7 Books I Was Wrong About
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- Опубліковано 12 лип 2024
- Have you ever been wrong about a book?
00:00 Intro
01:17 7 Books
15:34 Outro
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Once I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken . . . 😁As a teenager and massive Tolkien fan, I was dismissive of The Sword of Shannara when I read it, thinking it was far too derivative of my beloved The Lord of the Rings and resolving never to bother again with Brooks. I'm thinking of giving Brooks another chance. I'll probably reread The Sword of Shannara (it's been a while) and then try Elfstones of Shannara with raised expectations. Thank you for the video -- I enjoyed it very much!
Just don't watch the show 😂
The good news is that Sword of Shannara does read pretty fast for its length! I really enjoyed Elfstones and hope you do as well when it comes around!
Same here, I started reading Fantasy 5 years ago after 25 years of avoiding it because I thought they were all trying to imitate Tolkien but could not possibly succeed. I was not entirely wrong at the time (90s) but I was also being a snob. Thanks to booktube, I got a second chance and I'm loving it.
Philip, glad to hear you're giving Brooks another chance! Sword was absolutely a knock-off, but Elfstones... charming story! For what it's worth, I think you could probably skip Sword and just start with Elfstones (granted, I read the books over 20 years ago).
Philip Shannara really becomes a unique and fun world as you dive deeper. Sword is the only book that’s derivative at all. I hope you enjoy it if you choose to continue with it.
Love the intro! Such a funny thing when you have to force to admit that you are wrong haha. It’s great to reread books at different times in your life because you change as time goes on and so will your perspective on things.
Yep! I was wrong!
Fantastic video Josh, and as a chronic re-reader, I know how much my thoughts can change even over a single year - my own growth, insights offered by others, and learning new ways of interacting with books (A.P.'s a legend). I'm learning to wait until I've read something at least twice before feeling sure about my response to it.
As for the HP epilogue, your description had me belly-laughing at full volume, giving the cat a startle. I agree completely. *I* think a large part of the issue is (as she stated so often) that she wrote that final chapter FIRST. I think her own unwillingness to deviate from that projected ending, limited what she was prepared to 'give' the story.
For me, my greatest lesson is managing expectations. If a book let 'me' down, that's a ME problem. It means I wasn't reading what the author wrote, but searching for something they didn't.
Yes, you're so right Derri, and I barely touched upon in the video how we change as people so our thoughts on a book will naturally change as well. I hadn't known about JKR writing the Epilogue first, but that does explain a lot of odd moments in the story.
You're so right about the importance of a good translation.
When I was a teenager, I read The Lord of The Rings in French ("Le Seigneur des Anneaux"). At the time, I thought the novels were really bad. Then, years later, I watched the movies with my girlfriend... they were so good that I couldn't believe Peter Jackson had used the same books I disliked so much! It was so weird that I decided to give Tolkien's masterpiece a second chance, but this time I read the story in English. It wasn't easy but, with a good dictionary, I managed to do it. To my surprise, I enjoyed my time reading the books. All along, the problem wasn't Tolkien's story, it was the terrible French translation.
So glad you were able to experience Tolkien a second time and find you enjoyed it! I'm glad I learned this lesson on translations and try to do my research ahead of time.
I discovered your channel through this video - and boy, am I glad that I did! Love your set up and production. Happy Reading! 😎📚👍
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Very true. Finding the right translation matter a lot. It is why i usually try to read the original language first, if possible and if not try find the best one available.
I honestly wish I were multilingual to experience some of these works in their mother tongue.
Great video Josh! I don’t think I’ll ever read Crime and Punishment lol. Shannara is well worth continuing if you decide to.
Thanks, Chas!
really glad you've changed your initial mind on the first book in the video. It is a little out there, but still, few books leave me pondering as much as that one...
Absolutely thought-provoking!
Thanks Josh, I am going to look out for Forever, sounds very interesting...
Awesome - I hope you enjoy it!
Great thoughts. I'm rereading (listening to) so many books from my youth and finding the process as informative as it is entertaining 🙌🏼
I find my success rate with my youth is about 50/50!
@@RedFuryBooks the cool part is making the connection to why so many things since have felt familiar 🤭🤔
I don’t think you’d find a lot of hate about Deathly Hallows. It’s my least favorite in the series. You’re spot on with your disagreements on it. I found it too drawn out in some parts.
