Do you ever want to throw a book?

[Jute]

What makes you angry when you read a book? Is there ever times you find yourself yelling at the book or want to throw it across the room?

[Danielle]

Using said in every paragraph. Occasionally, there'll be a character that irritates me, most likely because they just don't learn. Too proper/stiff speech when it isn't because of characterization (e.g. an immortal character that was raised in a time when that was how people spoke). Using present tense for the entire book. Including the action of one character with the dialog of another. Confusing dialog (notice a trend here?).

[Kathryn]

The end of Changes by Jim Butcher. I remember going to his website the day I finished it (the day it came out) and seeing pages upon pages of fans screaming for Butcher to tell them what happened next because it was such a bad (good) cliffhanger. He ended up publishing a short story not long after to appease fans before coming out with Ghost Story a year later... lol

Edit: That's not to say I didn't like the book, I LOVED it... but sometimes you CAN'T wait a year for the next part!

[Maggie]

endless repetition. I threw Foreigner and never picked it up again, because all throughout the first half of the story the character just kept repeating how worrried he was, and never did a thing about it.

[Sysilouhi]

Hmm. Only times I have wanted to throw a book have been when the book has been really good and then in the end my favourite character(s) has been killed. Though I obviously can't say what books these have been because it would be a huge spoiler...

Strangely I have never wanted to throw a bad book but that may be because they don't really make me mad, like a death of a loved character, but rather annoyed, sometimes disappointed or even sad, but I can't really remember being mad because a book was bad.

I guess if the book has something it can provoke such a strong reaction out of me with, it must at least have something good in it. Otherwise I wouldn't care enough.

[Bert]

Excessive descriptions of how people/places/things appear are enough to get me to put down a book and never read it again. But it's more of a gentle put down, and not really a throw. Does that still count?

I think the only times I've ever thrown books were when I was young and used them as make-shift projectile weapons.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

When characters just act so bone-headed stupidly or are just plain annoying, I sometimes want to throw the book.

I will agree that excessive descriptions and repetition are both things that make me lose interest and want to put the book away, though.

[Tacuazin]

The last book I wanted to throw to the wall was Kristen Ashley's Sweet Dreams. I had to breath deep each time someone mentioned what a great hair the heroine had (who the hell cares!?) or read a detailed list of what she was wearing (again, who the hell...).
I hate it when women are portrayed as shallow doormats.
Luckily for my Sony reader, the breathing exercises help in most cases.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Tacuazin wrote: "The last book I wanted to throw to the wall was Kristen Ashley's Sweet Dreams. I had to breath deep each time someone mentioned what a great hair the heroine had (who the hell cares!?) or read a de..."

That kind of reminds me of the Zoe Martinique series, starting with Wraith - of which I've read the first two.

The plot was interesting enough, but I couldn't stand the main character. When in the presence of a hot guy at one point she "felt an egg drop", and she kept making 'mental notes' about 'oogy' things.

She was in her 30s, but came across as 16. Soooo annoying.

[Lee]

I have wanted to throw books 5, 6 and 7 in the WoT series. As the books seem to be 40% walking around talking, 40% discussing what they are wearing, bitching at each other, blushing or plunging necklines. 20% story, usually at the end of the book.
Luckily I was listening to it on audio so couldn't toss the book out the window. But have since decided that morning DJ drivel on the radio is more interesting that trying book eight.

[Lee]

The other thing that irritates me, is filling in back story in next instalments of a series.
Seriously, a little bit is ok, but if you are describing a main characters back story in book three of a series, you are just padding the story. Robin Hobb springs to mind as a culprit of this.

It does nothing for the (most likely) majority of the readers who are following the series. The author is saying 'just in case you have a crap memory, let me remind you about book one'. or worse 'i'll just take a moment to fill in the back story for our new readers, they could n't be bothered buying my previous books or spending the time to read them, but thats ok'

ohhh.. ranting.....

[Karen]

I threw an algebra book once. :)

[Sharon]

Jute wrote: "What makes you angry when you read a book? Is there ever times you find yourself yelling at the book or want to throw it across the room?"

