21st Century Literature discussion
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Does Your Past Experience with an Author Gurantee Your Future with that Author?
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I think so. It's like customer service. You have a really good experience, you're more likely to go back. Likewise, you have a really bad experience, you're more likely to never go back. How many of us have quit a series when we felt the author has lost their way? I remember when I had to quit the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell.
I liked On Chesil Beach. Just goes ta show ya ;-)I remember when Scarpetta fans started muttering. I'm not a fan of Cornwell, but I know she had quite a following. I often wonder what happens when a creative person has a -- well, not a dry spell, because they are still publishing/filming/composing. A dull spell, maybe.
What about second chances, then? I've heard readers say, "Oh, well, you know, read one [fill in author's name], you've read them all." And then they go out and get the latest book. I'm pretty forgiving if I've been with an author for many books.
Or, what about when fave author changes direction?
Oh yes, I also quit Scarpetta but it took many books after the series went downhill for me to give up because the early books were so good!There are authors I will order the book as soon as I know they have a new one, e.g., Colum McCann, John Connolly, Barbara Kingsolver, Marilynne Robinson, Ron Rash, Monica Wood, and Sara Paretsky. For others, I first have to read a couple of reviews, because my experience with them is mixed, e.g., Michael Chabon. In fact, I so disliked Chabon's first novel - The Mysteries of Pittsburgh - that I was very, very hesitant to read another, but the reviews for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay convinced me to give him another shot and I'm glad I did, as that was an amazing book.
I liked The Mysteries of Pittsburgh :PHave you read Telegraph Avenue? I lloved it, loved it, loved it. I'm really sorry it didn't get optioned as was rumored in the ether. Supposedly Chabon wrote the main character with the actor Wendell Pierce ("The Wire," "Treme") in mind. I believe that. I could hear Pierce's voice.
Portia wrote: "I liked The Mysteries of Pittsburgh :PHave you read Telegraph Avenue? I lloved it, loved it, loved it. I'm really sorry it didn't get optioned as was rumored in the e..."
Yes, I read Telegraph Avenue. It was OK, not as good as others, but enjoyable. I know nothing about Wendell Pierce, having never seen The Wire (which I've heard about) or Treme (I have no idea what it is!).
Mod
Hehe, I was going to post about Ian McEwan here too. I loved Atonement back when I read it, thoughtSaturday was decent enough to read more of hi stuff, then absolutely hated On Chesil Beach and haven't though of picking up another of his books. I'm not sure if I'll ever give him a second chance - maybe I would have if Atonement had been published after On Chesil Beach!
It depends on how much I like the first book I've read by the author. There are many authors who I make a point to read again and again--until they disappoint me, which does tend to happen. I'm not sure if their writing has changed or I've changed! On the other hand, if I don't like a book, I rarely give an author a second chance.
Mod
I'm glad it wasn't just me, but it is probably time I gave McEwan another chance - I did like Enduring Love and Atonement, and quite enjoyed Saturday and Amsterdam - I just felt that On Chesil Beach was unremittingly gloomy without any great insights to compensate - and it was overhyped too...
I think authors, like bands, often have a 'peak', and as such, where a given book comes in their career is probably key to this question.McEwan is a case in point. I've read:
The Child in Time (his 3rd): pretty good
The Innocent (his 4th): slightly better
Enduring Love (his 6th): outstanding
Amsterdam (his 7th): very good
Atonement (his 8th): outstanding
Saturday (his 9th): not bad
He also seems to have gotten most accolades for those middle ones (if I've been following things). Murakami, to me, has a similar thing, with Norwegian Wood to Wind-Up Bird Chronicle his peak (although I know many love Kafka and IQ84).
It's all big on generalisations, but I think it's relevant to book-choosing. I'd be much more likely to pick up the McEwan I missed from roughly peak period (Black Dog, his 5th) than a new one of his. Same for Murakami -- I don't really have any interest in Colorless Tsukuru, but I may well go back and pick up 'South of the Border, West of the Sun'.
Obviously you can allow for subjectivity, but even if some people disagree on when the peak was, maybe they should look to more by that author from around their own 'peak' -- and not expect too much from the rest of that author's oeuvre.
Myself, I've gone from my old style of rinsing through a particular author's works once I liked them (McEwan, Murakami, Mitchell, Ishiguro) to constantly needing new authors. There are a bunch of authors now who I've recently read one, maybe two works by and given them five stars, but not gone back to (James Jones, Charles Frazier, Carson McCullers, Don Carpenter... although I think I'm going to break that cycle with Walter Tevis and read most of his stuff soon).
