Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How long to "get into" a novel

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    How long to "get into" a novel

    For those of you who enjoy reading fiction, I'm curious how long it usually takes you to "get into" a given book. I figure that if I'm not hooked on it within 50 pages, I'm probably not going to enjoy it and may give up on it. John Grisham novels usually have me hooked within ten pages. The Robert Ludlum books The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum likewise had me hooked within ten pages. Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy sometimes get me hooked quickly and sometimes take twenty or thirty pages to get going.

    I recently decided to try James Patterson and figured that it would be best to read the Alex Cross books in order, so started with Along Came A Spider. I was still feeling not hooked on the book until about page 54 or so, when it finally became an interesting story to me.

    A few years ago someone convinced me that I would like reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. After about 50 pages I gave up on that one, because I still had no interest in it yet.

    So I'm curious about the rest of you. How many pages are you willing to read a novel before deciding to give up on it?
    Tags: None
  • #2
    John Le Carre does develop his novels slowly, but usually you are hooked in 50 pages. No other spy writer has his credentials, that's what I liked about his books. They were really genuine in the most unexpected places.

    Comment

    • #3
      I can't recall ever giving up on a novel. I'm not a rabid reader of novels, but I finish what I start.
      Everything in life is an approximation.

      http://twitter.com/CougarStats

      Comment

      • #4
        Originally posted by Indy Coug View Post
        I can't recall ever giving up on a novel. I'm not a rabid reader of novels, but I finish what I start.
        I'm a quitter. I figure, I am not in school anymore and I can read whatever the heck I like. If I don't like a book, I move on. That said, I will finish a book if I have already invested a significant amount of time on it, even if I cease liking it. I recently started a book that was pretty good until the halfway point and it then kept getting more and more ridiculous. I finished it. I wish it would have sucked more at the beginning. It was like bait and switch.
        What's to explain? It's a bunch of people, most of whom you've never met, who are just as likely to be homicidal maniacs as they are to be normal everyday people, with whom you share the minutiae of your everyday life. It's totally normal, and everyone would understand.
        -Teenage Dirtbag

        Comment

        • #5
          The only book I started and never finished was Confederacy of Dunces. And I never will.
          "Nobody listens to Turtle."
          -Turtle
          sigpic

          Comment

          • #6
            Originally posted by Surfah View Post
            The only book I started and never finished was Confederacy of Dunces. And I never will.
            What's to explain? It's a bunch of people, most of whom you've never met, who are just as likely to be homicidal maniacs as they are to be normal everyday people, with whom you share the minutiae of your everyday life. It's totally normal, and everyone would understand.
            -Teenage Dirtbag

            Comment

            • #7
              Originally posted by Indy Coug View Post
              I can't recall ever giving up on a novel. I'm not a rabid reader of novels, but I finish what I start.
              Same. Once I start, I feel like I have to finish.
              So Russell...what do you love about music? To begin with, everything.

              Comment

              • #8
                Originally posted by marsupial View Post
                Book sucked.
                "Nobody listens to Turtle."
                -Turtle
                sigpic

                Comment

                • #9
                  Originally posted by Indy Coug View Post
                  I can't recall ever giving up on a novel. I'm not a rabid reader of novels, but I finish what I start.
                  Why does this not surprise me? bravo Indy!

                  It's been so long since I've read a book for pleasure that I don't know anymore. I'm starting The Lonely Polygmist tonight. I'll report back. I have a feeling it's going to be slow at first.
                  Dio perdona tante cose per un’opera di misericordia
                  God forgives many things for an act of mercy
                  Alessandro Manzoni

                  Knock it off. This board has enough problems without a dose of middle-age lechery.

                  pelagius

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Surfah View Post
                    Book sucked.
                    Sorry, I agree with the monkey, er, gibbon.

                    Originally posted by creekster View Post
                    Honestly, I thought it was one fo th funniest books I ever read, and Igantius was one of the more memorable and amusingly pasthetic characters I haveever come across in literature. Plus, it gives you a grweat sense of place in New Orleans.

                    If you have read 1/3 of it and you haven't even chuckled then you might not find it any better. FOr me, though, it is well worth it.
                    What's to explain? It's a bunch of people, most of whom you've never met, who are just as likely to be homicidal maniacs as they are to be normal everyday people, with whom you share the minutiae of your everyday life. It's totally normal, and everyone would understand.
                    -Teenage Dirtbag

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Surfah View Post
                      Book sucked.
                      Originally posted by marsupial View Post
                      Sorry, I agree with the monkey, er, gibbon.
                      So do I. Anyone who doesn't like it is an abortion.
                      Ain't it like most people, I'm no different. We love to talk on things we don't know about.

                      "The only one of us who is so significant that Jeff owes us something simply because he decided to grace us with his presence is falafel." -- All-American

                      GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Originally posted by pellegrino View Post
                        Why does this not surprise me? bravo Indy!

                        It's been so long since I've read a book for pleasure that I don't know anymore. I'm starting The Lonely Polygmist tonight. I'll report back. I have a feeling it's going to be slow at first.
                        Tell me how it goes (If the Big Lebow doesnt get to it first). Nothing beats the first sentance of his first book.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Originally posted by falafel View Post
                          So do I. Anyone who doesn't like it is an abortion.
                          I am an abortion. The unfunniest experience I had since Nacho Libre.

                          Comment

                          Previous template Next
                          Working...
                          X