That's the biggest disadvantage I've discovered with my Kindle ... I can't throw it!

There are several things that will make me want to throw a book at the nearest wall.

1. Cliffhanger ending. Absolutely hate them to the extent I am unlikely to ever read anything by that particular author again.

2. Something I call the 'Bluebeard's Castle' syndrome, the one where the dumb blonde/amateur detective opens the door that they've been told they should never open.

3. And on a purely personal note, as a lifetime horsewoman having an author insert equines into the storyline and then describe things that absolutely cannot happen/ does not occur infuriates me. There are no blue-eyed white Arabians ... a troop of cavalry can not cover 500 miles in four days ...

[Brenda]

I remember that DECISION AT DOONA by Anne McCaffrey was so annoying that I actually dropped the paperback into the trashcan.

[Kathryn]

Sharon wrote: "3. And on a purely personal note, as a lifetime horsewoman having an author insert equines into the storyline and then describe things that absolutely cannot happen/ does not occur infuriates me. There are no blue-eyed white Arabians ... a troop of cavalry can not cover 500 miles in four days ... "

THIS.

Or then they try to explain it with "magic horses" but go no further.

Also- There is no such thing as white horses. They can be grey, they can be albino, or in the rare case sabino (which can show white coloring, still not pure white but often called white).

[Sharon]

Kathryn wrote: "There is no such thing as white horses. They can be grey, they can be albino, or in the rare case sabino (which can show white coloring, still not pure white but often called white)"

Actually, there are 'true white' horses. There have been several documented pure white Thoroughbreds fairly recently and it is thought they are the result of a genetic 'glitch'.

Albino does not exist in horses, if it did, they would be white horses with pink eyes and there have never been any documented. What is usually called albino is actually a horse that has two copies of the cream dilute gene, which produces a pale cream to white body color and blue eyes. One copy of the cream dilute produces buckskin on a bay base coat and palomino on a chestnut base coat.

As you mentioned, you can also occasionally get a white horse (or nearly white) with the extreme expression of the sabino gene ... often you will find colored ears, or at least some colored hairs, on the ears.

[[deleted user]]

In my efforts to rid myself of paper books once and for all, I had a stack of ancient paperbacks waiting to be read that I cranked through. Several I threw away in disgust, including Flash Forward by Robert Sawyer, and a collection of the four Earthsea books.

[Amy]

I threw Stranger in a Strange Land across the room.

The rampant gay bashing and sexism was bad enough but when Jill said "9 times out of 10 when a woman gets raped it's partly her own fault" the book hit the wall.

After that I tortured it for awhile, spilling coffee all over it, etc.

I remember thinking adults were crazy.

[Danielle]

Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard. Throughout the entire story, the book have strong comedic, satyrical elements. It's a comedy. It's clear that it is a dry comedy from the blurb. I mean, isn't he known for that? Then, suddenly, it turns into a tragedy! I mean, really?!?

[Kathryn]

Sharon wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "There is no such thing as white horses. They can be grey, they can be albino, or in the rare case sabino (which can show white coloring, still not pure white but often called white)..."

I was of the understanding that those so called "white" horses did in fact have pigmentation (black spots on skin, black/grey hair etc) making them greys.

[Danielle]

Colleen wrote: "Tacuazin wrote: "The last book I wanted to throw to the wall was Kristen Ashley's Sweet Dreams. I had to breath deep each time someone mentioned what a great hair the heroine had (who the hell care..."

My mom's in her fifties. She still acts like she's sixteen, so that doesn't really surprise me. Though, I've certainly had some books that I put down because I couldn't stand the main character. I wanted to pull my hair out because she never learned. Anything. She kept stumbling into these embarrassing situations. I don't like those types of situations in real life, I hate them in my books.

[Danielle]

Lee wrote: "The other thing that irritates me, is filling in back story in next instalments of a series.
Seriously, a little bit is ok, but if you are describing a main characters back story in book three of ..."

Actually, from what I've heard, it's standard practice to do this. In all genres, in all media. This is to make it so each item can stand alone.