Yes, I miss the vintage Fantasy covers but I miss the Sci-Fi ones even more. Current covers are ok for Fantasy but the Sci-Fi ones are sooo boring.
Yes, I find a lot of modern covers just too generic in general.
I really like the idea of this video allot! People should always be open to a reread or be open to others who suggest that you can give a book a second chance and in the best case scenario enjoy it more than you would have ever expected.
Glad you enjoyed it!
At least in my edition, Childhood's End has a disclaimer: "The opinions expressed in this book are not those of the author." My sense is that this is a story that went in a completely different direction from what Clarke anticipated, such that he kind of gave it a side-eye. It definitely sticks in the mind.
Little Women would be my choice. I read it when I was 11 or 12 years old and very resistant to enjoying a book about sisterly love. I remember internally fighting not to enjoy it, but I think I enjoyed it much more than I was willing to admit at the time.
I’m particular about picking the right translation for the exact experience you had with Crime and Punishment. Great video!
It's funny when we're young if we make up our minds about something, we stay stubborn about it!
What a coincidence, although my problem with Little Women was something else.
Great topic, Josh. I have become a re-reader in the last 5 years of my reading life. Especially for novels I have considered my all-time favorites. I realize now to crack my all-time list..I must have read it at twice to make that determination.
To the topic at hand…I have 2 books that I was wrong about it. One bad and one good. The bad one will be controversial. Oh boy..here it goes.
I was wrong about To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I first read this novel in my early 20’s and enjoyed reading Scout Finch’s story about growing in segregated Alabama. Lee crafts an excellent first-person MC viewpoint coming of age story. No debate there.
However, I reread the novel a few years ago and as an adult more seasoned about life and I felt the novel’s theme was one-dimensional and I did not buy Atticus Finch as a savior-type character. I understand his character is really revealed in Go Set A Watchman. I have not read that book.
Anyway, TKAM is more of a coming-of-age tale than a book that fully examines American South racism. It deserves a praise as modern classic work of fiction but falls short of how it has been viewed in the public.
The book that changed my opinion for the good is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I have a long history with this novel since I first read it when it first published in November 1993. (I was 22 at that time. I’m 52 now.) And I have read two more times as an adult: in my mid 30’s and late 40’s most recently.
This is the only novel where I have argued with myself about what Butler envisions and enjoyed at simultaneously. Most people who love this book focuses on the post apocalyptic or sociological or environmental themes of the story. For me, it has always about Lauren, a teenage African American girl, and multicultural cast of characters that has captivated me all these years. It was first time I saw natural or organic diversity in fiction done right. No over-the-top or obvious stereotypes. Just human beings across the human spectrum trying to survive in a very dark world.
I had not read anything like that when it first came out in 1993 and to be honest not quite at all these many years later.However, It has shown me that modern fiction could have these types of characters and an author could write a compelling and thought-provoking story with them.
Parable of the Sower changed my opinion for the good and made me an Octavia Butler fan despite the grimness of her work.
Excellent topic and a timely video, Josh. 👍🏿
It's interesting that I had a different trajectory for To Kill a Mockingbird, but I also looked at it more from Scout's perspective than Atticus'. I often wonder how her life was affected by the events in that book. I still have yet to read Parable of the Sower but will definitely do so. Glad you enjoyed the video, and I always think how time will affect the books I love or loathe today.
I like them both to some extent the first time, but I absolutely loved A Feast For Crows by GRRM and House of Chains by Erikson on rereads.
Great point about finding the right translation, so, so important 👏
Yes sir!
An excellent video! I adored The Chronicles Of Narnia as a kid but I am wary of a re-read through an adult's lens. I definitely need to give Animal Farm a re-read one day. I enjoyed the Harry Potter series but certainly wouldn't put it on my list of favorites. The ending was indeed problematic.
Thanks for checking out the video! Yes, Animal Farm is definitely worth a reread!
I read Childhood's End many, many years ago--probably 20ish?--and I still think about it sometimes. Crazy, wild book.
Good to see some love for Elfstones! I still have fond memories of that book, and I read it when I was 17 (I'm now 39).
Yes, glad to see more love for Elfstones!
