# One author, two books. One you love, one you hate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129 "2005-10-27T05:37:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/21 "2005-10-27T18:00:15Z")
Miguel de Cervantes. Liked most of Don Quioxte, except for that bit in the middle of part one with all the tedious stories about pherphial characters. I’ve tried reading his other stuff and none of it grabbed me like Quioxte did. Robert W. Chambers: The Reparier of Reputations is a great little story, but everything else of his I’ve read is…bleh. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/22 "2005-10-27T18:10:18Z")
Funny how tastes’ differ sometimes. When I saw the OP I thought of Neil Gaiman, too. I loved **Good Omens** , but I almost didn’t finish **American Gods** , and when I did, it was a while before I moved on to any of his other stuff. I liked the premise and much of the storyline of **American** gods, but he really gave in to his tendency to indulge in over-the-top sex and gore (sometimes simultaneously.) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/23 "2005-10-27T18:15:39Z")
Scott Turow. _Presumed Innocent_ kept me spellbound, the characters were inventive and believable, the dialog often made me smile. A good whodunnit, great drama, and had some spectacular comedic moments. _The Burden of Proof_ just plain sucked. Failed to entertain in nearly every aspect. It was a burden to finish it. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/24 "2005-10-27T18:18:10Z")
Richard Adams. **Watership Down**. One of my favorite books ever. **The Girl in a Swing**. One of the worst books I ever forced myself through. Boring as hell, and I figured out the ending almost right away. Even the fact that he was writing about places I was familiar with didn’t help. A swift kick in the ass to you, Mr. Adams! and can I have your autograph? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/25 "2005-10-27T18:20:56Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > CJ Cherryh > > I love her science fiction, hate her fantasy. That’s exactly what I came in here to say. How on earth does she do it? She’s written about a million sci fi books on going native, and they’re all _spectacularly_ good. They ought to get old after awhile but they don’t! And then she writes the occaisional real steaming turd of a fantasy novel. I guess sometimes you get a bad idea you’ve got to exorcise somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/26 "2005-10-27T18:21:40Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Think of an author you’ve read more than one book by. One of their books you loved, and one you hated. **Stephen Donaldson.** I loved the Covenant stuff, after overcoming my initial distaste for the flawed protagonist. By _White Gold Wielder_ I was a big fan. I actually made myself finish _The Mirror of Her Dreams_ in the hopes that once again I would be shown something I had not expected. Alas, the embarrassingly stupid and passive protagonist spends most of the book idly fondling herself and fantasizing about the cold, strong, controlling hands of the villain mauling her fair bosom. I kid you not, it’s like he wrote it for the Harlequin line but they rejected it for portraying women as too easily sexually controlled. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/27 "2005-10-27T18:25:57Z")
Oooh, ooh, I thought of another! Robert McCammon. _Gone South_ was weird but compellingly well-written and fun. Offbeat in a good way. _Bethany’s Sin_\*? Hard to read more than a couple pages without visualizing the author grabbing his nuts protectively and howling about evilbad castrating feminist womenfolks. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/28 "2005-10-27T18:27:12Z")
Hank Searls [Sounding](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394524713/103-3316834-9909413?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) Loved this book. I was really caught up be the change in perspective and the vaugely historical pretext. [Overboard](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585867659/103-3316834-9909413?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) WTF??? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/29 "2005-10-27T18:36:29Z")
I wholeheartedly agree with both \*\*Silenus \*\* (as to Heinlein’s high and low points) and \*\*AHunter3 \*\* (as to Turow’s). I would add Joe Haldeman: “The Forever War” - Brilliant, scabrously funny military sci-fi, highly influenced by his experiences in Vietnam. “Forever Peace” - Muddled, scattered, disappointing. Haldeman must’ve \*really \* wanted that Corvette. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/30 "2005-10-27T18:51:39Z")
> [@soulmurk](#): > > Joseph Heller: > > **Catch-22**. One of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Had its chuckle softly moments and its laugh-out-loud put-the-book-down moments. All around, a fun read. It currently occupies one of the prized places of honor on my bookshelves. > > **Like Gold**. Is this the same author? The heaps of praise on the back cover not only compare favorably to **Catch-22** , but suggest that it surpasses it in humor. It doesn’t. It’s a steaming pile of liquified doggie doo. I kept reading it, hoping it would get better. It doesn’t. In fact, from now on I’m not calling it “Like Gold”, I’m calling it “Like a Steaming Pile of Liquified Doggie Doo”. It currently occupies one of the dubious places of dishonor underneath my bookshelves. Just to nitpick, the book’s title is _Good As Gold_. To be fair, Heller is often asked why he has never written another book as good as _Catch-22_. Who has? is his response. Most authors have a dud in their repertoire. Don DiLillo put out the unreadable _Cosmopolis_. Terry Southern followed up _Candy_ and _The Magic Christian_ with _Blue Movie_. Philip Roth did the very standard and dull _When She Was Good_ just before _Portnoy’s Complaint_. Not everything works. Some experiments fail. So what? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/31 "2005-10-27T19:08:32Z")
