Sunday, April 24, 2016

Multiple Choice Question

You've picked up a brand-new book and started to read the first page, where you encounter this sentence:

"She watched her host for a moment longer, then cast her eyes around the other people in the room."

What do you do?

A. Keep right on reading without a second thought.
B. Say, "Tsk, tsk, whatever happened to editing?"
C. Set the book aside without comment and pick up another one.
D. Hurl the book against the wall.
E. None of the above.

16 comments:

Don Coffin said...

B, But if I see a lot more of that sort of crap, C+--complain about it on B and Dorothy-L and to my wife.

Michael Bracken said...

Depends. Am I reading a fantasy or horror novel about someone with the ability to remove his/her eyes?

Bill Peschel said...

Wait and see if she gets a nibble.

Art Scott said...

Mike Avallone, right?

Rick Ollerman said...

Probably C. I might keep reading to see if there is more writing like that, but since there likely would be, I'd most likely put it back on the shelf.

What do I win?

Deb said...

I immediately feel that the writer is not in control of what he/she is writing which sets up a resistance in me. If the plot grabs me, I'll continue reading, but I'll be on the lookout for similar, um, turns of phrase, and I'll feel no shame in giving up on the book if I encounter too many more.

Jeff Meyerson said...

D is s little extreme, so probably C.

Jerry House said...

Well, reading that, I'd know it wasn't a Bill Crider book.

Gerard Saylor said...

E. I have no class.

Unknown said...

Nope, not Avo. I picked C for myself. I don't think I'll be going back to the book.

Cap'n Bob said...

It sounds like the kind of book I wouldn't read in the first place.

I thought of Avo, too, when I read it.

Dan said...

It all depends: Is she naked?

Graham Powell said...

I'd probably just keep on. The only thing that turns me off immediately is if it's boring. As the late Roger Ebert said about BASIC INSTINCT 2, "Is it godawful? Yes it's godawful! But it's never boring."

Tom Johnson said...

My first thought was Mike Abalone also. But, hey, those lines are famous. Just write them down and add to your upcoming book on "Do Not Write Like This" (LOL).

Mike Stamm said...

B for a first offense (assuming this *was* the first offense in the book), C for the second (unless the second was *really* egregious, in which case D). Life's too short to read bad writing.

Kathy said...

I agree with Mike Stamm.