Comments on: Splendors and Glooms: Jonathan’s Take

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:59:43 +0000

TeenReader, I’m very picky about how books end, too (I just went off in a diatribe about BOMB on GoodReads), but what’s your issue with LIAR & SPY? You might take it over to that post, if you want to reply.

By: TeenReader

TeenReader — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 23:33:11 +0000

“I read the 1st third of the book in one go because I found it so exciting. The middle third (once we know what happened to Clara and traveling/settling in at wintermere) was a bit of a slog and it took me forever to get through. The last third was pretty exciting and I plowed through it. Am not sure I would call the book boring but there were certainly some slower parts.”

Thank you, Eric, for expressing what in my mind was the only pressing flaw of this fantastic book. The careful pacing often worked against SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS, but once I got through it I was fully on board. The language, characterization, plot, and theme are in my mind, deserving of the Medal. And I loved that the ending was one of the best parts of the book. I can be picky about how a book ends, and I was so glad that it didn’t unravel the good it created, as so many great books have. (**cough, LIAR AND SPY, cough**)

By: Monica Edinger

Monica Edinger — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:45:10 +0000

Eric, are you turning into Jonathan? (That reminder about the NBA and who two of the judges are… sounds eerily like him:)

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:04:13 +0000

I think we ought to at least wait 9 more days for the National Book Awards finalist to be revealed before narrowing the field. With Susan Cooper and Gary Schmidt serving as judges this year I’m looking forward to seeing if there are any under the radar titles among the finalists that we should consider.

By: Jonathan Hunt

Jonathan Hunt — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:45:37 +0000

SPLENDORS AND GLOOMS just picked up its fifth starred review today from Bulletin, joining LIAR AND SPY and BOMB; MOONBIRD has six. I say we toss those four into a hat and pick one for the Medal with the others as honor books.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:44:38 +0000

I finish S&G last night and thought it was quite good. I wouldn’t call it boring. But I did have some pacing issues.
I read the 1st third of the book in one go because I found it so exciting. The middle third (once we know what happened to Clara and traveling/settling in at wintermere) was a bit of a slog and it took me forever to get through. The last third was pretty exciting and I plowed through it. Am not sure I would call the book boring but there were certainly some slower parts.

By: Jess

Jess — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:00:41 +0000

“Boring” is the last word I’d use to describe S&G, so I do think it is subjective. Maybe not subjective to taste, necessarily, but to mood or something else. There are books I’ve read in the wrong mood and didn’t love, but could admire for writing quality. Sometimes I’ve read them at another time, in another frame of mind, and had a completely different reaction.

By: Diantha McBride

Diantha McBride — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:24:45 +0000

Because of other reviews, I am FORCING myself through this book. I don´t think “boring” is a very analytical word, but it hits the nail on the head for me. Sorry.

By: mslibrarian

mslibrarian — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 17:03:36 +0000

Argh… buy — not by in the previous comment.

By: mslibrarian

mslibrarian — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:35:56 +0000

By the way, I think “boring,” although probably not the most powerful argument at the table, is not really that subjective to taste. If that is the case, then we could just excuse every unskilled writer of poorly constructed plot and bad pacing by saying that the readers just don’t have the “right taste” for such and such book. Boring means the readers feel detached, uninvolved, or irritated by the lack of excitement or reading pleasure and each author’s top priorities always should include ways to engage the readers’ emotions: empathy, admiration, detest, etc. toward the characters, and thrill, surprise, joy, sorrow, etc. toward the events.

So, Jonathan, who definitely admires characters in fantasy novels, such as Lyra and Bartimaeus, and also finds their stories thrilling and worthwhile, should not even think that you are just “not the right reader” for S&G. I don’t quite by the taste argument here.