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Re-Reading FAIL
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My biggest run-in with the Suck Fairy was probably the Sword of Truth Series (Books 1-7, haven't read the rest) I read them as a 13-year-old and all the political messages flew right over my naive little head. Tried reading them again a couple years ago and I couldn't make it through.
Robert wrote: "Sometimes (especially with TV from the 70s & 80s), you just have to turn off your adult mind and let your inner 8-year-old out to play and enjoy."Well, I have to go back further than the 70s and 80s, more like the 50s for me. The earliest movie I remember well I was 12 ... and it was "Hondo" with John Wayne. I still watch it when it comes on some of the 'retrospectives' and I still like it. I also like the Louis L'Amour book, though I understand (now) that it was written as a novelization of the film and the film was actually based on a short story.
As for TV shows ... the ones I watched quite faithfully when I got my first TV set (when I was in my 20s) I watched the original Star Trek, I Spy and Bonanza. I did watch a couple of episodes of Star Trek years ago and after the huge changes in special effects, found them a little less compelling.
I really have never watched movies or TV much, have always preferred reading.
Robert wrote: "Sometimes (especially with TV from the 70s & 80s), you just have to turn off your adult mind and let your inner 8-year-old out to play and enjoy."Well, I have to go back further than the 70s and 80s, more like the 50s for me. The earliest movie I remember well I was 12 ... and it was "Hondo" with John Wayne. I still watch it when it comes on some of the 'retrospectives' and I still like it. I also like the Louis L'Amour book, though I understand (now) that it was written as a novelization of the film and the film was actually based on a short story.
As for TV shows ... the ones I watched quite faithfully when I got my first TV set (when I was in my 20s) I watched the original Star Trek, I Spy and Bonanza. I did watch a couple of episodes of Star Trek years ago and after the huge changes in special effects, found them a little less compelling.
I really have never watched movies or TV much, have always preferred reading.
This really happened with me and re-reading Gulliver's Travels. I loved it as a child, and just recently re-read it. It was awful!
A book like Gulliver is just fun as a kid. When you read it as an adult the satire is more obvious, which can sometimes distract from the fun.
Robert wrote: "A book like Gulliver is just fun as a kid. When you read it as an adult the satire is more obvious, which can sometimes distract from the fun."Yes, I remember thinking about the satire and how it had completely gone over my head as a child. I was also bothered by the off color humor. :D I kept thinking "how in the world did my parents allow me to read it?" My parents were very strict with what we read, watched or listened to.
Strangely enough, I've never read or been interested in Gulliver's Travels outside of degree requirements. But I loved loved loved Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Every time I think about that book I get pissed off. I had a old rare copy of it and my father (who knows nothing about books) just gave it away to some random chick (the daughter of some woman he was dating).My husband hated the last two Monster Hunter Internationals. Hated them soooooooo much that he forced me to write about right.this.moment. Terrible, he says.
**psst, Mrs.J--I'm with him.
I hated hated the third one...not sure how many there are. But hated it. Didn't want to give up but when I noticed a chapter actually missing from my copy I took it as a sign and quit. Gladly.
lol! He's over here smirking. And saying "I told you so."
I wasn't that impressed with the first, but considered continuing the series. I think I'll just consider myself well quit of it, based on this.
I really liked the first book. Didn't think the second was quite as good, but hoped it would be one of those series that has kind of a 'second book slump' and then picks back up. Sounds as if maybe it doesn't.
Assuming we are talking aboutMonster Hunter Alpha, I kind of felt like it was a derivative mess, and ended up skimming a lot of it. I put it away to re-read and review later because I didn't want to tick off the Correia fans ;)
Carol wrote: "I put it away to re-read and review later because I didn't want to tick off the Correia fans ;) "That's amusing ... I'm doing the same thing right now with the first "Black Company" book. Highly recommended by quite a few people who have similar reading tastes as I do usually.
I know that doesn't always hold true, I have a very good friend who has very similar reading tastes, we've been swapping books for 30 years. Every so often though we hit a bump ... she likes something I can't get through ... I send her something I've thought was great and she's 'polite' ... usually.
About MHI, my problem with the third one was the point of view character changes. Which should be awesome because it's a favorite character. But apparently a little bit of mystery is good thing. Imo. It also seemed like a cheap romance novel to me. Which I read so I'm not judging. But here? It didn't work for me. Not that I know if the romance really kicked in or not. I stopped.
Oddly, I don't think I've ever had this problem. I'm always worried about it, whenever I reread something, but for the most part I'm usually pleasantly surprised.Of course I don't enjoy everything as much as I did the first time, either because the shock/twist value has diminished or just because I've grown up. But I often knew that books were bad while enjoying them - and I seem to have notched them down in my memory as time passes, so by the time I reread them, my predictions of what I'll think about them aren't that far out.
That said, I've still got plenty of things to re-read, so no doubt I'll get disappointed with some of them...
I think claiming this to the suck fairy a bit harsh, but I tried to read the foundation series again and couldn't get through the first book. I just found ithe characters lacking substance, it felt old and worn, if that makes sense. I do remember being completely absorbed by this epic first time round. In fairness, I did try and read this straight after finishing the Malazan epic, so that probably played a big part of the problem.
Lee, I love Asimov but he's more of an ideas kind of author rather than a character one. Although the Mule has to be one of my favorite characters.
I certainly enjoyed those ideas first time round. I bet if I tried reading the Amtrak wars again I would be inviting the suck fairy over.
When I was in high school/college, I read The Crystal Cave at least 3 times. I loved it and recently bought it to read again and could not finish it. It was just boring.The other book that comes to mind is The Sirens of Titan. I loved that book so much that I wrote about it in my college application. I read again and just didn't care for it.
Some books don't age well, but I also think some books depend on the readers age (not counting children or YA). As an example, my bookclub read The Mists of Avalon a couple of years ago. It was a re-read for several and a new read for me. I was super excited because I loved King Arthur tales and had heard great things about it. I was in my mid 30's and one of the younger folks in my book club. None of us liked it all that much, even those who were re-reading it.
I'm scared to re-read the Mists of Avalon. I read it in MS/HS and LOVED it. I don't want to disturb that moment in time.
I can definitely understand that feeling. I remember some of the old westerns I used to read with my grandfather when I was in grade school and loved so much, re-read again and again.I've re-read one or two as an older adult and the connection just isn't there.
Fantasy Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
The Crystal Cave (other topics)The Mists of Avalon (other topics)
The Sirens of Titan (other topics)
Monster Hunter Alpha (other topics)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Paulo Coelho (other topics)Graham Edwards (other topics)
Sometimes I write it off as "well, I was a kid at the time", but my dad watched it with me and see..."
lol
I tell people that I made my dad watch The Muppet Show with me, but I know that he enjoyed it just as much as I did, even if he tried to hide the fact. :)