# Ever started a good book, and 100 pages in, it takes a turn for the worse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947 "2003-08-27T11:33:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/21 "2003-08-28T12:31:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shelbo \* > \*\*Just about every book by Michael Crighton. Interesting enough idea (dinosaur genes in amber, space borne bacteria), set up fairly well, then dissolves into a keystone cops frenzy of a finish. \*\* Yeah…he writes until he gets tired, and then wraps it up in with two-page conclusion that really has little to do with the preceeding story. Examples: the end of the Andromeda Strain, if I recall correctly (it’s been a while since I read it), is a government report on the whole incident. The first time I read it, I thought that the book had been misbound, either leaving something out or adding something extraneous in. In Jurassic Park, there’s a two-page conclusion which has everyone in Costa Rican custody, apparently for an indefinite period…so what happened? the reader cries… ---
**Author:** ![ThatDuckIsEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@ThatDuckIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatDuckIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/22 "2003-08-28T19:31:03Z")
“Wicked” is still on my dresser with the bookmark halfway through, where its been for three months. I normally ALWAYS finish a book, but I think that one and Violin by Anne Rice are the only two I never could get through. Started off interesting enough, but went downhill fast. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/23 "2003-08-28T23:28:43Z")
Some book by Stephen King-- _Rosebud_ or something – that I read in high school. Relatively interesting beginning. A woman who’s been battered by her policeman husband for years walks out the door one day and goes to a battered women’s shelter, starts putting her life together, etc. In the meantime, her evil husband is hunting her down. Then, halfway through, it’s like King gives up and decides to let magic solve all his problems :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/24 "2003-08-28T23:57:50Z")
I liked Kenzaburo Oe’s _A Personal Matter_ until the ending, which is improbable and sappy. (I won’t include an explanation for why I’m so disappointed with the ending of the book, just in case someone on this board is now reading it.) I felt pretty resentful when I was done with the novel. Most of the book is complex and emotionally compelling. I wish I could rewrite the ending, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/25 "2003-08-29T00:28:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by panamajack \* > \*\*Kazuo Ishiguro’s _The Unconsoled_ soured exactly on p. 96 for me. It started out well, though with a clearly Kafkaesque style and tone. By that point, it was clear that the whole thing was going to be a nonsensical dream (at least with Kafka you have the vague sense it might be going somewhere), which it was for almost the remainder of the book. \*\* I did the same thing when “When We Were Orphans” Completely sucked in by the beautiful prose, the intriguing plot. I was telling everyone what a wonderful book I was reading. Then, poof - plot went into some sort of - well, nonsensical dream state pretty much sums it up. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/26 "2003-08-29T00:40:24Z")
I’ll top you all. There’s a six-volume science-fiction series by a British author, I think it’s David Wingate (my memory may fail here), the first volume is called “Chung-Kow.” The premise is that, at some future date, the Chinese had taken over the world, ruling with an iron fist. It was a fascinating premise, and some very disturbing characters, scenes, etc. I chugged through all six volumes and then the whole thing turns out to have taken place in some alternative universe and the main characters all escape to our universe, just about the time of the take-over of Hong Kong by China. It was the cheapest, tawdiest, most disappointing god-from-the-machine I’ve ever seen… after such a lonnnnnnnnnnng set of books. There was no hint of this earlier, none. I do NOT recommend the books, unless you stop with the first one. ---
**Author:** ![nisosbar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@nisosbar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nisosbar)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/27 "2003-08-29T01:10:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*It was the cheapest, tawdiest, most disappointing god-from-the-machine I’ve ever seen… after such a lonnnnnnnnnnng set of books. There was no hint of this earlier, none. > > I do NOT recommend the books, unless you stop with the first one. \*\* Wow. How Dallas of him. I will avoid it at all costs. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/28 "2003-08-29T03:02:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Super Gnat \* > **Some book by Stephen King-- _Rosebud_ or something** [Rose Madder](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451186362/qid=1062126103/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-6729050-9750245?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) – should anyone care to avoid it (or read it – I happened to find it quite readable. YMMV) ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/29 "2003-08-29T04:34:27Z")
The last Wheel of Time book by Robert Jordan. I made it through 50 pages before throwing it across the room and swearing him off. It was cold someplace, and people were doing something. And after 50 pages of description of how cold it was, I gave up. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/30 "2003-08-29T05:09:39Z")
_Stranger in a Strange Land_ by Robert Heinlein. The first half was very interesting, as it focused on how a human raised by aliens would deal with coming to Earth and dealing with an unfamiliar human culture. However, the second half revealed that such a human would become the leader of a hippie love cult. I’m just glad I took a chance on Heinlein again and read the much better _Starship Troopers_. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/31 "2003-08-29T07:04:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > I’ll top you all. There’s a six-volume science-fiction series by a British author, I think it’s David Wingate (my memory may fail here), the first volume is called “Chung-Kow.” Thanks a lot, **CK** – I had _finally_ managed to erase all memories of this racist piece of tripe from my mind, and now you’ve dragged them back to the surface. In any event, **Chung Kow** (I believe the name is also used for the entire series) doesn’t really fit the OP – it goes sour within the first dozen pages, easily. Noble and virtuous Anglo guys, evil wicked amoral Asians, hackneyed psuedo-oriental dialog throughout, all topped off with some rather disgusting imagery. It boggles my mind that the series actually found enough of an audience to warrant six volumes, though hearing about how stupid the series ends gives me some perverse satisfaction at the fans – “You sat through this garbage and got screwed with a crappy ending! HA HA!” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/32 "2003-08-29T07:09:19Z")
