Goodreads Malaysia discussion

As in how do you "rate" this book is no good or very dissapointing for you ?

When reading it seems like a chore.

When I don't care about the characters in the book.

When after reading halfway through the book, I'm still not interested in the story.

When 80% of the book is heart pounding excellent but it ends not with a bang but with a whimper (Stephen King, I'm looking at you!)

Anything that involves teenage girls and vampires. Also, wolf boys.

When a book is factually inaccurate especially in basic things. For example, stating that a bee colony is ruled by a king and not a queen bee. That's just poor research and the author deserves to be eaten alive by a pack of wolf boys. And vampires. And their teenage girlfriends.

:)

Trust Khairul to put it so very succinctly :D

Add: when the movie turns out better than the book.

When a book is factually inaccurate especially in basic things. For example, stating that a bee colony is ruled by a king and not a queen bee. That's just poor research and the author deserves to be eaten alive by a pack of wolf boys. And vampires. And their teenage girlfriends.

Paling suka sekali baca yang terakhir dan sokong sepenuh hati :D

Khairul H. wrote: "When reading it seems like a chore.

When I don't care about the characters in the book.

When after reading halfway through the book, I'm still not interested in the story.

When 80% of the book i..."
Khairul i sooo agree with you .....i used to love watching and reading about vampires but lately they made vampires look like idiot and needing a good kick in the ass....the whole vampire vibe of those days are ruined by mere teenager girls ....what i don't get is why he is soo depressed about being all shiny

Deviki wrote: "Khairul H. wrote: "When reading it seems like a chore.

When I don't care about the characters in the book.

When after reading halfway through the book, I'm still not interested in the story.
..."

shiny...maybe it's maybelline.. hahaha

Khairul H. wrote: "And vampires. And their teenage girlfriends."

Hear ya! Hear ya!

Perhaps that's why I still haven't joined the flock of Twilight saga. Or maybe the reason is more plain than that. Love story, not my cup of tea. Yup, that's more reasonable.

Unlike Khairul, if by the 10th page I'm still not interested, bye bye bye lah!

Talking about vampires, I don't really mind watching it, because the whole thing takes less than 1 hour (for each episode) or the most is 2 hours (for the movie). Reading it is out of mind. For the time being.

Back to the main question, my answer would be books by authors who love to write lengthy description about everything - be it the characters (what colour of shoes she wears, or how devilishly handsome he is, bla bla bla), or any stuff that are not worth mentioning.

Bunnybaby wrote: "Unlike Khairul, if by the 10th page I'm still not interested, bye bye bye lah!"

I tend to stick around till at least the halfway point because some books start slow and then pick up in the middle.

And I'm with you with overly descriptive authors. I don't care how a character looks like. I will probably ignore the descriptions anyway and make my own mental picture. Just give us a general description ("he is tall, with black hair and has a limp") and get on with the story.

On the other hand, there are a few authors who take short cuts on descriptions to the point of irritation. James Patterson, I believe, is guilty of this. Many of his characters look like celebrities. For example, "Susan looks like a young Jodie Foster" or "John may be mistaken for Al Pacino". Arrrrggghhh!

Khairul,
Ha ha! You are so right about James Patterson. In fact, after reading a number of his books, I came into this conclusion. That he's not really a good author, even though he is so popular. He writes each chapter quite short to give the impression that the story is fast-moving.

Popular doesn't necessarily mean good. Dan Brown's books are popular. Are they good? God, no! Brown is a hack writer. He uses his character's dialog to explain things to the reader. You know, like how the actors in CSI Vegas, Miami, New York and Batu Pahat talk to each other. It takes me out of the story when the characters do not speak like how people actually speak.

Dan Brown? Hmmph. One book of his is enough to put him out of my list. The Digital Fortress.

If I didn't know it better, I'd have thought that there is CSI Batu Pahat. Cet!

"It takes me out of the story when the characters do not speak like how people actually speak."

For me, the same rule applies to Malay books, too. For instance, PTS might be the champion in Bahasa Melayu Tinggi, but for most of its fictions, I feel it's so weird to read unnaturally-spoken dialogue.

If I could guess the murderer straightaway after the detective visit the crime scene. That's why I have stopped reading thriller - i don't have the right attitude..

I like reading a book without having too much an expectation about it.

Like once when a friend of mine suggested The Kite Runner. She said it oh so-good-a-book-she-had-never-read-a-better-book-than-this. I got all eager I bought a copy but after reading it, I was disappointed. It was good but not that good; I have read many better books before. I asked my friend again and found out that actually she had been spending her whole life reading romance and chick-lite and The Kite Runner was the first all serious book she read. Seriously!!!

That taught me not to expect too much (and to get reviews only after checking the background of those reviewers).

Nurul wrote: "If I could guess the murderer straightaway after the detective visit the crime scene. That's why I have stopped reading thriller - i don't have the right attitude.."

Either you're the greatest detective in the world or the crime books you've been reading weren't very good.

"When after reading halfway through the book, I'm still not interested in the story."