I loved "Forever" by Pete Hamill. I picked it up at a library sale and it was one of the best books I read that year.
Awesome! So glad to hear someone else has read this book and loves it as I do!
Super interesting topic! I actually have more cases of your Harry Potter example, where I write a review on the adrenaline rush of just finishing it and then look back a few months later and am left scratching my head at the gushing, lol. But it's always fun when the opposite happens, and you come to enjoy the books more over time. I think that is true for me with most of the Realm of the Elderlings actually. I consider it one of my favourites, but I don't think I was fully ready for what Hobb was offering when I first read it as an 18-year-old and a lot of the time I didn't fully enjoy it even though I appreciated it in hindsight. Does that even make sense? Hahah, great and thought-provoking video!
It's so common, Esmay, for us to just be excited about a book right upon finishing it, especially when it's a strong finish! I think of how many mysteries and thrillers I loved when I put them down and couldn't remember them a year later.
Its unfathomable that JK Rowling thought the best way to finish the series was to make it so that the only reason that Voldemort died was because Harry stole Malfoy’s wand, and Malfoy had previously disarmed Dumbledore, and that somehow meant that the allegiance of Dumbledore’s wand changed to Harry when Malfoy’s own wand changed allegiance to Harry (implying that it isn’t merely the wand choosing the wizard, but all wands that had previously chosen a wizard have a WhatsApp chat and tell each other who’s the boss now), and then when Voldemort tries to kill Harry with Dumbledore/Malfoy/Harry’s wand, it remembered the biblical begat lineage of owners and killed Voldemort instead… There are so many other reasons that the 7th book was a letdown, but that’s high on the list for me.
This comment is golden.
A book I rated 4 on Goodreads but now would rate a 5 was Finn by Jon Clinch. Finn being the father of Huckleberry. I haven't read the Pete Hamill book you mention but have read North River which I very much enjoyed. He has written a few novels. An interesting fact about Pete is he was there as a witness when Bobby Kennedy was shot.
I definitely need to read more Pete Hamill!
Interesting that the translation makes such a difference. I don’t reread books because I’m always worried that a book I loved reading years ago won’t measure up upon reread. But maybe I should try some rereads of well thought of books I might not have loved the first time. Food for thought.
The translations does indeed matter - I'm glad I experienced this so I rarely make a bad choice in buying translated fiction now, since I do some research ahead of time.
Can’t wait to read Forever. Love Pete Hamill. A Drinking Life:A Memoir was fantastic
Pete Hamill is great! I need to check out this memoir.
On Dostoevsky, you have to read his best work which is Brothers Karamazov. Magnum opus. Pevear translation for that is also excellent. That book has to be divinely inspired, perhaps one of the greatest things ever written.
I did read it, and did read the P&V translation! I didn't love it as much as Crime and Punishment, although it is on my reread list to read again.
I recently read childhood's end and I was pleasantly surprised It Really good
Yes!
I clicked on this video so fast!
Thinking on books I have been wrong about is a daily task for me. The first installment in the Red Rising saga is one. After reading the next two books, I realized the first novel is superb. I was wrong about the ENTIRE Witcher saga. Sapkowski is a genius to me, and it took me a while to appreciate how he accomplished such a magnificent series.
The last Harry Potter book certainly has its issues. If the internet can’t cope with that, whatever.
Great video, love this idea!
Haha, yeah, my like/dislike ratio is definitely lower for this video because of the Harry Potter element, but whatever! I feel the same way - I'm always reevaluating my feelings on books.
Hope you're ready for the heat with that last pick :) Absolutely get it though, sometimes you're also not in the right place/time to appreciate a book, and re-reading it years later just proves a much better experience.
Yeah, this video has my lowest like/dislike ratio of the year, no doubt because of Harry Potter!
@@RedFuryBooks Well you never know. Maybe there are some reallly big Dostoevsky haters out there that didn't like your opinion. 🤣😝
@@Zivilin Oh you could be right! #TeamTolstoy didn't like my C&P love!
1984 and Crime and Punishment are great books, but they are too dark and i don't feel like to reread them. Wuthering Height is the opposite. When i first read it as a teen, i told myself never touch a scaring ghost story like that. However I read it a few years ago and it brought to me tears. I think I will introduce it to my local book club next year. By the way, we, among five friends of 40's to 60's, discussed Dr. Jekell and Mr Hide this month, lots of inspiration of topics came out of it. We think Stevenson was a genius.