Terry, why are you not interested in "Colorless?" I'm late to Murakami and read "Colorless" first. I loved it! And now I'm reading whatever I find and love all of them. I do keep reading McEwan and am constantly disappointed. I don't know why I do that.
I also wonder if, in general, an author's first book is generally his best?
No one has mentioned The Children Act. Had everyone already given up on McEwan by then? I admit to having problems with this one.
I'm not interested in Colorless because I've liked each new Murakami less than the one before. My taste. Wind Up Bird and Norwegian Wood are for me on a whole other level from Kafka and IQ84.Understand, in an ideal world, I'd read *all* the books. In practice, I have time to read maybe 2,000 more if I'm lucky, and there are a *lot* of books out there. I don't want to waste time on books I personally consider less than 4-star, if I can help it, is how I look at it. In practice, new authors are one-strike-and-out, ones I've loved in the past are two-strikes at best, and Kafka and IQ84 were those two strikes, for me, for Murakami. Your mileage may vary. (If it's a really duff strike -- again IMO -- an established loved author may only get one strike; c.f. David Mitchell).
The point about first book is a good one, but I wonder if, when this happens, it's often just a case of an early peak. Remember as well, that's just their first *published* novel.
My gut reaction is that generally an author's first published book is not their best but, on reflection, I really don't know. Certainly there are authors whose second and third books were as good or even better than their first. But I can think of at least one young author - Wiley Cash - whose first book offered great promise but whose second book, at least for me, failed to live up to that promise. I doubt I'll take another chance on him, absent a sterling review from someone whose reviews seem consistent with my own thoughts about a book.As to McEwan, I've stopped reading him because I really don't like the characters he chooses to tell his stories. I have rated the four books I've read either 2 or 3 stars, but interestingly, I could still recall what 3 of the books were about, without reading the GR blurb!
Mod
So many wonderful authors exist that I tend to avoid repeating one unless something really strikes me as of interest . (Also, avoiding repetition of an author has been more or less deliberate for choices of my long-time f2f book club.) I fully recognize that I miss some wonderful things by that general strategy. And a general strategy it is only -- for a number of authors I have read several of their works. I do think I have missed a particular kind of reading experience by not reading almost everything I could lay my hands on by a particular author. The closest I have probably come is Jane Austen, not because I particularly "like" her novels, it has just fallen out that way over a long time. So that experience lacks the insights that can be gained by following an author closely for some concentrated period. I have read a fair number of Thomas Hardy's novels, with only one clear favorite, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, although one I rather dislike,
Jude the Obscure
has a character, Sue Brideshead, who became interesting enough to me that I spent an inordinate amount of time reading what critics had to say about her from their various perspectives, to the point that book will influence my thinking to a far greater extent than many others. I will totally admit,
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
dragged me willingly into the remainder of Stieg Larsson's trilogy. All of which are only data points among the books that have been generally my privilege and sometimes my frustration to encounter.Hugh wrote: "Some writers use their best ideas in their first book, but most great writers can and do improve on their early efforts."
Someone has said that probably every person has one novel buried within them, whether it gets written or not. At some level, that feels true. But insofar as I am aware, the magnum opus of an artist is seldom his or her first work. Both some increasing level of wisdom and of craft often do come with practice and experience, although not always.
Mod
Like many others, there are a handful of authors I'll return to or whose entire output I'd like to complete, but I do tend to find too much proliferation waters down my interest.
Marc wrote: "You might surprise yourself by going to "My Books" on your own profile, scrolling down toward the bottom of the links on the lefthand side, and selecting "Most Read Authors". This list will always ..."Thank you, Marc! Shakespeare at the top of my list totally surprised me. I think of my reading of him as very incomplete (it indeed still is), but it also is very many years ago in many cases. Although my read list is incomplete, it appears that in the order of ten-fifteen percent of my reads are repeats of an author. (I will admit, these are without Nancy Drew or Zane Grey! LOL!)
Mod
My top three in most read authors are Iris Murdoch, A.S. Byatt and Julian Barnes. Still only read just over half of Murdoch's novels and I don't think I'm likely to read many more, but the latter two are close to completion, and I think that says something about writers that produce quality rather than quantity.
