# Books you won't read because of the writing style **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590 "2005-12-14T15:09:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/21 "2005-12-14T18:21:11Z")
**JohnT** , I agree with you about having difficulty reading dialects. I couldn’t read _Everything Is Illuminated_ because of the one character’s approach to English, and then there’s _Ullyses_… ZJ ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/22 "2005-12-14T18:29:56Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > “Ragtime” by Doctorow tires me. There are just too many short choppy sentences all in a row. It never ends. > > I can’t even pick it up to try to finish it. I’m kind of interested in reading “The March,” but I’m afraid of how it will go. I didn’t like Ragtime either, or Billy Bathgate, but I loved The March. It starts with a loooooooooong paragraph, and I went “uh oh”, but there were no more of those, and if there were a lot of short, choppy sentences, I didn’t notice them. Excellent book, IMHO. If you buy it and don’t like it, I’ll buy it from you. I could use an extra copy for lending. ---
**Author:** ![comrade33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@comrade33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/comrade33)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/23 "2005-12-14T18:34:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Kurt Vonnegut is an example of a novelist I would probably like if it weren’t for all the arty, stream of consciousness stuff. i’ve read most of vonnegut’s work, and i have found it to be light, and refreshing. on the other hand, i am having a hard time getting through war and peace (reading it for fun, i think it is beautiful, but it moves like a glacier). ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/24 "2005-12-14T19:08:04Z")
Anything by Dean Koontz. It grates on my nerves for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/25 "2005-12-14T19:59:18Z")
I avoid fiction written in the present tense. (He opens the door. He sees Jennifer sitting there. She rises and starts towards him…BLEAH) I can’t say why I find it annoying but I sure as heck do. There may be masterpieces written in the present tense, but they’re not for me. I think I may have broken this rule of mine maybe twice in a 40 year - plus lifetime of reading. I also find lack of quotation marks off-putting. and odd spellings for no good reason. (One of the many reasons I threw Pullman’s Golden Compass book down in disgust was the way he spelled “daemon”. Just annoyed me. ) ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/26 "2005-12-14T19:59:38Z")
There’s an author, probably an author of great merit, given that he is often studied in literature courses in universities in the United States, the better courses in the better universities; specifically American universities, even though he, an American, often wrote pieces, both novels and short stories, that were set in England, which many believed was a conscious attempt to overcome his self-imposed, with no real justification, denial of his land of birth- which most feel was unjust on his part…or anybody’s part, for that matter, whose prose style, so involuted by his overuse of the humble, yet powerful comma, made him unreadable, for me at least.\* \*Oh, yeah. Henry James is the dude I 'm talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/27 "2005-12-14T20:04:08Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > **JohnT** , I agree with you about having difficulty reading dialects. > > I couldn’t read _Everything Is Illuminated_ because of the one character’s approach to English, and then there’s _Ullyses_… > > ZJ I’m amazed it was 20 posts before someone referenced Joyce :). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/28 "2005-12-14T20:37:18Z")
> [@Dead Cat](#): > > I’m amazed it was 20 posts before someone referenced Joyce :). That’s because Joyce is a given in a thread like this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/29 "2005-12-14T20:46:15Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > My pet peeve is overuse of adverbs, especially in dialogue. Abso-freakin’-lutely. When I see overuse of adverbs, it’s usually because the writer didn’t choose the correct verb or adjective they’re modifying in the first place. The “Left Behind” books by Jerry Jenkins - I’d enjoy them for camp value, but the man _cannot write_. And ten pages in there were about 5 errors in things that the slightest bit of research would have prevented (f’rinstance - LaGuardia is not an international airport - pilots don’t keep in contact with the control tower when they’re several hours into the Atlantic - etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/30 "2005-12-14T21:11:06Z")
