By the standards of what I enjoyed as a nine year-old?
Larry Send a noteboard - 10/09/2012 01:04:12 AM
It serves its purpose, just like any airport novel, it's written well enough to convey its rip roaring type story, and it does it relatively well.
Now if we are talking written to a standard that would satisfy elitist literary snobs? Then no, it'll never do that. But then since I daresay 90% of people have no idea about what literary conventions satisfy a 'well written' book, and instead just like what they like, which in most cases is a story rather than how 'well' it's written, that's fine.
Now if we are talking written to a standard that would satisfy elitist literary snobs? Then no, it'll never do that. But then since I daresay 90% of people have no idea about what literary conventions satisfy a 'well written' book, and instead just like what they like, which in most cases is a story rather than how 'well' it's written, that's fine.
I recently finished revisiting several children's/YA stories that I read and enjoyed when I was 9-12 years old. By those standards, the turgid prose, the unnecessary interruptions to refer to the game's imagined past, the stock characterizations, all of those were poor compared to say The Wind in the Willows, the Ramona series, or several others. It may be that because I didn't encounter these books when I was learning to deal with hormones that there is nothing that appeals to me, but I doubt my dim opinion of them is anything inveterate

But the comment about how many people might not know what a "good book" is would not be something that I would share, ironically enough. I hold to that perhaps quixotic faith that some are quite aware of what is well written and that while many may favor what they themselves might label as "trash," they wouldn't hold it in any higher esteem than something to read while taking a shit
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
This may be one of the most dire reviews you shall ever read
- 09/09/2012 09:12:25 PM
2475 Views
A review of a D&D bestiary could be more dire.
- 09/09/2012 11:29:17 PM
1542 Views
Perhaps
- 09/09/2012 11:50:20 PM
1636 Views
They are popular as they are fun, easy reading books
- 10/09/2012 12:11:24 AM
1622 Views
"Popular", "Fun," and "Easy" doesn't have to be equated with poorly-written
- 10/09/2012 12:16:27 AM
1861 Views
Poorly written by what standard?
- 10/09/2012 12:29:17 AM
1720 Views
By the standards of what I enjoyed as a nine year-old?
- 10/09/2012 01:04:12 AM
1674 Views
So like I said, by the standards of Elitist Literary Snobs
- 11/09/2012 12:03:08 AM
1745 Views
Nice attempt at sophistry, but alas, it fails
- 11/09/2012 12:38:24 AM
1677 Views
Was that meant to make any sense?
- 11/09/2012 01:43:13 AM
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Re: Was that meant to make any sense?
- 11/09/2012 01:54:23 AM
1680 Views
I'm with Wibble on this (big surprise)
- 12/09/2012 03:07:53 PM
1750 Views
Heh.
- 12/09/2012 03:43:52 PM
1900 Views
Pretty much so
- 12/09/2012 04:19:35 PM
1855 Views
When did you put up that header?
- 12/09/2012 04:35:20 PM
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I didn't put it up
- 12/09/2012 04:51:32 PM
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I shall tread lightly so.
- 12/09/2012 06:15:51 PM
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- 12/09/2012 07:25:29 PM
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- 12/09/2012 07:25:29 PM
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Re: Pretty much so
- 12/09/2012 08:50:57 PM
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You apparently do not read my blog/reviews much
- 12/09/2012 09:07:18 PM
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Actually, I read them almost never
- 13/09/2012 03:07:48 PM
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I think my IQ dropped a little bit when I parsed what you said
- 13/09/2012 04:16:21 PM
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Yep, your usual rebuttal... *NM*
- 17/09/2012 02:14:56 PM
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No, not really
- 17/09/2012 06:25:15 PM
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Yes, Yes, wrap yourself in arrogance and declare yourself correct until your opposite gets bored...
- 17/09/2012 11:12:17 PM
1816 Views
Don't try to argue with them. They've made their judgments. They are better than you.
- 10/09/2012 09:36:17 PM
1645 Views
Defensive much?
*NM*
- 10/09/2012 10:31:17 PM
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*NM*
- 10/09/2012 10:31:17 PM
898 Views
Perhaps. It's annoying, because I tend to agree with you guys - you and Tom and Stephen.
- 11/09/2012 02:32:28 AM
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The odd thing that there wasn't any belittling on my part -see other response. *NM*
- 11/09/2012 03:17:36 AM
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For the record, I wasn't trying to be condescending in my response.
- 11/09/2012 05:52:29 PM
1675 Views
He never said you couldn't enjoy it.
- 10/09/2012 11:10:11 PM
1788 Views
He also went on to compare liking the books to having the standards of a nine-year-old.
- 11/09/2012 02:34:18 AM
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You didn't read what I said very well then
- 11/09/2012 03:16:21 AM
1633 Views
You're right. In the context of this thread, I'm basically acting like a raving lunatic.
- 11/09/2012 02:48:19 PM
1671 Views
It's not like any of us have ever been innocent 100% of the time
- 11/09/2012 03:49:22 PM
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- 11/09/2012 03:49:22 PM
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I believe that they were not meant for adults.
- 10/09/2012 12:30:05 AM
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Very few of my friends were reading the books; some played the game, though
- 10/09/2012 01:06:07 AM
1642 Views
Basically, both get dubious kudos for trying something new by the dire standards of the day.
- 10/09/2012 11:38:22 PM
1708 Views
Interesting point
- 11/09/2012 12:41:01 AM
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Are you aware of the game's alignment rules? Some of the novels struggle with this.
- 12/09/2012 10:58:37 PM
1695 Views
Not aware of it at all until now
- 12/09/2012 11:18:57 PM
1666 Views
How is that possible?
- 12/09/2012 11:28:33 PM
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My dad was (and is) influenced by Evangelicals
- 13/09/2012 12:17:36 AM
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Wait, so you didn't read the Chronicles first?
- 13/09/2012 02:12:13 PM
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No
- 13/09/2012 02:18:03 PM
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Chronicles is considerably weaker
- 13/09/2012 11:14:38 PM
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Needless to say, once I finish reading the Icewind Dale trilogy, I'm done with D&D
- 14/09/2012 12:38:47 AM
1791 Views
- 14/09/2012 12:38:47 AM
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These threads are so much better than the rape threads! *NM*
- 12/09/2012 04:03:01 AM
934 Views
You're just waiting to see if I'll use hexameter in the next one
*NM*
- 12/09/2012 04:32:31 AM
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*NM*
- 12/09/2012 04:32:31 AM
770 Views
And having now finished Dragonlance: Legends, its very own sonnet
- 13/09/2012 12:31:51 PM
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- 13/09/2012 12:31:51 PM
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At least you didn't read the Baldur's Gate novelizations
- 14/09/2012 04:29:17 AM
1567 Views
Sssssh!
- 14/09/2012 05:10:19 AM
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Baldurs Gate wooooo!
- 14/09/2012 04:13:34 PM
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Eh, Star Wars Expanded Universe I could see reading. Some of them are supposed to be good
- 17/09/2012 04:37:05 PM
1992 Views
Is the review dire because of the subject or the sonnet form?
- 14/09/2012 04:24:37 PM
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Both
- 14/09/2012 04:36:59 PM
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- 14/09/2012 04:36:59 PM
1593 Views
it would be unusual for someone to just randomly pick books like that up
- 14/09/2012 05:05:37 PM
1904 Views
Interesting scenario
- 14/09/2012 10:16:11 PM
1607 Views