It is not unusual for me to find a book I like and read several more by the same writer in the next few months, but I like to keep a varied to-read list, and I recognise that there are still huge unaccountable gaps in what I have read.
...and I think he's a writer who is more striking the first time you read him... What an insightful statement. Perhaps that applies to many authors! Maybe the first book a writer writes isn't his best but the first one one reads is!
Thanks, Terry. I haven't read those two, yet. Looking forward to them.
Portia, I did read "The Children's Act" recently and while I didn't dislike it, it definitely wasn't "Atonement." "Saturday" was my favorite of his.
Marc wrote: "You might surprise yourself by going to "My Books" on your own profile, scrolling down toward the bottom of the links on the lefthand side, and selecting "Most Read Authors". This list will always ..."Wow. I didn't know about that. Thanks, Marc.
I didn't know about that, either! My most read are the books that require no brains--audiobooks in the car or while cleaning bathrooms. lol
Like has been said, it's pretty unusual for authors not to go into decline at some point. I've long since ceased to get excited by new books from DeLillo, Murakami, Martin Amis, Peter Carey, Ian McEwan. I thought David Mitchell could do no wrong for me and then he wrote the Bone Clocks. And Franzen wrote Purity, another massive disappointment. Even one of my favourite authors, Virginia Woolf was ultimately capable of writing a novel as turgid as The Years. You have to think it was admirable of Roth to quit while he was still ahead. I still have the faith in Hilary Mantel and Zadie Smith and can't wait for their new books but ultimately it's a rare writer who doesn't run out of gas without realising it.
I have a particular fondness for first novels, although I am often disappointed. But many first novels have been worked on longer and more intensely than the author will ever have a chance to do again, and they can often have a couple of novels worth of ideas and quirks in them. This is not always to their advantage, but it gives them (to me) a sort of manic charm that few writers produce on a regular basis.(And I realize the the first novel published is often not the first written, but most published writers have an unsaleable trunk novel or three first.)
Mod
I wonder if anyone has had the experience where you fall out of love with an author, but then years go by and you try one of their newer books and wonder if you had made a mistake?
Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I wonder if anyone has had the experience where you fall out of love with an author, but then years go by and you try one of their newer books and wonder if you had made a mistake?"What's a mistake about it, Kirsten? It isn't quite like love in a marriage, is it? Aren't there all those affairs with other authors that have been possible in between that may have been more or less satisfying than loyalty, but probably provided at least a dash of variety to that personal life-long reading oeuvre? LOL!
Hugh wrote: "Is there a book equivalent to "second album syndrome"? It is probably more true to say that a second book is rarely better than the first than it would be to generalise about what happens later. Th..."I've heard this referred to as the "sophomore slump" and it is common enough to be remarked on. I have heard it explained in part that the second book is the first book that has to be delivered on schedule, and that's often a hard transition to make.
I think the second novel -- or indeed album -- syndrome, is best explained by the fact that the author has had lots of ideas over their entire career as a writer up to this point, and they pick and choose the best big one, and weave into it the best combination of small ones, for their first work. So the first represents years of thought, inspiration, labour and honing.Then they have a few years to come up with a new -- and different -- idea, being only able to draw on past ideas they didn't use in the first one.
Again, a generalisation but I can see how it would fit for many. There are probably other factors too.
Mod
Italo Calvino comes out tops as my most read author (which makes sense, since he's probably my favorite), but Stephen King breaks the top 10 (and while I do enjoy him, he's more in the middle rankings of authors I like).
There're quite a few other fun little GR links--you can go to anyone else's bookshelves and in the upper-right-ish area is a link to "Compare books" (it's like a book compatibility test).
BTW, thanks for starting such a fun thread, Portia!
My pleasure, Marc! It's fun to read all the responses and see other people's vireos, ( vireo. Isn't that a little bird?) VIEWS especially on books I liked that others didn't and vv.
Everyone should check out Linda's thread, "What Qualities Should a Book Have ..." too!
One author who has never disappointed me is John Connolly. We will be reading his The Book of Lost Things starting Friday and I'll be moderating. As I was gathering materials to help me moderate, I realized I had the last two of his Charlie Parker series to read -- The Wolf in Winter and A Song of Shadows (as well as Night Music: Nocturnes Volume Two - short stories) sitting on my TBR shelf, so instead of re-reading The Book of Lost Things, yesterday I dived into Wolf in Winter. And, as usual, I am reading non-stop and loving it. Can't wait to discuss one of my favorite books with the group!