Good one, **Sailboat**. Riddley Walker beat me too. I’m not used to having to stop and sound things out. **marque elf** , I’d have recognized Henry James if you’d droned on for another couple of paragraphs. Without a period, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/31 "2005-12-14T21:23:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I understand that. Doesn’t make it any less irritating or stupid though. > > :smack: I have a hard timne with dialects too. But I don’t see how that makes them stupid. Twain had a good reason to use them. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/32 "2005-12-14T21:54:21Z")
I just read A Million Little Pieces, too, and all the randomly capitalized nouns drove me bananas. I found the story compelling enough to keep reading, but I can understand giving up on it. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/33 "2005-12-14T22:01:26Z")
Dickens–just wading through the dense wordage to get to the meaning exhausts me. Austen doesn’t do that, nor does Thackeray (Thackeray maybe a little). Whoever wrote Bonfire of the Vanities–I couldn’t get past page one–something about the smell of the prose–can’t describe it better than that. Dialect is very hard to read–even Herriot is tortous at times and so is Hurston (as in Nora Zeal–I think). Just say it! Or throw in an occasional “eh” or “y’all” to spice it up–don’t drag down my silent reading by making me speak the dialogue in my head… Oh, and Faulkner, too–no reason, just 'cause. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/34 "2005-12-14T22:32:50Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Hurston (as in Nora Zeal–I think) Close - you Spoonerized her name. It’s [Zora Neale Hurston](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston). ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/35 "2005-12-14T22:53:53Z")
That impression of Henry James made my head hurt just trying to follow all the clauses and sub-clauses in that paragraph. Where’s the Advil? And I completely agree with the overuse of adverbs. If I ever see another “the raven-haired strapping hero bravely stepped forth,” or “His emerald orbs rolled around and then settled a little on the floor,” I will – well, at least I’ll be really tempted to spork myself in the eye. Hard. With dialect, it’s a fine line to walk, probably one of the finest around judging from how many discussions and how-tos I’ve seen on the subject. Some authors can hack it, some can’t. I’m a little surprised Herriot got tapped as an example of the latter category, though. I’ve never found his writing to be impenetrable. Actually, if you can make me _hear_ the dialogue in my head, that’s a plus for you in my book. In fact, I’ve hung onto a set of so-so books solely due to the dialect used in there: \*“Hellflowers is crazy.” \* (if you can place the quote, you get points) ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/36 "2005-12-14T23:09:50Z")
I thought I would hate A Million Little Pieces for the reasons the OP mentioned, but I ended up liking it a lot. However, if you were looking for light reading, you were going to be sorely disappointed anyway-- it is very compelling, IMHO, and anything but light. On the other hand, I hated, hated, hated the style of the much-praised Confederacy of Dunces. I struggled through 25 or so pages, then gave up in defeat. I know there are lots of people who love it, but I am not going to be one of them, I fear. Accents don’t bother me once I get into them. I just read Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and once I settled into it, I liked the dialog, except for this one guy who kept saying “I god,…” What the hell is that supposed to be? ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/37 "2005-12-15T00:43:53Z")
A.S. Byatt: I really, really want to like her work and everyone says how brilliant it is, but it drives me batshit. Oh, and Barthes . . . ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/38 "2005-12-15T01:07:23Z")
Thomas Pynchon. He writes like he has something to say, or rather that there’s some mystery involved in what he’s writing that is going to be revealed through his novels, but you have to wade through so much stream-of-consciousness drivel that you wonder if it’s going to be worth it at the end. “Gravity’s Rainbow” was the best example. I finally made it through the damn thing and still can’t figure out if it was worth it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/39 "2005-12-15T01:09:06Z")
_Posted by JohnT:_ > [@](#): > > I understand that. Doesn’t make it any less irritating or stupid though. Yes it does; and no, you don’t, if you still think it’s “stupid”. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590/40 "2005-12-15T01:15:11Z")
Yes, people, because God Forbid I should express an opinion in a thread asking for one. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-you-wont-read-because-of-the-writing-style/335590.md?page=3)