[[deleted user]]

There are only two times that I would throw a book:

Either, the book is so good at generating emotions that it would make me want to do that.

OR

I dislike the book as a whole. Whether it was the style of writing, the prose, poorly written characters and story.

[[deleted user]]

There are a lot of things that make me want to throw a book across the room. Some of which are:

1) characters that make me want to tear out my hair by the fistful (douchebags and sociopaths as the MCs, usually)
2) love triangles
3) repetitive writing
4) purple prose/thesaurus rape
5) Cliches/lack of originality/overuse of stupid tropes (Eragon is one example of this)
6) Contrived, predictable, forced plot

So yeah, that's my list. Fifty Shades of Grey holds the first place trophy for making me want to throw it across the room. The only reason I didn't was because I was in Barnes Nobles reading it, and the staff would probably get mad at me.

[Sharon]

Kathryn wrote: "I was of the understanding that those so called "white" horses did in fact have pigmentation (black spots on skin, black/grey hair etc) making them greys. ."

Grey isn't a 'color' it is due to a gene which affects the base coat color that the horse is born with, so unless the horse is a double dilute as well (pink skin) the skin of a grey horse will be dark. Foals are born their 'real' color, their base coat color, but will go gray, often as soon as they shed their foal coat, a few as late as 4 or 5 years old. Some grays will never lose all of the hair pigmentation, others will go completely white.

An example of this is the Lipizzan horses. The foals are all born dark, bay or black, but most are completely white by the time they are 10 years old.

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

Jocelyn - Totally agree with your list, especially #2 recently. It's become an almost intant turn-off for me once we enter love triangle territory.

[Danielle]

Jocelyn wrote: "There are a lot of things that make me want to throw a book across the room. Some of which are:

1) characters that make me want to tear out my hair by the fistful (douchebags and sociopaths as the..."

Totally agree with 1. Single fasted way for me to give up (except maybe poor editing). Number 2? I just realized that the numbers series by Janet Evanovich has a love triangle... Well, hell. And don't 3 & 4 kind of contradict each other? I tend to use a thesaurus to fix the repetition problem. I kinda like purple prose, though, when it's used carefully. It can really help to draw the reader into the book right from the start or slow the action down when a scene needs it. As for 5, again, I have a problem with overuse. But, using cliches can speed up the reading. Because people are used to hearing it, it improves the flow of the sentence. And six, ugh. What's the point in writing if you can't come up with a decent plot? Unless it's a comedy (e.g. your classic horror movies - so predictable, they're funny).

[Sharon]

I suppose my foremost reason for putting a book down is that I couldn't associate with the main characters. Regardless of style, editing, and delivery, I have to be able to connect to the main characters be it the protagonist or even the antagonist and how logically they traverse through their situation.

[[deleted user]]

Danielle wrote: "Jocelyn wrote: "There are a lot of things that make me want to throw a book across the room. Some of which are:

1) characters that make me want to tear out my hair by the fistful (douchebags and s..."

Well, I mean thesaurus rape as in when you take a word, thinks it's not fancy enough, and then replace it with a word that's not in the right context (usually because it's not a perfect synonym, or looks awkward in the context, resulting from the author being very unfamiliar with the word). You should find words in your own vocabulary, not outside. This happens a lot with Twilight and Eragon, when the author just wants his/her writing to look PRETTY. Thesaurus use is fine. Thesaurus OVERuse gets on my nerves.

Cliches can be effective when you use them well. When your story is NOTHING but cliches, I think it's a problem. Or, sometimes, people use tropes when they're not really necessary. For example, I really, really, really hate golden-haired princesses. I mean...seriously. Not all princesses have golden hair. The Dark Lord is so overused I can't even say the term without lmao, Etc.

Hope that clarified!

[Kevin]

I would never throw a book no matter how much I hate the book because to hate to see books get damage.

[Michele]

No - but there are a few writers I wouldn't mind strapping into a trebuchet and letting loose!

[Michele]

Brenda wrote: "I remember that DECISION AT DOONA by Anne McCaffrey was so annoying that I actually dropped the paperback into the trashcan."
Ooo I LOVED that book. But then the main character was exactly like my son at the time so I was biased.

