# Re-reading authors of your youth & realizing they are really hacks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333 "2006-10-21T14:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/41 "2006-10-22T22:50:54Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] Franklin W. Dixon was not a hack. He was several hacks. [/QUOTE] There were a whole group of pseudonymous writers for Stratmeyer Syndicate: Dixon for the Hardy Boys, Caroyln Keene for Nancy Drew, Laura Lee Hope for the Bobbsey Twins, and Victor Appleton II for Tom Swift. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/42 "2006-10-22T22:57:33Z")
I continue to be one of the last surviving Doc Savage fans by refusing to reread any Doc Savage stories. I will keep my memories enjoyable without sullying them with proof of authorial ineptitude. I follow the same advice with Lovecraft. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/43 "2006-10-22T23:36:19Z")
[QUOTE=BraheSilver] More recently, Robert Asprin. The earlier Myth books were ok when they focused on the humor, but the ones that were supposed to be morality tales were just awful. The Phule’s Company series irritated me because the main character was sooooo perfect in every way and everything he did was right and every decision he made was the right one and all the bad guys hated only him because he was always perfect. Good heavens. [/QUOTE] The best thing about the MYTH books were Foglio’s illustrations in the Starblaze printings. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/44 "2006-10-22T23:55:35Z")
Harry Harrison-- I absolutely loved the Stainless Steel Rat stuff as a wee tyke and I made the mistake of talking it up to the SO, who checked it out. Yeesh. Embarassing. When I was 13 it was great. Most of Sci-fi, actually. Like, Harlan Ellison. What was I thinking? What a dick. Frank Herbert? Steven King-- ech. Most fantasy goes without saying, of course. I plan to never revisit Zelazny so I can keep my fond memories. Same goes for the fantasy series about the rogue weasel or ferret and other anthropomorphized animals in the sward and such-- don’t even remember the author but I’m afraid that if I learn his/her name I’ll go check some books out and ruin my childhood some more. I will be flayed for this by zealots and fanatics, but Heinlein. Boy, was Number of the Beast great when I was on acid at 17. I have to second the Ayn Rand, too. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/45 "2006-10-23T00:17:16Z")
[COLOR=Black]CAVEAT: This is not meant to be inflammatory. In my early teens I read, loved and most of all believed in LoTR. It was magic on so many levels and Tolkien was just channling some unknown history that your teachers avoided in the classroom. About twenty years later (early to mid 90’s) I decided to revisit the stories of Middle Earth and found it terribly boring, the prose was stilted and awkward and the plotting tideous. I guees it belongs in a time during the teean years just before listening to the Doors, reading Pirsig, smoking pot and wearing a black turtle neck (all of which I plead guilty of). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/46 "2006-10-23T01:18:39Z")
[QUOTE=capybara] Same goes for the fantasy series about the rogue weasel or ferret and other anthropomorphized animals in the sward and such-- don’t even remember the author but I’m afraid that if I learn his/her name I’ll go check some books out and ruin my childhood some more. [/QUOTE] Alan Dean Foster, _Spellsinger_. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/47 "2006-10-23T01:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] What about Anthony Burgess? I assume you read more than just _A Clockwork Orange_, right? (His least favorite of his own works, and initially published incomplete in the US because the US publishers didn’t like the ending). I really enjoy many of his books. [/QUOTE] I was a Burgess completist for many years. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/48 "2006-10-23T01:34:09Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Well, maybe hack is overstating it a bit. But I was tragically disappointed when I revisted some of the books that, when I was nineteen, I consider the _Best Books E!V!A!R!_ When I came back to them in my thirties, suddenly Vonnegut, instead of being a font universal wisdom, was a cranky one-trick pony. He has one tone of voice, and one theme. Still, it’s entertaining. [/QUOTE] I understand your POV without completely agreeing with it. Many of his novels were required reading for me in high school, and I had fond memories of them though I hadn’t re-read them in 20 years or more. Recently, my daughter discovered him, so I thought I’d revisit some of the books I read so long ago. He certainly doesn’t speak to the 40-year-old me the way he did to the 17-year old me. I attribute it to me being older and more jaded rather than Vonnegut being a hack. That said, I still find his short stories wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/49 "2006-10-23T02:01:31Z")
The Bible? \*\*Address all replies to \*\* F.U. Shakespeare General Delivery Hell, 66666 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/50 "2006-10-23T02:44:16Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] I was a Burgess completist for many years. [/QUOTE] So… what is it that you think is hack-ish about him? You haven’t answered the question! You don’t get to get down off the stand! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/51 "2006-10-23T02:54:55Z")
[QUOTE=Arien] where Lestat goes to heaven and speaks with Jesus. Oy. [/QUOTE] I thought they sucked after the rock and roll Lestat, but you’re whoosing me about Jesus, right? Right? THis stuff is so bad I almost believe you. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/52 "2006-10-23T02:56:47Z")