I want to reread Wuthering Heights in about a decade because I HATED that book when I read it about 10 years ago. But I kept it on the shelf because I'm likely wrong about that one too.
To paraphrase one of my heroes, Gene Wolfe, the difference between fiction based on reality and fantasy is simply a matter of range. The former is a handgun. It hits the target almost close enough to touch, and even the willfully ignorant can’t deny that it’s effective. Fantasy is a sixteen-inch naval rifle. It fires with a tremendous bang, and it appears to have done nothing and to be shooting at nothing.
Note the qualifier “appears.” The real difference is that with fantasy-and by that I mean fantasy which can simultaneously tap into a cosmopolitan commonality at the same time as it springs from an individual and unique perspective. In this sort of fantasy, a mythic resonance lingers on-a harmonious vibration that builds in potency the longer one considers it, rather than fading away when the final page is read and the book is put away. Characters discovered in such writing are pulled from our own inner landscapes-the way Izzy would pull her numena from hers-and then set out upon the stories’ various stages so that as we learn to understand them a little better, both the monsters and the angels, we come to understand ourselves a little better as well.
Charles de Lint Memory & Dream
Maybe you should pursue other translations of War and Peace. It is a great book!
So interesting! The thing is that we are never the same either. The fine balance between the book, us the reader, and our situation + pool of experience. Fascinating.
And yes, translations are so important. I read Christie’s The ABC Murders in French and didn’t like it. Tried another in Portuguese, and that one was fine. Perplexing. Christie btw is now one of my favourite authors. On the other hand, I read Suskind’s The Perfume in 2 translations, French and English of the German, and both were stellar. One of my problems is that I feel guilty if I read an English translation of a work in one of my languages. Silly I know but editions in 'non English' are expensive.
One novel where I drastically changed my opinion is Little Women. I read it in my early 20s and loved it. Read it again 10 years later and couldn’t deal with all the religious side, something I had been completely unaware of the first time. Might need to try again. Also, I want to read Wuthering Heights again. I read it at 19 in English and didn’t like it, but I’ve got a feeling both my life experience and my knowledge of the language were probably at fault. Mind you, Jane Eyre was fine and I loved it immediately. Who knows 😂
This is so true! I think of that quote (paraphrased) about a man can't enter a river at the same place twice, because he's a different man and it's a different river. It's so true - so many works that we read are affected by so many life and environmental factors I almost think we should read everything twice at different times to truly make an informed decision!
As for Wuthering Heights, I absolutely hated that book.. but kept it on the shelf for another time in the future. (I'm probably wrong on that one). I'm not wrong about loving Jane Eyre, though, that's a masterpiece!
I am the person screaming about the HP deaths Josh lol It's me.
Ha!
That my favourite terry brooks book too I read it many years ago, I did enjoy running with the demon too an urban fantasy book and the high Druid of Shannara series all set around the same thing, the reaper from elf stone came from the other side jarka ruus you see the world it cam from I liked all far as I remember reading of Shannara series I would love to finish them one day but I have not read in probably 20 years for probably time for a reread, are you planning to carry on with raymond e feist I have read most what you have so far never go past the empire series
I'm definitely continuing with Feist, in fact read 120 pages of The King's buccaneer today - the second in the Krondor's Sons Duology. I'll be reading the Serpentwar Saga later this year too.
I gotta say biggest flip has been The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. It took 4 tries over 40 years but they are quite good.
I do look forward to a 40 years later reread for me!
@@RedFuryBooks indeed 🙌🏼🤓
I went back through my Goodreads list for a little while, just back to 2017. It was crazy how many things I read that I have almost no memory of. I used to read a lot of kindle unlimited stuff back then so I wouldn't have to spend money. So I'll say almost everything I read in 2017 can be rated lower than I initially thought. Lol
I feel you! When you read a lot, and read a book over the span of a few days, it's often easy to forget the book entirely!
With regards to 'crime and Punishment' I went the other way - back in 1980, on the eve of going off to university, I decided I ought to have read a few 'better' books than I had read up to then - not quite sure why I bothered as I'm not sure I ran into anyone there who had actually read any fiction other than what they had to read for Eng Lit 'O' and 'A' levels.