[Danielle]

Jocelyn wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Jocelyn wrote: "There are a lot of things that make me want to throw a book across the room. Some of which are:

1) characters that make me want to tear out my hair by the fistful ..."

Ah, yes. A full understanding of the meaning of a word is essential. And overuse of cliches should only be in satires. Though, I do love it when an author twists a trope, like having the blonde-haired princess saving the day rather than being all woe is me, I'm so helpless, save me. Or having the "Dark Lord" actually be a nice blonde, blue eyed guy who just likes wearing black cloaks and acting all creepy.

[Danielle]

Michele wrote: "No - but there are a few writers I wouldn't mind strapping into a trebuchet and letting loose!"

I always imagine strangling or slapping but I like your's better.

[Peggy]

I don't remember which one it was, but one of the middle books in Jack Chalker's Flux and Anchor series hit the back of my bedroom wall with a satisfactory "thunk." Why would the gods give such a spectacular imagination to a man who clearly hated women?

[Evilynn]

I hate to see books get damaged too, so I can only think of two instances where I literally threw a book against the wall upon finishing it. The first was Sea of Silver Light and the second was Dune (don't look at me that way, someone upthread tossed Earthsea!). Both because of issues with the end. In the case of Sea of Silver Light the last 10-15 pages should've just gone. (view spoiler)[The driving force behind Otherland is a Big Brain in the sky!? Which in the end crashes down on daddy? Really? Really really?? (hide spoiler)] It's like Williams had no idea how to end it and went with something generated off of random.org. It's still the biggest let down in explanation of a mystery I've come across in reading. Probably compounded by the fact that the Otherland books are bricks, and reading the first 200 pages was a chore. In the case of Dune it's the very last sentence.

The frustration comes of good books letting me down. Simply bad books I'll groan at and (very rarely) stop reading. Maybe bang my head against the wall.

[[deleted user]]

Danielle wrote: "Jocelyn wrote: "Danielle wrote: "Jocelyn wrote: "There are a lot of things that make me want to throw a book across the room. Some of which are:

1) characters that make me want to tear out my hair..."

Yes, that's true. I don't consider something to be a cliche if an author puts a nice spin on it. It becomes more original.

Love that idea! It's been done before (Eowyn from Lord of the Rings is a badass golden-haired princess) but it's not nearly as generic as the "woe is me, waaaaaaah, where's my boyfriend, waaaaaaah."

[Tacuazin]

The only book I've ever thrown away was Balance of Power, an espionage thriller written by Tom Clancy and coincidentally set in my country. 100 pages were more than I could endure, and that thing flew straight into the paper bin. Being pissed off is no reason not to be eco-friendly. I haven't looked back.

[Amy]

Yep, throwing books is a crime of passion :)

[Brenda]

It is important to have some sense of literary history. If an older novel was actually the first with some cliche, it wasn't a cliche -- it was an innovation. It's like the complaints about JOHN CARTER OF MARS. People griped that it had all been done before. Well, no -- it was done first by Edgar Rice Burroughs. (The real case is that the movie should have been made forty years ago, and having it coming out in 2012 is like having a dinosaur enter the Kentucky Derby.)

[carol.]

Brenda wrote: "It is important to have some sense of literary history. If an older novel was actually the first with some cliche, it wasn't a cliche -- it was an innovation..."

Yes! Absolutely. Zelazny did Damnation Alley and when I was summarizing the plot for her, she said "oh, that's been done a lot." Sure--but he was one of the first.

[Shomeret]

Yes, it's true that ERB did it first, but the reader has the subjective experience of having read it before. So unless you're a collector of ERB's science fiction, John Carter of Marsisn't likely to impress anyone. There's also the fact that if you don't like that sort of science fiction, creating the sub-genre may not even seem like much of an accomplishment.