_The Electric Kook Aid Acid Test_ was okay at the beginning, but just started to become boring very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/33 "2003-08-29T07:40:48Z")
Anything by James Ellroy. By rights I should like him, it’s my favourite fiction genre, all the reviewers compare him to people I do like but everytime I start one of his novels I soon find him very, very tiresome. I read his account of his search for his mother’s killer and enjoyed it thoroughly. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/34 "2003-08-29T13:44:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > **The last Wheel of Time book by Robert Jordan.** Wow! You made it _that_ far…? I swore off (and at) Robert Jordan three books ago. He can’t write women, he can’t write relationships, and he can’t write a conclusion. Oh, and he can’t sell books to me, anymore, either. _Number of the Beast_ lost me, as did _Glory Road_. Actually, they didn’t so much lose me as they _offended_ me. Not the content, but the assumption that I’d sit still for such rambling, disjointed, contrived pieces of crap. I read _Stranger in a Strange Land_ all the way through, but it pretty much used up all my patience for Heinlein. _Wicked_ also sits on my shelf, half-finished (and likely to stay that way!). Donaldson’s _The Mirror of Her Dreams_ lost me completely, and that’s a real shame. Donaldson is one of my favorite authors, and he writes _really good_ characterizations. So, when he decided to write about a whiny, spineless, wishy-washy wuss of a heroine and her unmotivated doormat of a male counterpart, I just gave up: They were completely believable, and therefore totally unsympathetic. I couldn’t stand any further exposure to either one of those wimps, and tossed the book aside. Worse, because it was _Donaldson_, I’d bought both books in the series at the same time, so now I have had these two unread books littering up my bookshelf the past dozen yars or so. I can’t bring myself to throw or donate them, and I can’t bring myself to read them, either. The second _Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever_ series almost got the ‘drop it’ treatment, too. The tone was so defeated and so bleak that I had to struggle heroically to get through the first book and a half. I’m glad I did, though, as the series picked-up remarkably after the half-way point, and finished very well. Tad Williams’ _Dragonbone Chair_ series is another that will try your patience sorely, and many will never finish it. I did finish them, and I’m glad I did, though I hold blameless anyone who hates them. They’re a tough read, and are slow, slow, slow. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/35 "2003-08-29T14:59:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tranquilis \* > \*\*Donaldson’s _The Mirror of Her Dreams_ lost me completely, and that’s a real shame. \*\* Aw, man. I loved that book, and I loved Terisa and Geraden. Their characters started out as spineless snivellers, yes, but they grew into much stronger and capable characters as the story progressed, and their growth was believable. You gave up too soon! ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/36 "2003-08-29T15:31:01Z")
“Battle Circle” by (I think) Piers Anthony. It was an okayish yarn about a future society built around formalized combat. When one of the main characters had a glockenspiel grafted in place of a missing hand, I had enough. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/37 "2003-08-29T15:48:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ThatDuckIsEvil \* > \*\*I normally ALWAYS finish a book, but I think…Violin by Anne Rice…Started off interesting enough, but went downhill fast. \*\* Actually, I thought _Violin_ was incredibly boring for the _first_ half until… …she took his viloin away from him, started travelling through time, and became an internationally acclaimed violinist. WTF was up with that?! I normally love her books, but I swear, she must have been on something when she wrote that one. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/38 "2003-08-29T16:05:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gallows fodder \* > \*\*Aw, man. I loved that book, and I loved Terisa and Geraden. Their characters started out as spineless snivellers, yes, but they grew into much stronger and capable characters as the story progressed, and their growth was believable. You gave up too soon! \*\* _Sigh_ You’re the second person to tell me this. I suppose I’ll have to dust them off and see if it’s really so. I gave up, BTW, shortly after the incident with the cistern, so you have a better idea of how far I got. Donaldson is such a skilled writer that I can still remember the details of where I’d finally had ‘enough & too much’, a decade or so later. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/39 "2003-08-29T16:34:10Z")
Donaldson sagas _always_start out bleak and unpleasent, them get much better. Think about _The Wounded Land_ (which you mentioned) or the first _Gap_ book (_The Real Story_) which was nearly unreadable. You even see it in some of his short stories. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947/40 "2003-08-29T16:47:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by don’t ask \* > \*\*Anything by James Ellroy. By rights I should like him, it’s my favourite fiction genre, all the reviewers compare him to people I do like but everytime I start one of his novels I soon find him very, very tiresome. I read his account of his search for his mother’s killer and enjoyed it thoroughly. \*\* I’ve had the opposite reaction with his last few books. Lately his prose is so stylized that I read about 50 pages and my brain just can’t take it. So I put it down, rest a dew days, start over, and get thoroughly hooked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-started-a-good-book-and-100-pages-in-it-takes-a-turn-for-the-worse/197947.md?page=3)