The last book I picked up from York library before I departed was 'Crime and Punishment', an ancient hard-backed copy which I presume was translated by Constance Garnett. At the time it didn't occur to me that the translator would make such a major difference to reading books not originally written in English. I thought it was terrific but only made it through the first hundred pages or so before having to head off to Uni, so had to return the book to the library. However I was so gripped by it I was fine with picking up my own copy, a black-spined Penguin modern classic (translated by David Magarshack).
Oh dear - the change in tone was jarring. What had been a compelling, intense, claustrophobic, psychological tale just lost all of it's magic and became a soulless long-haul to finish. From what I have read subsequently Constance Garnett was quite 'imaginative' with her translations, favouring good prose over the technically correct translated words.
I think the style of translator is personal, as it's probably unlikely any translator is going to be 100% accurate with word choice, because that's an art and not a science. I've never heard of the Magarshack translation; I also have the McDuff translation, of which I've heard really great things.
Animal Farm is definitely better than 1984 in my book. 1984 is a really great essay with a story ranch dressing for flavor.
HA!
This video had me read Childhood’s End, out of curiosity, what is the one line from the third act you reference in the video?
"Now I understand" said the last man.
Good one. That's an interesting subject that set me to thinking. I've probably been wrong about most books I've read. It's easier to count the books I was right about. Last year I donated thousands of my books to charity, keeping only three works of fiction, by Mervyn Peake. I'm pretty sure I'm right about those books. I'm right about the Gene Wolfe "Book of the New Sun" as well. All other judgments are suspect.
Wow! I can't imagine parting with that significant amount of books! Although I think I'll likely pare down at some point simply because I can't fathom another bookshelf in my house!
who would be a huge loss in HP for you? only one of the three main characters? because at least 22 named characters died in the last HP book and a lot of them were quite important... in my opinion the problem is opposite, so many important characters died at the end that I got numb to it
Yes, probably one of the big three would've made it feel different for me. Very interesting our different feelings on how the finale felt!
I remember when Deathly Hallows came out and my biggest complaint was how much time they spent in the woods.
Yep!
I see what you did there, Fonzie.
I was hoping someone would get the reference!!!
I read Animal Farm in highschool and HATED it! They really emphasized the allegorical aspects and the characters. It was hard to follow and felt overcomolicated for no reason.
I reread it last year when I was going through some classics and it was a 5 star book for me! I agree, I think it's better than 1984 (which was the last of the big dystopian novels I read).
Glad to hear you're also on team Animal Farm. Such a great story and book!
@RedFuryBooks Orwell actually wrote a third to those. I think he referred to them as a thematic trilogy but don't quote me on the exact phrase though. It's 1984, animal farm, and Coming Up for Air. Most people haven't read the third. It's a very different plot and feel than the other two but also incredible!
@@Dylan13Collins I did read a third work by Orwell but don't think that was it - I'll have to check that one out!
@RedFuryBooks I'd say let me know how it goes, but I suppose that's the reason I watch your videos lol. I'm always excited when I see one of your videos along my feed lol.
That kind of happened with the Area 51 series. I'm a super UFO nerd from my youth and the books the first time around were fun and quick reads with your A-typical hero and heroine and romps through historic artifacts that were alien. However, I tried reading the series again and was just a little disappointed in how shallow they all were.
Yes, it's tough to revisit works of our youth and find them lacking!
Josh have you read Duma Key by King? I am hoping John@ Talking Story will read it soon and Ian Gubeli just read it and loved it! I think you, John & Ian discussing it would be the bomb!
You can not also talk ill about Suneater!! Watchout! I gave up on expressing my opinions on that one…I realized that everyone has drunk the Kool Aid! Or Something as I was practically bullied by any negative comment.😱
I don't quite get the Sun Eater hype either. I just thought Empire of Silence was okay but I kept thinking of what it was pulling from like Dune, Star Wars etc. and being reminded how much I prefer them.
@@thatsci-firogue you are the only one!! I believe there was a book tuber who panned Empire as a knockoff of Wolfe and then did a big retraction after the author wrote to him.