Now if you're talking about Tarzan, that's something else entirely. I loved Tarzan and was an eager reader of Jane

[Brenda]

The other way to think about it is that the JOHN CARTER movie was unable to take it to the next level and wow the new viewer, in addition to pleasing the people who had read ERB. It could be argued that the movie LOTR was able to do this. (I had some friends who had never read Tolkien, who went to see FELLOWSHIP. I quizzed them carefully about their experience. The only thing they failed to understand was why Elrond didn't want his daughter to marry Aragorn. They decided it was because he had no visible means of support, spending all his time hanging out in bars with hobbits and other riffraff.)

[Maggie]

Brenda wrote: "The other way to think about it is that the JOHN CARTER movie was unable to take it to the next level and wow the new viewer, in addition to pleasing the people who had read ERB. It could be argue..."

lolol-that IS funny!

[Trike]

Brenda wrote: "The other way to think about it is that the JOHN CARTER movie was unable to take it to the next level and wow the new viewer, in addition to pleasing the people who had read ERB. It could be argued that the movie LOTR was able to do this."

Part of the issue with John Carter of Mars is that we HAVE seen this type of setting dozens of times by this point. Star Wars borrows so liberally from ERB and has settings and characters so reminiscent of his work that seeing the original *after* the imitation is going to make people think John Carter is the rip-off. And how many movies have we seen which imitate Star Wars in some fashion?

Lord of the Rings on the other hand, despite being in the same boat as JCoM as the wellspring of its modern genre, doesn't have many cinematic imitators to compare it to. It certainly didn't have any recent ones when it came out. How far back do you have to go to even find movies which approximate LotR's Epic Fantasy-ness? At least 15 years to the mid-80s, and even then those movies* only took one or two elements from Tolkien's tale to play with. Before that you have the Harryhausen films... and that's pretty much it. One to three generations of film-goers who have never seen anything like it. certainly not on that scale.

John Carter, though. It feels like every year we have a movie like that.



* Dragonslayer, Clash of the Titans, Excalibur, Conan the Barbarian/Destroyer, Kull

[Trike]

Brenda wrote: "It is important to have some sense of literary history. If an older novel was actually the first with some cliche, it wasn't a cliche -- it was an innovation. It's like the complaints about JOHN ..."

Awesome. This is in my quote log now.

[Trike]

Back to throwing books...

Crichton. F**king Crichton. Did that guy ever get *anything* right? Science, wrong, biology, wrong, Japanese culture, wrong... argh. I broke so many windows throwing his books I swore off of hardbacks. Switching to paperbacks was much cheaper, as I was only breaking lamps.

Until I got to Stephen King's It. Damn, even the paperback version of that killed two coworkers and grievously injured my boss when I got to the end in the break room.

So, yeah. Being stupidly wrong about stuff (as in the horses discussion above) and having your scary monster be an giant space spider pretending to be a clown in order to eat kids are two ways to get me to throw a book.

[Jute]

Trike wrote: "So, yeah. Being stupidly wrong about stuff (as in the horses discussion above) and having your scary monster be an giant space spider pretending to be a clown in order to eat kids are two ways to get me to throw a book. "

Trike made me laugh...a lot, but that end quote is awesome!

[Mona]

Sharon wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I was of the understanding that those so called "white" horses did in fact have pigmentation (black spots on skin, black/grey hair etc) making them greys. ."

Grey isn't a 'color' i..."

Interesting color is being discussed at such great length but not the reality of what a horse can and can not do. No, you can't cover 500 miles in four days without magic. You also can't gallop a horse for hours and expect to have anything to ride later. Nor can you turn a horse loose in a lush green meadow after riding them full out. For all their size and majesty, horses are amazingly frail creature.
I do appreciate authors introducing positive training methods after the years of domination.

[Kathryn]

Mona wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I was of the understanding that those so called "white" horses did in fact have pigmentation (black spots on skin, black/grey hair etc) making them greys. ."

Grey is..."

Fantasy has a real problem with that. And they often do something along the lines of "specicially bred/magical horse" but don't give any kind of supporting information. Authors will go to great lengths to describe the magic that goes on in their books with the exception of the magic horses that can run faster than the wind/run hundreds of miles a day/do things that would make any horse colic, etc.