Quoting the reason above, i really on it when try to read the follow:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Kataklicik wrote: "Trust Khairul to put it so very succinctly :D

Add: when the movie turns out better than the book."
I agree with you. I firmly believe that THE BOOK should remain BETTER than the movie- just like P.S I Love You. I actually regretted watching the movie.

a book can disappoint me in many ways. a book that:

1) gets so much hype but actually was rubbish.
2) when the author writes too much of love aspect and actually has no point ther than that.
3) a story with predictable ending.
4) missing some page (i mean error in printing and i wasn't aware of it when i bought them)
5) buku novel cinta remaja. noooo... can you think of something else for goodness sake.
6) most importantly when the literature aspect is lacking because i love lit stuff, both english and malay.

When I open the book up and realize I know exactly how it would end. Yes, I'm looking at you Malay novels writer. I gave up on the genre A LONG time ago. And yes, CSI -- even the Batu Pahat and Kuala Kangsar or whatever planet. It's 5 minutes in and my brother and I would chime; s/he did and my mother would be -- How can you tell? And we'll be throwing her that oh-it-cannot-be-more-obvious-that-I-feel-like-I'm-five-and-watching-an-episode-of-Barney.

But, I agree with Khairul really. It's definitely when reading feels like a chore. I hated that most. I wanted to read and find myself free-falling into the world of which was created by the author. I understand some people have their preference as to what type does, but, mine had always been straight-forward and simple mix with humour. I like a simple story, but not too obvious. I want to keep rooting and continue bashing the author in a good way of course -- I'm surprised I didn't have a seizure when JK wrote Ron went out with Lavender instead of confessing his undying love to Hermione instead.

OR the little comments noted in Riordan's Percy Jackson, that was simple and sweet. It's not meant to challenge my mind, but that doesn't mean the character doesn't have their own depth. It's just their thoughts are what they are. Like how we would think or feel or react to a certain situation. Not having three lines explaining on how s/he just twitch at the statement because it offended him/her!

By the way, Vampire used to be dangerously attractive. The whole allure was not the fact that they were beautiful but the fact they send that vibe that everything could go wrong if you even look at them twice but you can never help yourself. It's like dating a badboy really, only with fangs. And wolf boy was hot when it's Hugh Jackman LOL... Sorry, I HAD to say it. So, yeah, I agree, it's annoying when it involves teenage girl, vampires, wolf boy AND also their hormone -- really, isn't facebook enough?

Repetition. Like the writer just HAD to emphasize how dreadful the character's life was. Of course, feeling that it was necessary to a fault to repeat it in chapter 10, 12, 25, 30 and at the very end before saying, but life's better now. I mean, REALLY? If I want that, I'd catch an episode of a soap opera, thank you very much.

hurm...lets see...

1. when the intro don't interest me at all.
2. when the story was so fantastic from the beginning, but the ending was so disappointing.
3. when the summary failed to attract me.

He uses his character's dialog to explain things to the reader. You know, like how the actors in CSI Vegas, Miami, New York and Batu Pahat talk to each other.

What he tries to do is the technique 'showing not telling' but when done poorly, we get the 'Gerak-gerak Khas' dialogue. Haha.

I used to love James Patterson, but after a while, i think his books is not good enough for me. what can i say, i just evolved into a more educated person. Haha.

1. when the author uses the same key words to describe the character/location and drops them every second chapter; that is when I will stop reading and start wondering about the flawed editing.

2. when the plot relies on too many coincidences.

3. sometimes the storyline is outrageously bad, you would think you can do a better job than this. i.e. the dialogues in gnomeo & juliet.

2. when the plot relies on too many coincidences.

Works written by Charles Dickens. Coincidences galore.

Never read Dickens, I suppose his writings must have been 'revolutionary' at his time.

A classic not worthy of reading?

Dickens didn't write novels. He wrote for a monthly magazine and was paid by the word which is why his stories seemed to be padded. That's because they were. The more he wrote, the more he got paid. Which is why, for example, Nicholas Nickelby went to America for no reason whatsoever (the plot was all in Britain...the USA chapter was irrelevant).

You would ramble on and on too if you were paid by the word. lol. I will skip Dickens then.

Heeheehee Tomoko, you better take Khairul's views on classics with a HUGE grain of salt. The dude can't stand 'em! Not the best person to ask about classics obviously **jegil mata kat Khairul**

Tomoko wrote: "You would ramble on and on too if you were paid by the word. lol. I will skip Dickens then."

Don't let me stop you. Read a Dickens then decide for yourself. I'm just giving you my opinion. The only Dickens that I like is 'A Christmas Carol' because the Muppets adapted it into a movie. If it's good enough for Kermit the Frog, it's good enough for me.

1. when i feel like the author is writing about what he feels instead of what the character feels. Especially when he/the character pours all his heart contents right there at the first chapter.

p/s - I dropped The Life of Pi due to this reason, though a bit guilty because I havent met Pi yet. Another time, maybe. Lots of other books to last a lifetime.

2. When it involves gay, adultery , lesbian, suicide for the main character.(Anna Karenina, Salina..etc)

3. When one of the page is missing!

@kataklicik
yessir, I will take his advice like a pinch of salt. Lately too, I've been noticing the merits of the low-sodium diet. haha

@khairul
24 hours a day, almost infinite amount of books to read. Maybe when I'm less anti-sastera-org puteh I will pick him up.

@Nurul
Often times, characters that writers create are derivatives of themselves and they write about how they feel because it seemed like an important message to get across. But I guess its just the matter of style and what cuppa tea one likes. After all, we only have 24 hours a day and there is no need to feel guilty about abandoning Pi. I've not even attempted Pi, so kudos for trying!