: No Time Left by David Baldacci
No Time Left by David Baldacci
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
If you time travel how can you have no time left?
It is pretty hard to review this book without spoilers, and quite honestly you’ll want to read the spoilers so you won’t waste your time. This short story is about an assassin who is hired to kill his own mother in the past. He does so, he ceases to exist. End of story.
Don’t worry, I didn’t ruin anything for you.
This was so predictable as to be confusing. How could such a popular author churn out such a generic waste of space as this story? Baldacci offers no unique take on this well worn trope, he doesn’t give us an interesting character to follow, his story has massive plot holes, and he doesn’t even offer money back…. Okay, I did get this from the library, but I still feel he owes me money.
The positive reviews I have read for this story appear to be from long time fans. This is my third underwhelming outing with Baldacci. There won’t be a fourth outing.
NB: I do apologise for posting a negative review. Normally I avoid mentioning the books I haven’t enjoyed. I’m making an exception with this review because this story reeks of a big name author and their publisher putting out any old dross they feel like.
Tagged: Book review, Book reviews, David Baldacci, Reading, Right What You No, short story, Spec-fic, Speculative Fiction, Time travel, Tyson Adams
July 11, 2017
Why The Hobbit Sucks
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Before anyone starts, I’ve always thought The Hobbit sucked. I was never a fan of the book, so even a semi-faithful movie adaptation was going to underwhelm me. But there are lessons to be learned by writers (and readers) from The Hobbit movies.
Recently I had a series of posts (1, 2, 3) about The Lord of the Rings movie adaptations, in which I discussed how much I enjoyed them. The movies managed to be awesome and cut out the long waffly bits. The movies were better than the book. But what about the 3 movie adaptation of the 1 book story? Well, here’s a 6 video discussion of the 3 movie adaptation of the 1 book story!
Just Write/Sage Rants dissects the flaws in The Hobbit movies. The videos highlight some of the more important aspects of storytelling and payoffs for the reader, and how they weren’t well handled.
The Characters – The Dwarves
Tensionless Action
Unresolved Plot Lines
Bad Romance
Philo$ophy of Adaptation
Comments and the Extended Editions
Tagged: Adaptation, Book adaptation, Book to film, Book to movie, Book vs film, Book vs Movie, Just Write, Lord of the Rings, LOTR, Movies, movies based on books, Peter Jackson, Right What You No, Sage Rants, The Hobbit, Tyson Adams
July 9, 2017
Hemingway Spoilers – Wrong Hands
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Source: Wrong Hands by John Atkinson.
Tagged: Cartoon, Cartoons, Hemingway, Humor, Humour, John Atkinson, Reading, Right What You No, Tyson Adams, Wrong Hands
July 5, 2017
Reading format
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One pointlessly heated discussion that seems to occur with painful regularity in reading circles is which book format is superior. Do you prefer audio, or digital, or paper, or papyrus, or clay tablets? Personally I can’t see anyone topping the long-term data retention of carving stuff into stone cave walls. Bit time-consuming for authors though.
When this discussion starts everyone rolls out their usual banal reasoning for their preferred format. Without fail someone will talk about the smell of dead tree books (DTB), or the feel of eviscerated tree flesh in their fingers, or refer to some dodgy research that denigrates e-books. For some reason the reading world is filled with technophobic troglodytes intent on proving that their old-fashioned way of doing things is better.
Currently I read books in three different formats: DTB, e-book, audiobook. I like reading all three formats and they have various advantages and disadvantages. I have many fond memories of dead trees. The time I used one to level a table with an uneven leg. The time I threw one at the TV on election night. The time I used a bag full of them to prop open a door with a hydraulic hinge. Good times. I’m sure I have some fond memories of e-books and audiobooks…
Let’s run through a few pros and cons of the three formats.
DTB Pros:
They are a book.
You can read them.
They make you look smart/nerdy when you have lots of them on shelves.
Can turn to the end of the book to see if that character actually died.
DTB Cons:
Being a physical entity they have to be physically moved to your house.
Generally more expensive than an e-book.
Are heavy and awkward to hold.
Hate having tea spilt on them.
Can’t stop a .45 slug, despite claims to the contrary.
E-book Pros:
They are a book.
You can read them.
When you want another you just download it instantly.
Everyone thinks you are reading the latest political biography when you are really engrossed in the love triangle between a teenage girl, a 100-year-old pedophile, and a smelly dog (yes I got dragged to the Twilight films by my wife).
Text can be resized.
E-book Cons:
E-books can’t be used to start a fire in a life threatening situation.
E-book files won’t be forever, but the database will be, which means updating your collection.
E-readers cost money too.
Dedicated e-readers are the domain of avid readers, everyone else can just read on their phone or tablet.
Hate having tea spilt on them.
E-readers are even less likely to stop a .45 slug.
Audiobook Pros:
They are a book.
You can read them.*
Can be read when you’re doing something else.
Exercising and reading is a personal favourite.
Certainly a better way to read when driving.
Audiobook Cons:
Can be expensive.
Are becoming cheaper in digital versions.
Some voice actors don’t have great voices, nor acting.
Takes longer to read… unless you read by sounding out the vowels still.
Are probably the least likely to stop a .45 slug.
What is my key point out of all of this? If you like reading you will like reading regardless of the format. The medium isn’t the message.
The reality is that we have to stop with the snobbery of the format wars. Every format has benefits to enjoy. Every person I have met who has bravely tried e-books and audiobooks has commented that they were unsure until they made the leap. Then they fell in love with all the formats.
I love books in all their forms, you should too.
*Yeah, go ahead and try and argue that point. I dare you.
Tagged: Audiobook, Book format, Dead tree books, DTB, E-book, E-books, e-reader, E-readers, ebook, ebooks, Ereader, Reading, Right What You No, Tyson Adams
July 2, 2017
Old Timey Complaint Letter
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Tagged: Complaint letter, Humor, Humour, Right What You No, Stone tablet, Tablet, Tyson Adams
