What Are You Reading 2

[Antiq]

Just finished reading American Gods. There's definitely something I'm not getting about Gaiman. Most people who read him seem to love him, I find his writing is so poorly crafted. First thing that occurred to me about American Gods was that the basic concept was totally swiped from Small Gods. Seriously, it was the biggest chore I have undertaken in a while, finishing that book (I promised to give him a chance, that's the second of his books I read).
My daughter commented that he writes like someone still in a creative writing class, and I completely agree.
I'm not a book snob, I can read crap and enjoy it, no problem - this was just....awful.
I liked the concept, just wish someone else had written it.

So, ahem....after that little temper tantrum......currently reading the first of Asimov's Foundation series.

I loved AG and i completely respect your right to not like the book but it's going a bit far to accuse him of plagiarism. Pratchett and Gaiman are good friends too and i'm sure Sir Terry would be the first to vehemently deny any accusations of the sort, mostly because they're so blatantly untrue.

Especially when the two books only have one thing in common i.e gods and Gaiman's gods are vastly different in character, appearance and the way they manifest themselves. Otherwise the books have nothing in common, the plot, the characters, the themes, the world they're set in, the mythology, backstory and writing style.

It's one thing to not like something but please don't slander a perfectly innocent author while you're slagging it off.

Oh heavens, I didn't intend to accuse him of outright plagiarism, authors use similar concepts all the time, it's just that the coincidence in this case is particularly noticeable. He took a theme and treated it very differently, but it's the same theme, basically. Gods existing through belief, or ceasing to exist from lack of it. The only authors I know of using that basis for a novel are Pratchett and Gaiaman - friends and co-authors. I can't unsee that.
Anyway, it would be libel, not slander and it's neither, in fact, merely an obversation.
My criticism was not intended to offend fans of Gaiman - as I said, there may be something I'm just not getting since so many people whose literary opinions I respect seem to like him a lot. Also, having disliked the book so heartily but forcing myself to read it anyway left me feeling grumpy, I may have come off a bit harsh. Mea culpa.

 

[stripy_tie]

Just finished reading American Gods. There's definitely something I'm not getting about Gaiman. Most people who read him seem to love him, I find his writing is so poorly crafted. First thing that occurred to me about American Gods was that the basic concept was totally swiped from Small Gods. Seriously, it was the biggest chore I have undertaken in a while, finishing that book (I promised to give him a chance, that's the second of his books I read).
My daughter commented that he writes like someone still in a creative writing class, and I completely agree.
I'm not a book snob, I can read crap and enjoy it, no problem - this was just....awful.
I liked the concept, just wish someone else had written it.

So, ahem....after that little temper tantrum......currently reading the first of Asimov's Foundation series.

I loved AG and i completely respect your right to not like the book but it's going a bit far to accuse him of plagiarism. Pratchett and Gaiman are good friends too and i'm sure Sir Terry would be the first to vehemently deny any accusations of the sort, mostly because they're so blatantly untrue.

Especially when the two books only have one thing in common i.e gods and Gaiman's gods are vastly different in character, appearance and the way they manifest themselves. Otherwise the books have nothing in common, the plot, the characters, the themes, the world they're set in, the mythology, backstory and writing style.

It's one thing to not like something but please don't slander a perfectly innocent author while you're slagging it off.

Oh heavens, I didn't intend to accuse him of outright plagiarism, authors use similar concepts all the time, it's just that the coincidence in this case is particularly noticeable. He took a theme and treated it very differently, but it's the same theme, basically. Gods existing through belief, or ceasing to exist from lack of it. The only authors I know of using that basis for a novel are Pratchett and Gaiaman - friends and co-authors. I can't unsee that.
Anyway, it would be libel, not slander and it's neither, in fact, merely an obversation.
My criticism was not intended to offend fans of Gaiman - as I said, there may be something I'm just not getting since so many people whose literary opinions I respect seem to like him a lot. Also, having disliked the book so heartily but forcing myself to read it anyway left me feeling grumpy, I may have come off a bit harsh. Mea culpa.

I totally understand not liking a book that's very popular, i hated Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse 5" it's the worst book I've ever had the displeasure of coming across (This includes a supposed spy thriller i took for a very very long car journey and ferry trip that turned out to be mostly about economics, inheritance law and banking).

I can't understand how someone could enjoy the pathetic whiny voice of the main character or Vonnegut's pretentious self absorbed line "so it goes" which he litters throughout the text.

I imagine Gaiman probably did take some inspiration from the way god's draw power from worship in Small Gods but i doubt Sir Terry is the first to have come up with this independently, merely the one to refine it properly and open the idea into popular culture.

A lot of the time it's probably not best to bother finishing something you don't like, life's too short for crap books, especially when there's so many good ones we'll never have time to read or even know about.

Mea Culpa very much accepted and i apologise if i came off as aggressive or rude.

 

[Antiq]

No worries, stripy, I appreciate a passionate defense
The reason I read the whole book is that I can't complain about something I haven't read, that wouldn't be fair. I did learn one thing, one can hit a brick wall with authors sometimes. It will make me more understanding when other people dislike something I think is awesome

Now I have to read Slaughterhouse 5!

 

[Sjoerd3000]

Gods behaving Badly by Marie Philips also used a broadly similair concept. in that book the Greek gods are living in a rundown house in London and have lost most of their power because nobody believes in them anymore

 

[stripy_tie]

Gods behaving Badly by Marie Philips also used a broadly similair concept. in that book the Greek gods are living in a rundown house in London and have lost most of their power because nobody believes in them anymore

Is it any good?

 

[chris.ph]

for small gods sake dont say its good, i am in the shit already for the amount of books ive been buying recently

 

[stripy_tie]

Now I have to read Slaughterhouse 5!

Oh dear.

 

[Sjoerd3000]

Been a while since I read it, but I think it was good

 

[stripy_tie]

Been a while since I read it, but I think it was good

I'll have a look at it on amazon then, nice avatar btw.

 

[Antiq]

Gods behaving Badly by Marie Philips also used a broadly similair concept. in that book the Greek gods are living in a rundown house in London and have lost most of their power because nobody believes in them anymore

That sounds like fun.

Stripy, I'll let you know what I think of it

 

[chris.ph]

Been a while since I read it, but I think it was good

I'll have a look at it on amazon then, nice avatar btw.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slaughterhouse-Childrens-Crusade-Duty-dance-Death/dp/0099800209/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320606606&sr=8-1


here is a link for you

 

[Sjoerd3000]

Been a while since I read it, but I think it was good

I'll have a look at it on amazon then, nice avatar btw.

Thanks, I might keep this one

 

[chris.ph]

anita blake 6

 

[Quatermass]

Pride and Prejudice, believe it or not.

 

[DaveC]

Pride and Prejudice, believe it or not.

Good for you! I enjoyed reading it in school and love the film(s)

 

[Bouncy Castle]

Still ploughing my way through Snuff.

Just got Books 1-7 of Patterson's Women's Murder Club to re-read.

 

[michelanCello]

Pride and Prejudice, believe it or not.

Good for you! I enjoyed reading it in school and love the film(s)

Ah, me too! Gotta love the story, and the latest movie is I think the one I've seen most times of all the movies I've watched in my whole 19 year old existence - which isn't too much, I know, but still

 

[meerkat]

The third Matthew Bartholomew Mystery by Sussana Gregory.

Set in the 1350s after the plague. Very historically correct. Great whodunnits!

 

[Quatermass]

Just finished It by Stephen King. Good book, but the squickiest Stephen King novel I have ever read.

 

[Bouncy Castle]

Very historically correct.

You should know. You were there!

[runs......................... ]