Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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Do you remember much about the books you've read?
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It's true that we never realize that our capacities are different. We tend to think that everyone has the same impressions of things that we do, when they don't. What is common or natural to us, may not be common or natural to others.
I'm a slow reader. I hate to miss anything in a book. I would never worry about reading too fast. (lol)
You're lucky that you have a good memory for what you read or view. Don't take it for granted. Not everyone has such a retentive memory.

I remember books and characters if I enjoyed them, but I often forget the details. Some of my most beloved books are ones that I will read again about 5 years later. Sure I know the beginning, the middle and the end, but I forget so many details.
And it's the details that make a good book a great books.

As for details, yes, they can increase the depth and worth of a book, if done right. But, as for the Sawtelle book, IMO, the author writes too many details. They make the book drag and don't contribute to the story. They take away from it. I enjoyed some of them but others turned me off. At first I appreciated the details, but after a while they simply stretched the story out unnecessarily.

Straub can get wordy and I don't like him, but this was done very well. About 20 years later (?) they wrote a sequel which I was so excited to read. but my excitement far exceeded the book, it was awful. The first 50 pages were about a dust-mote-being viewing the land. I cannot express how absolutely boring it was, ruined the entire book for me, which didn't really get any better anyway. By this time King has gotten too wordy himself, so between the two of them I wanted to scream!
I don't mind in-depth details IF it has bearing on the story. If the author gives me minute detail about something, it better be integral to the story.
That is one of the things that turns me off to certain writers. It makes me feel like they are being pompous, and trying to be a literary genius, and they fail miserably, IMO. I'm not looking for literary genius, I want to be entertained.


I, on the other hand, cannot remember much about most of the books I've read, unless they've made a special impression on me. Often, the impression of certain good books does stay with me (e.g., _Bel Canto_), but not the details.
Do you remember much about the books you've read?