I liked Empire of Silence, although the action does not happen until the last quarter of the book! But Howling Dark had these incredible moments in between these long, long, long insufferable inner monologues. When I started Demon in White and it started with the waxing poetic again I said to myself it is just not worth it! I jumped right back into the Deathstalker series to get my fix of Space Opera.
Thank you for letting me air out my opinion without screaming to me that “I am wrong”.😀
I've read Duma Key, but not since it came out! I did enjoy it. Good to know about Sun Eater in case I'm in the minority!
@@thatsci-firogue I actually had a similar experience like that with Star Wars. I keep thinking of what it is pulling from the Valérian and Laureline comics and being reminded how much i love those instead.
Childhood's End was a terrible read for me and it still is, I just didn't like the direction the story went after the initial set up.
I also thought that The Deathly Hallows was a weak finish to Harry Potter. It drags too much and there could have been more action and it would have been great to see more of what went on at Hogwarts with the DA especially Neville & Ginny.
I got to book five of Harry Potter and gave up. The story just didn't hold me, and the hype of kids camping out on the street outside book shops to get the new books was a turn off for me. Perhaps if all that frantic hyped up marketing hadn't been such a strong distraction I might have continued with them. I saw the movies and survived the dragged out story, especially as it neared the end. And then found myself in conversation with somebody who tried to raise the stakes on the books - obviously in a fan club that I'd never joined. So, will I give it another chance? Probably not, there are too many other books on my TBR.
The 5th book is honestly a divisive one anyway. I hope you find some great reads!
Do you love old-school covers like this? Yes, yes I do. Lol
Yes!
I am very against the notion of killing off a character just for emotional effect, or just because you feel like you have to. It has to make sense or drive the story in some manner
I don't disagree here. But I feel a meaningful death of someone important may have made the story more impactful. Like Ron drowning when returning the sword of Gryffendor.
I loved the Narnia books when I was young. But now I think The Last Battle is very dark. It was my least liked book in the series. As a non-Christian, I don't like the direction of the book (if you know what I mean). And, of course, there's the question of Susan.
Ah yes, the Susan question! I think I disliked the overtly heavy-handed Christian allegory more as a kid than as an adult. I just kind of rolled with it this time around. I also had much lower expectations this time around, so found a lot of it delightful.
both of my parents read harry potter and the deathly hollows in *one night.* like how in the world do you even read that fast
Can one read Elfstones of Shannara without having read The Sword of Shannara? Asking for a friend.
I'm pretty sure you'd be fine just reading Elftstones. There are allusions to the first book, but it's a generation removed so I don't remember them being as important.
Speaking of the third act of Childhood’s End :
Spoilers for CE & WOT:
So far I am the only one on booktube that thinks the vision Rand has at the end of Memory of Light where his dream of no evil darkness shows a world with no humanity. It is the scene where Elayne has no purpose & Avienda is fighting to work in a nursery as it is the only job with usefulness. So to me I saw Childhood’s End where the Aliens take all the hardship out of humanity, curing hunger/ no war… and then humankind evolves to none existence and humanity as we know is lost… just like in Rand’s vision. I was like, Jordan must have read Childhood’s End!!!!
Josh what do you think about that?
I have never considered this, maybe because I read The Wheel of Time first. But now I have to think on it...
Here’s the thing: How do you know you were wrong then and are right now?
I have two examples: I loved Catch-22 and One Hundred Years of Solitude when I first read them. I started to reread each of them about a decade later and found both of them tedious. I re-read both in the last year and liked them even more than I did at first.
BTW, I think your twelve year old self was right about Narnia. I didn’t read them as a kid, but rather in my 50s, and I found them to be dull, badly plotted, with razor thin characters, and heavy handed in the messaging.
I can see how Garnett’s penchant for transforming Russian lit into Victorian lit would work especially badly with Dostoevsky. I, too, liked Crime and Punishment much more on my second read. I’m assuming the first one was Garnett, since it was either a Signet or Bantam classic, and Garnett would have been public domain already.
Now THAT'S a great point! (How do you know you were wrong then and are right now?).
Just as long as JK didn't kill off Hermione. If she'd killed HER off, I would have rioted. (But then, if she'd perished in Deathly Hallows we may not have been subjected to that hatchet job on her character in The Cursed Child, so that might have been some silver lining...) But one of my biggest sources of dissatisfaction lay in Rowling's apparent need to pair off all her main characters. "Whom they're going to end up with" should be a comparatively unimportant thing about them, IMO.