[QUOTE=tarragon918] I’ve re-read a few of the books I loved as a kid–most of them were definitely not as enjoyable as I remembered but I think that was more from my now adult perspective rather than that they were written by hacks. _A Wrinkle in Time_ comes to mind first [/QUOTE] I was coming into the thread to mention Madeline l’Engle, actually. “A Wrinkle in Time” was great when I was eleven. I picked up a couple of her books lying around the house (MRs. RickJay has an enormous collection of science fiction and fantasy work" and I was appalled. It was terrible writing. Within six pages I was cheering for Charles Wallace to be run over by a semi. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/53 "2006-10-23T03:03:10Z")
I never thought Vonnegut was as good as credited. I grew up in the Seventies so I read a lot of van Daniken and Hal Lindsey for the apocalyptic fun of it all (we’re all going to die! And then go to hell!), but they were hacks then and I recognized them for their hackery. A couple of books that I recently revisited from those years that was nowhere near as good as remembered were _The Book of Lists_ (1977) and _The People’s Almanac_ (1976) (dates estimated). I read TPA when I was 8 and damn near had the thing memorized - rereading it was perhaps the most intense case of self-inflicted deja vu ever experienced: for quite a while, I was remembering sentences right before reading them. TBoL was particularly irritating at parts - what’s the deal with the Napoleon fixation? Like all books that are of their moment, the celebrities that they chose to include as guest list-makers are, well, not so celebrated any more. And yes, the constant politicizing in the book grew irritating after a while. TPA wasn’t as bad on the rereading: non-fiction withstands the passage of time better than fiction does, imho. A lot of the info is dated (especially a list of top-10 TV shows that stopped at 1975), but it still held up other than topicality (in case y’all didn’t know, Nixon is teh evil) and some obviously outdated notions and info about sex. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/54 "2006-10-23T03:03:55Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] The first couple of dragonrider books by Anne McCaffrey should certainly count. The dialog is hideous. “I am Lessa! Daughter of Ruatha!” Urf. [/QUOTE] I don’t recall that she got much better with the later books. I think that she should have stopped after the first two trilogies (Dragonriders and Harper Hall books). I really can’t blame her for putting out new books, though, if people are going to keep buying them. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/55 "2006-10-23T03:07:17Z")
[QUOTE=DrFidelius] last surviving Doc Savage fans [/QUOTE] Hello, my name is Carnivorousplant and I still read Doc Savage. Yes, I know he spent quite some time in an alligator suit in Louisiana with a very racist author. But there’s standing on the running board, and Monk and Ham trying to kill each other, and those submachine guns. And the female Cousin later on. [QUOTE=DrFidelius] I follow the same advice with Lovecraft. [/QUOTE] Sir, you may as well complain about Lord Dunsany. Think of the silver guitar strings. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/56 "2006-10-23T03:11:22Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] TPA wasn’t as bad on the rereading: non-fiction withstands the passage of time better than fiction does, imho. A lot of the info is dated (especially a list of top-10 TV shows that stopped at 1975), but it still held up other than topicality (in case y’all didn’t know, Nixon is teh evil) and some obviously outdated notions and info about sex. [/QUOTE] My favorite section of TPA for revisiting is the “predictions of the future” near the back. I go back to it every five years or so - marvelously inaccurate, especially the ones by the so-called “psychics.” ---
**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:** [October 23, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/57 "2006-10-23T03:25:13Z")
I liked how there were _no_ Princess Diana predictions. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rainbowthief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4bbf92/32.png) [@Rainbowthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rainbowthief)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/58 "2006-10-23T06:44:55Z")
**Stephen King** –I read King voraciously as a teen and although I never thought of him as great writer I did find his work very entertaining until I turned 18 and suddenly everything he wrote seemed stupid. Even his non-fiction, which his detractors usually give him more credit for, bores me. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/59 "2006-10-23T07:16:46Z")
We just read _Logan’s Run_ (for the first time in 25 years) and found it hilariously horrible. On the other hand, we read _The Stainless Steel Rat_ and found it hilariously enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333/60 "2006-10-23T08:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] Sir, you may as well complain about Lord Dunsany. Think of the silver guitar strings. [/QUOTE] [nitpick]The silver guitar strings was Wellman, of course. And they’re damn fine stories.[/nitpick] And Lovecraft actually holds up quite well so long as you put a muzzle on your internal critic, accept what HPL was going for, and ignore the worst of the purple prose. There’s a good reason he’s regarded as one of the best horror authors ever, after all. As for Doc Savage–yeesh. I read the first book in the series for the first time when I was in my mid-twenties and swore never to touch another one. I think I’d rather re-read the Barry Sadler “Casca, the Eternal Mercenary” series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-reading-authors-of-your-youth-realizing-they-are-really-hacks/377333.md?page=4)