21st Century Literature discussion

Which authors have you given a second chance (after not liking or being underwhelmed by the first thing you read by them)? And what was/were the reason(s) you gave them a second chance?

I used to rely a great deal more on the recommendations of others, and if multiple works by an unread author appeared promising, I would add them to the TBR without any sort of personal vetting. Some of these have been weeded since then, but much of my second chance reading is inertia from those times, a sort of sunken cost fallacy combined with the desire to at least read a work before pitching it (my library is 100% treebook).

This year, I've second-chanced a handful along these lines, but the only one worth mentioning of the bunch is Rabih Alameddine, who caught my eye with a fresh work and ended up more than rewarding my efforts. There's no guarantee I'll like any of his other works, but it is nice to be looking forward to his future efforts.

Michael Ondaatje.
I read The English Patient (and saw the movie) and really disliked both. I hated the story and the characters even though his writing was good. Because I felt like his writing was good, I gave him another try later with The Cat's Table, which I absolutely loved. Exquisite.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
Thought I would love Mexican Gothic and really disliked it for various reasons. But I felt like it's a story I should have liked. I later tried her book Velvet Was the Night (likely to be even more up my alley than Mexican Gothic) and, again, really disliked her writing style. I think I like the concepts of her stories, but not her writing.

Stephen Graham Jones.
I want to like his horror, tried The Only Good Indians, but the animal gore was too much for me. I've since tried some of his short stories, some of which I've loved, but still there's too much animal gore in some. Another author where I want to like/read his work, but haven't been able to fully stomach it so far. I will give him yet another try, I think.

I'm definitely influenced by other people and will give authors many chances as I try to understand and appreciate their particular way of telling a story. Some of the authors I still don't understand or appreciate, even after reading several of their books: Elizabeth Strout, Otessa Moshfegh, Lauren Groff, Charles Dickens. I'lll probably keep trying.

Lark reminded me that Dickens is one I have on that list. Did not love Oliver Twist or Nicholas Nikleby, but kept going since Dickens. Finally read Bleak House and Great Expectations, both of which I really liked.

John Irving is another writer that I gave another chance to based on reputation and having friends who loved him. Didn't really like The World According to Garp. Then read a Prayer for Owen Meany and felt like I'd slogged through a 600 page shaggy dog story.

Nathaniel Hawthorne. Like most high school students forced to read The Scarlet Letter, I found it a slog. Have since enjoyed many of his short stories much more. I don't know if I'll ever tackle House of Seven Gables, but it remains a possibility.

I'm an emotional reader, so that can work all kinds of ways, including wrongly shunning an author for one bad experience. But often it is just an aversion to a particular style. I'm thinking of Paul Auster because I really disliked Invisible. A GR friend convinced me to try another, giving excellent reasons, and I will, but am dragging my feet.

I give more chances to classic authors I think. Right now I'm reading a Willa Cather and enjoying it, although my first of hers, O Pioneers! was hugely disappointing.

@Whitney, I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter quite a lot when I read it on my own, but I found The House of the Seven Gables a slog. Just my personal opinion, but I found that one much slower moving; not sure if that's a good one to try next?

Not so much the author, but the book Doctor Faustus which I DNF-ed after 10 pages. Then much later I discovered a different translation by John E. Woods which was superb and a vast improvement over the long-time standard edition with H.T. Lowe-Porter as a translator.

Greg wrote: "@Whitney, I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter quite a lot when I read it on my own, but I found The House of the Seven Gables a slog. Just my personal opinion, but I found that o..."

Good to know, it's now been mentally demoted to "unlikely" from "a possibility". I suspect I also would have liked Scarlet Letter if it hadn't been high school assigned reading.

I finally read The Scarlet Letter when I was in my forties and what I remember about it primarily was how quickly it put me to sleep, it is the single best path to dreamland I've ever encountered.

Vesna wrote: "Not so much the author, but the book Doctor Faustus which I DNF-ed after 10 pages. Then much later I discovered a different translation by John E. Woods which was superb and a vast imp..."

Woods is so wonderful! I especially love his translation of The Magic Mountain, if you're ever so inclined.

I really liked The House of the Seven Gables, but that was 25+ years ago and I barely remember the details (which is sad because I had to write a paper on it for college and vaguely remember focussing on the symbology of the image and the dageurreotype as it related to the book).

Hmm...