Books I've changed my mind about:
When I was just out of high school, Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities was among my favorite books. But nowadays, I've come to realize I actually like the 1936 movie much better.
Flannery O'Connor's short stories, especially A Good Man Is Hard to Find, were far too dark for my taste when I first read them as an undergraduate English major; it bothered me that none of the stories contained a single character I could like and admire. But I've done a lot of growing up since then, and now I can appreciate the richness of O'Connor's prose and her super-dark sense of humor. She's not an author I read just for pure entertainment, but I find her fascinating from an academic standpoint.
When I was a teenager, I liked Emily Bronte better than Jane Austen. As a fiftysomething adult, I like Jane Austen much better than Emily Bronte. (I still love Jane Eyre, though. Don't judge.)
Yes, I'm with you with Hermione. When I say one of the big three should've died, I generally mean Ron or Harry! 🤣 And don't get me started with Cursed Child: it makes that horrible Epilogue of Deathly Hollows look like high art.
I don't judge you for Jane Eyre because I actually like Jane Eyre a lot! You can't deny Charlotte Bronte's command of the language. Although I admit that I really hated Wuthering Heights, but plan on reading it again... oh in a few decades!
We here at the Childhood’s End Society accept your apology and would like to offer you lifetime membership.
Deeply appreciated, Jonathan.
Ngl I thought LotR would be one of the big three you couldn't talk ill about 😂... understandable regarding the Cosmere though, zealots at the best of times.
I've only seen the films, and I remember thinking the epilogue was lame there. Also, Albus Severus Potter has to be the worst name for a character I've ever heard.
I don't necessarily i think I was wrong, i think given where i was at, at the time i was a lot more forgiving than I usually am but Ryan Cahill's The Fall and Of Blood & Fire. Not for me. I really didn't care for the writing style and while I remember and could distinguish between the characters, i couldn't have cared less about them. I made it 100 pages into the second book and had enough. Respect what Cahill is doing, just not my jam.
But what i was absolutely wrong about was waiting nearly 2 years to truly commit to Liveship Traders after not loving Assassin's Quest and now I'm 500 pages from the end of Tawny Man, and RotE is on the fast track to becoming one of my favourite series of all-time.
We have some kismet you & I… It took over a year for me to pick up Liveship since Quest just made me dizzy! Boy did I love Ship of Magic and that ending was a chef’s kiss😘 to prose in those Kennit & Etta scenes!! On to Mad Ship…
I think LOTR is not a sacred cow because there's now an entire generation of (mostly younger) readers that find it a difficult read and don't like it. And since UA-cam skews young, it's acceptable to not speak ill of Lord of the Rings.
And yes, Albus Severus Potter is possibly the worst name in literature. Full stop.
Glad you're enjoying Tawny Man! It such an amazing trilogy!
HOORAY that you gave Liveships a chance and that you now love Tawny Man!! As the most biased ❤Hobb ❤nerd out here, I *hugely* recommend taking a decently long break if you're going to continue into Rain Wilds, and reduce your expectations - Tawny Man is/was a concluding trilogy of an epic story, Rain Wilds is the beginning of a completely new arc.
I'm happy 😁
@@derrisreaditbefore That's the plan. Given that each subseries is a fresh start I feel comfortable taking a step back for a couple months, somewhere in the 4 to 6 month range ideally.
Oh trust me, my expectations aren't great haha
@@RedFuryBooks The writing style certainly did take me a bit to get used to but once I got to grips with it, I'd a great time. It's not a favourite series of mine but one I enjoyed and would happily re-read. I only read it for the first time when I was 23 at the start of 2020 and finished it in the very early days of the pandemic. So I found it quite comforting.
Sooooo wrong about the epilog. Its incredibly important to those of us who are invested.
Sincerely glad you enjoyed it, but there's no way in hell Ginny would let her son live life with the name Albus Severus Potter, perhaps the worst name in all of literature. (A comment below made the same observation)
How dare you slander Deathly Hallows
Maybe you were wrong about Harry Potter and the cursed child. TRY READING IT AGAIN 😂😂😂
Oh God no lol
No.