TC Boyle: **Water Music** I loved. A contemporary take on the historical picaresque novel, which never hits a single note wrong. **World’s End** was better when PJ O’Rourke did it. In 8 pages in the Rolling Stone. And even then it wasn’t all that good. John Barth **The Floating Opera** (revised edition) is one of the classic Modern American novels. However, **The Floating Opera** (first edition) is excreble. It was Barth’s first novel, and his publisher felt that the ending needed to be changed, and brought tremendous pressure to bear. Barth caved, and years later, when he was an established author, released a revised edition. The problem was The main character decides not to commit suicide. No problem, right? Only his justification is that, having discovered that there is no reason not to commit suicide, he extrapolates that there must also be no reason to commit suicide. And, since suicide requires taking an action, while continuing to live is a default position, he decides to live. In the first edition, he decides not to commit suicide because a little girl almost dies. The precise logical procession escapes me now. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/32 "2005-10-27T20:18:38Z")
Surprised that no one has mentioned Thomas Harris with a yay for RED DRAGON &/or SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and a major NAY for HANNIBAL. But that’s not mine- mine is more yay/meh- and that goes to Walker Percy twice, both re a novel & its sequel- THE LAST GENTLEMAN- meh; THE SECOND COMING- yay! and conversely LOVE IN THE RUINS- yay; THE THANATOS SYNDROME- meh… oh yeah- also- Moses- Genesis- Yay, Leviticus- meh. Paul- Romans to II Thessalonians- Yay, Philemon- meh. 😃 ---
**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:** [October 27, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/33 "2005-10-27T20:26:38Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Surprised that no one has mentioned Thomas Harris with a yay for RED DRAGON &/or SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and a major NAY for HANNIBAL. Oh, good one. I must have blocked it. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/34 "2005-10-27T20:30:15Z")
Stephen R. Donaldson Loved The Mirror of Her Dreams pair of books. I could not stand Thomas Covenent the Unbeliever (at least, not the first book). I got about halfway through and was just not into it, and beginning to actively despise it. So I put it down and never looked back. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/35 "2005-10-27T20:33:26Z")
Douglas Adams: _Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Life, the Universe and Everything_ Loved that one! _So Long And Thanks For All The Fish_ Oh, how terribly terribly awful. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/36 "2005-10-27T20:33:34Z")
Oh and another… Piers Anthony Loved: On a Pale Horse Hated: First two books of the “Mode” series, and probably everything else he’s ever churned out too from the looks of it. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/37 "2005-10-27T20:44:27Z")
Stephen King. There’s many examples but to max out either end of the spectrum: The Stand - Love it Dreamcatcher - That these two books were written by the same man is hard to fathom. Hated it with a very deep passion. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/38 "2005-10-27T20:47:24Z")
**AHunter3** already captured my feelings on Turow, and **ddgryphon** nailed Adams. Frank Herbert : _Dune_ - masterpiece. Fully deserving of its reputation. _God Emporer of Dune_ - So bad I never bothered to read any of the subsequent books. Asimov: I absolutely love the original _Foundation Trilogy_. Heck, pretty much everything he wrote up until _Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain_. Booooooooooooooooring!!! I know he wanted to redo Fantastic Voyage and get the science right, but would it have hurt to throw in a little story to go along with science? The book was a 100-page physics lecture followed by a 100-page microbiology textbook. At least the last 20 pages or so was a decent Cold War espionage thriller. I’ll give The Silmarrillion a pass as it was posthumously cobbled together and not submitted for publication by Tolkein. For all I know, it eventually becomes excellent, but I’ve never gotten past the first 40 pages. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/39 "2005-10-27T23:19:12Z")
Let me second Piers Anthony. I could probably come up with 20 of his books in either category, but as much as he wowed me with **Macroscope** , **Cluster** , and **Centaur Aisle** , how can I forgive him for, um, **The Color of Her Panties**? :o –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129/40 "2005-10-27T23:35:23Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > I’ll give The Silmarrillion a pass as it was posthumously cobbled together and not submitted for publication by Tolkein. For all I know, it eventually becomes excellent, but I’ve never gotten past the first 40 pages. It is a lot like reading Genesis, only none of the names are familiar. > [@FriarTed](#): > > mine is more yay/meh- and that goes to Walker Percy twice, both re a novel & its sequel- > > THE LAST GENTLEMAN- meh; THE SECOND COMING- yay! > > and conversely > > LOVE IN THE RUINS- yay; THE THANATOS SYNDROME- meh… **FriarTed,** how do you feel about _The Moviegoer_? First list or second? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-author-two-books-one-you-love-one-you-hate/328129.md?page=3)