Lily wrote: "Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I wonder if anyone has had the experience where you fall out of love with an author, but then years go by and you try one of their newer books and ..."I had this experience with Stephen King. I liked The STand and 'Salem's Lot, but then by the time I got to Tommyknockers I was getting sick and tired of his over-the-top profanity.
But then I read Joyland and Revival and thought "Wow! He's back in stride again"
Authors tend to do the same thing again. Having read one or two of them I'd prefer to sample something else, even though the new work might be good. I've had a few temporary obsessions -- Nabokov, Dickens, Simenon, Donna Leon, Heimito von Doderer, but read them through or out. Fickle, is the word, I think.
Mod
Hi Marc,Doderer -- there are English translation (out of print) of Every Man a Murderer, The Waterfalls of Slunj, and The Merowingians. A translation of The Demons was published by Knopf in 1961 and reprinted by Sun and Moon in 1993. That appears to be also out of print. The Demons is a direct relation of Dostoevsky's novel of the same title, and is to my mind the most interesting. The Strudlhof Steps has not been translated except for a fragment in the Chicago Review a long time ago. I don't think any Goodreads group has taken him up.
Yeah, I have to say that I do normally gravitate towards authors I've had a good experience with initially. I sort of get hooked on a specific type of book too (noir, mystery, sci-fi). I think it is why we have certain authors that we love and others, not so much.
Franky wrote: "Yeah, I have to say that I do normally gravitate towards authors I've had a good experience with initially. I sort of get hooked on a specific type of book too (noir, mystery, sci-fi). I think it i..."Hi, Franky,
Just nosed about and saw that you are reading A Streetcar Named Desire. I think we get hooked on playwrites as well. I've lost count of how many times I've read/seen "Streetcar" the most recent being a performance by the Royal Scottish Ballet. And yes, the dancer playing Stanley did call for "Stella!" :-)
Portia (don't ask about how many times I've read/seen that !)
Mod
I think it was here on GR where I first heard the term "completists" used to describe readers who aimed to finish any one author's ouevre. I'm that way about a handful of authors, but I have no desire to read all of any one author's work back-to-back or right away. I enjoy spacing them out and letting each work have at least a few months or years to sit with me.
I like to have an unread book from a favorite author so if I hit a bad streak, I have something to provide relief, such as John Connolly. While I might buy other books from an author once I've read one I really like, they tend to gather a bit of dust before I go back to them. But I've also been known to devour a series one right after the other, e.g., Harry Porter, where I read the first 4 books of the series in audio, one after the other during a beach vacation! It was a good way to keep me on my feet walking!
Mod
I like to have a mixture of familiar and new names on my to-read list (I'm now up to over 30 physical books), but what order I read them to can be arbitrary - like Linda I like to keep back a few to look forward to after reading something that seems like hard work. A few years ago I did read the four big novels in A.S. Byatt's Frederica quartet almost back to back, and found that very rewarding, but there are other writers that I have spent several years catching up on (e.g. Julian Barnes, Penelope Fitzgerald).
I am generally only a completist for writers whose output is a single figure number of books, though I'm only one hard-to-find short story collection short of completing Byatt's fiction.
Mod
I do like to read books in a series back-to-back. I think it makes it easier to follow the entire story line. But that usually means the series gets postponed because I'm not ready to commit to all of the books at once as easily as I am to a single novel.
The trials and tribulations of the reading life are many and numerous... :p
Absolutely not. East of Eden is one of my all-time favorites. Of course The Grapes of Wrath doesn't even need to be mentioned. Then I read Cannary Row. I'll stick to the first two and read them again. Crime and Punishment is another of the greats. The Idiot is good and The Brothers Karamatzov I couldn't even finish.
21st Century Literature
Books mentioned in this topic
A Streetcar Named Desire (other topics)Night Music (other topics)
The Wolf in Winter (other topics)
The Book of Lost Things (other topics)
A Song of Shadows (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Italo Calvino (other topics)Thomas Hardy (other topics)
Stieg Larsson (other topics)
Jane Austen (other topics)
Wiley Cash (other topics)
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This question came up during discussion of The Secret Chord and I thought it might generate some group chat from members who didn't join us for the other discussion.
I am pretty trusting. I usually get a newly available book from an author I like. Though I often scan reviews, I don't rely on them solely, taste being so subjective.