Second chances:

- Neil Gaiman (started with American Gods and The Graveyard Book); didn't love either, but went on to thoroughly enjoy The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes as well as his retellings of Norse Mythology). Mostly it was his following that convinced me to try him at all, but the hype around The Sandman series is what had me keep trying.

- Paul Auster (don't give in, Kathleen!); I had only read his book with the dog (Timbuktu) (unless you count a graphic novel version of City of Glass: The Graphic Novel); probably wouldn't have tried him again, but a GR group discussion pulled me in for Invisible---loved the discussion, mostly disliked the book. Done with Auster, I do believe.

- Charlie Jane Anders; I kind of loathed All the Birds in the Sky (which is a pretty extreme reaction from me as a reader), but have since tried a few short stories that I enjoyed. I think I gave these a try merely by reputation and I know a few friends who are fans. Still haven't tried another book yet...

In general, it would seem if I try an author for a first time and rate their work 2 stars or lower, they don't usually get a second shot (unless I get convinced to join a group read at some point).

There are times that although I know a book has merit, it's just not for me. I didn't enjoy The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; it was just a bad fit for me philosophically. Not a popular opinion I know, and I do appreciate its merits, though I can't like it. As a sort of second chance, I really enjoyed The Member of the Wedding though - that one was a gem!

I definitely give classic authors more second (or third, or fourth) chances. And I'll often pick up group reads as second chances too. I've had many nice surprises that way.

Many authors have such varied content after all . . . like Joyce's Dubliners and Finnegans Wake. Liking or disliking one doesn't give you much of a clue as to whether you'll like or dislike the other

Lark wrote: "Woods is so wonderful! I especially love his translation of The Magic Mountain, if you're ever so inclined."

Oh, yes, he is! I also read The Magic Mountain and Buddenbrooks in his translation, indeed wonderful. I was very saddened when I heard that Woods died earlier this year.

I mostly would give an author a second chance because I will read other reviews that say something like "this isn't his or her best book but try this one" so I will give it another try. I know that there are particular authors that I am very fond of that have some clunkers in their collection of books, so I'm definitely always willing to give another chance to an author.

I DNF'ed Laurus 10 pages in on my first attempt, and several weeks later tried again and it turned out to be one of my favorite books of all time.

It took me two tries to get into Infinite Jest and it became.... not so much a favorite as unforgettable - in a good way. These days I wouldn't have the patience for it, but I'm glad I did back then.

For me a prize win or shortlisting can convince me to give an author a second chance, but it is rarely a good idea.... I struggle to think of any positive examples, whereas negative ones come to mind easily (Powers, Groff).

Actually, I should give authors I love a second chance, because instead of reading their backlist I tend to go for the newest fiction....

I often give authors second or third chances but at the moment I can't think of any specifics!

Usually it's because I know when I read the first one, it maybe wasn't the right book at the right time or I just wasn't in the headspace to appreciate it. Sometimes though I'll pick up a book because people have said the book isn't like the one I didn't like, or the one I didn't like isn't typical of their work.

I don't have too many authors on my DO NOT READ list, but I add to it every year. John Scalzi is this year's winner, because he seems to be writing to an audience of pre-teen boys and I just can't handle any more of his nonsense. I also added Pierce Brown and Robert R. McCammon this year by the way, for much of the same reason.

But giving a No-Fly-Zone author a second chance? Yeah, I've done it. It never works well, like going back to someone you used to date, you figure out quickly all the reasons it wasn't good to be together. After I read four John Grisham books in the 1990s I realized he was really just writing the same story over and over. 10 years or so later his book A Painted House was recommended to me and I decided to try it since it was promised to be "different." Well, it was a little bit different, but it was still garbage.

Some authors keep drawing me in because people I would otherwise respect seem to enjoy them. Douglas Adams for instance. I have yet to laugh at any of his so-called humorous books, but I think I've read just about all of them. By the way, the only one I really "liked" was his non-fiction work Last Chance to See about his trips to see endangered species around the globe.

So I can't really say why I give an author a second chance. Brain damage maybe? I should get a head CT I suppose.

I think if you didn't encounter Douglas Adams during your pre-teen or teenage years, you'll never love him the way a lot of people do.

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I don't have too many authors on my DO NOT READ list, but I add to it every year. John Scalzi is this year's winner, because he seems to be writing to an audience of pre-teen boys and..."

RJ, interesting you mention McCammon. I just finished Usher's Passing and it was a bit underwhelming to me. It was my first read of his work and I am on the fence on whether to read another one of his.