tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post931196474089454322..comments2024-03-24T15:04:27.557-04:00Comments on Type M for Murder: What is a novel’s most essential ingredient?Barbara Fradkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06992196707567972990noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-11117472584551855892017-11-01T06:57:57.366-04:002017-11-01T06:57:57.366-04:00I don't necessarily have to "like" a...I don't necessarily have to "like" a main character but I do have to be able to sympathise or empathise with him or her pretty early on. They can have character traits that I find irksome or downright annoying but as long as the author can reveal something good at their core, or show they are basically sound people, human and credible despite their flaws, then I'll read on. If Marianne Wheelaghanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11633342759955709312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-64610290933214155182017-10-31T15:57:35.971-04:002017-10-31T15:57:35.971-04:00Blogcutter,
Thanks for your very kind words. Just...Blogcutter,<br /><br />Thanks for your very kind words. Just to set the record straight, I didn't do any of the writing in the program book except for my own bio and tiny things here and there that were needed at the last minute. But the Buchan article was very good, wasn't it?<br /><br />Sybil,<br /><br />The character who annoyed me so much was a composer, and composers can be Rick Blechtahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11800052815589987998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-90706413244818162722017-10-31T15:12:27.541-04:002017-10-31T15:12:27.541-04:00Interesting... I'm a reader rather than a writ...Interesting... I'm a reader rather than a writer and just got back from Bouchercon too. I generally finish what I start reading and use events like cons to discover new (and often very much to my taste) authors I had not previously been aware of. Though frankly at the moment it would be almost a relief to quickly weed out those books I'm NOT going to enjoy, given that I've got such a Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-80325997397716609532017-10-31T14:02:03.170-04:002017-10-31T14:02:03.170-04:00Rick, interesting story about Cemetery of the Name...Rick, interesting story about Cemetery of the Nameless. So far I haven't written a story with a protagonist who is that annoying to me, but it's early days.<br /><br />Aline, I find the older I get the less tolerant I am of finishing books I'm not enjoying that much.Sybil Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931984219413146614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-48577138687569386622017-10-31T13:52:59.390-04:002017-10-31T13:52:59.390-04:00Aline, I think that's me too. I don't have...Aline, I think that's me too. I don't have a lot of time to read and it's got to be something pretty good for me to spend those precious hours when I should be doing something like <i>writing my own novels</i>!<br /><br />Sybil, I once abandoned a ms around 80 pages in because I realized the protagonist was someone I would wind up killing before we reached the end of the story. The Rick Blechtahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11800052815589987998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-12416574188586001482017-10-31T13:10:00.394-04:002017-10-31T13:10:00.394-04:00It's an interesting point, Rick and Sybil too,...It's an interesting point, Rick and Sybil too, about what the things are that make you stop reading a book. I used to be religious about 'I've started so I'll finish' but I've reached the point now where I feel that unless it has significant literary merit life's too short to struggle on when I'm not enjoying it.Aline Templetonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01199803927350776150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30210943.post-20630048162420963642017-10-31T13:05:11.178-04:002017-10-31T13:05:11.178-04:00I generally finish 90-95% of the books I start. It...I generally finish 90-95% of the books I start. It's really unusual for me not to finish one, even if I don't like it very much. I vividly remember one book that I, literally, threw across the room (it was a mass market paperback, thank goodness) because I thought the protagonist was being super wimpy. This was the second book in a series. I'd read the first and, even though I didn&#Sybil Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931984219413146614noreply@blogger.com