Re: Writers/books you grew into/out of
Tolkien to begin with. Couldn't appreciate his writing for a long time, finally managed to get into to the point of enjoying and getting through The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and then found myself back at square one years later when I decided to reread. I do not care for his writing, it is too much like work to me attempting to jump through the hoops crafted for his own amusement. I'm not amused.
Herbert's Dune series. My sister who never led me wrong steered me toward this, gushing about it profusely. Took me forever to get into it, but then again I'd established some internal block toward it (and Tolkien as well) because I associated them both for whatever with hippies. Loved Dune when I finally got into it as well as the next two, and then he lost me when he kept writing and the focus shifted to decendants of the characters I cared about. That all but invariably occurs when I encounter it, generally in the Fantasy genre, one of the few places where authors keep drawing from the same story well till it goes completely dry. Lost all interest in the series and then regained it in discovering the later prequel books collaboration. Grew in/out/in again, a first for me.
Stephen King, obviously. I'm surprised he doesn't just rent out his name by this point for more than reviews, like Tom Clancy. Even if I really liked King like I did at his beginning stage, I'd still run up against a readers fatigue wall like I've encountered with thriller writers Jonathon Kellerman and John Sanford. Just like in music, I can only take so much before you have to move on to something new or beat your head on the wall. How many, for example end up buying Joni Mitchell's 80th album regardless of how superb it may be if it basically sounds like the last 50?
I did, now that I've mentioned him, pick up a John Sanford novel recently because I was jonesing for some written word and there wasn't anything else withing reach other than containers of Draino and various insecticide. Turns out I've laid off of him for so long that I had a pleasant outing.
Re: Writers/books you grew into/out of
Quote:
Tolkien to begin with. Couldn't appreciate his writing for a long time, finally managed to get into to the point of enjoying and getting through The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and then found myself back at square one years later when I decided to reread. I do not care for his writing, it is too much like work to me attempting to jump through the hoops crafted for his own amusement. I'm not amused.
I'm in the "grew out of" direction with him. I actually read (and got through) all of Lord of the Rings between ages 10 and 11 (and The Hobbit the year before). With surprisingly little difficulty, except a large investment of time. But when I tried to reread it 25 or so years later? Bam! I couldn't get past The Fellowship of the Ring.
Re: Writers/books you grew into/out of
Thank goodness I grew out of romance novels when I was a teen and early 20 something and have recently grown into Truman Capote. Fabulous writer.
At age 46 I am really starting to read some of the "classics" again because I hated having to read them in school and was turned off by that whole enviroment and not getting to choose what I wanted to read. So now years later, I am going back and enjoying these books because I have matured and I have more of an interest in them that I didn't appreciate when I was younger.
Re: Writers/books you grew into/out of
Well, I think I may have grown out of Grisham. I just read the worst book authored by him. "The Broker." I slogged through it, but not happily. I just didn't want to say how bad it was without actually reading the whole thing. Absolutely dreadful. In retrospect, maybe his other books weren't so good either.
Re: Writers/books you grew into/out of
Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan Elizabeth;3156294;
Well, I think I may have grown out of Grisham. I just read the worst book authored by him. "The Broker." I slogged through it, but not happily. I just didn't want to say how bad it was without actually reading the whole thing. Absolutely dreadful. In retrospect, maybe his other books weren't so good either.
Not necessarily. I always thought Grisham was formulaic, and the only two storylines I can remember of his are "The Pelican Brief" and "A Time to Kill." But I reread The Pelican Brief a couple of weeks ago on vacation, after years, and still enjoyed it.
Re: Writers/books you grew into/out of
A time to Kill is my favorite.
Have you read any of his other books that are not legal?
I really enjoyed Bleachers, Skipping Christmas (turned into the move Christmas with the Kranks) and a Painted House. Playing for Pizza was horrible though.
