BookJumper Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 I also hate long passages in a foreign language with no translation. A word here and there for the expressive element, okay. But whole paragraghs? I don't think so.Agreed. Guess that you, too, are a big fan of Mr. Umberto Eco and his 40-line sentences the 20 middle of which are in unfootnoted Latin, then ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anika Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Agreed. Guess that you, too, are a big fan of Mr. Umberto Eco and his 40-line sentences the 20 middle of which are in unfootnoted Latin, then ! No fan of Mr. Eco. Picked up one of his books a long time ago---think it was 'Foucault's Pendulum'...? Could have been 'Name of the Rose'. To be honest, I can't even remember. So, he obviously didn't leave much of an impression on me, except I couldn't get into the book and abandoned it. I like a few Latin words/phrases sprinkled judiciously in a book. I'm all about learning something while I read, but if they don't give me a translation I feel the writer is just showing off their knowledge. This is one of these reasons I threw down Villette. It didn't grab me right away as it is, then the character's just start speaking in french. How can I follow the story when I don't know what they're saying? And, as for 40-line sentences.... Ivanhoe! I'll probably finish the book someday, when I can get myself into that 'mode' and if I can stop laughing long enough. It's one of those 'should-reads' I've had for a couple years, but it cracks me up the way it's written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 This is one of these reasons I threw down Villette. It didn't grab me right away as it is, then the character's just start speaking in french. How can I follow the story when I don't know what they're saying? Although I agree with you, the thing to remember about Villette and other books of the same period, is that it was expected that English-speaking readers would also know French. So Charlotte Bronte's audience wouldn't have had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KW Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Any continues rule that is broken can become annoying with repetition. Adverbs esp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anika Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Although I agree with you, the thing to remember about Villette and other books of the same period, is that it was expected that English-speaking readers would also know French. So Charlotte Bronte's audience wouldn't have had a problem. You're totally RIGHT!!! It was the mark of an accomplished woman to be able to speak it fluently, thus the French governesses of the affluent families. I'm just saying that, by now, the publishers reprinting this book should include translations so we could understand it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 You're totally RIGHT!!! It was the mark of an accomplished woman to be able to speak it fluently, thus the French governesses of the affluent families.While our Friend Eco has no such excuse - he's just a showoff ! By the way... I abandoned The Name of the Rose on page 46. The dreaded portal defeated me (how is it that Hugo can talk about bricks for 50 pages and enthral me, and Eco's 5 pages of door-description are so tedious ?)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 You're totally RIGHT!!! It was the mark of an accomplished woman to be able to speak it fluently, thus the French governesses of the affluent families. I'm just saying that, by now, the publishers reprinting this book should include translations so we could understand it better. You're right, also. Modern publishers could at least offer translations in the appendices, or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Idiots who drive through a flood at 40 mph with no lights on ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Idiots who drive through a flood at 40 mph with no lights on ! I'll add the mist and the dark onto that one Talisman. I drive mainly country lanes and roads (and the occasional grown up road), and the lack of regard for themselves, let alone other road users is astounding at times. It can get scary out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 It certainly can - I also live in a rural area with narrow country roads. My village is at the top of a very high and steep hill with hairpin bends - half of the million visitors we get each year drive in the middle of the road, and the other half think that 30 mph means 50 - good job we have a very active Speedwatch team to zap them all ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 I hate that too Raven. It's as subtle as a sledgehammer and it completely takes me out of the book. It's very poor writing in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffin Nail Posted March 16, 2010 Share Posted March 16, 2010 Has anyone else noticed any novels where the sole intention of the author is to get picked up by Hollywood? They're begging to be a screenplay. Instead of chapters they should write: EXT. MISTY CHURCHYARD. MIDNIGHT. For the life of me I can't remember an example now. I loathe it when authors are showing off on the research front. I can't get peeved when authors over comma......I do it all the time. I have to hand my finished scripts over to my chum who's an English graduate. Fortunately she's a lot less numpty than I am. There are things on this thread that I've never noticed.....but you can bet I will now. (Nasty, pointless sex scenes. ICK ICK ICK!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 Has anyone else noticed any novels where the sole intention of the author is to get picked up by Hollywood? I've always felt Patricia Cornwell's books went that way once she started sniffing the film rights. ETA: The pointless helicoptor chase in Point of Origin, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Landsman Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 - Writers who litter their work with obscure foreign words and phrases to flex their intellectual muscles - Writers who remorselessly abuse adjectives - Writers who seemingly don't want anybody to actually understand what they're trying to convey - Writers who clog their work up with mundane, pointless dialogue - Writers who clog their work up with 'in' jokes that only twenty-five people on the planet understand - Writers who reference random historical figures in every other paragraph (I'm looking at you, Mencken) - The surrealist movement -- which may have worked well in films -- but the literature seems to be random for the sake of being random. I'm sure that Tristan Tzara once proposed putting a bunch of words into a bag and then creating a poem out of the random ones picked out. Now, I feel that a bit more thought and care should go into the creation of art, but that's just me. - People who dismiss any work that isn't written within the conventional grammatical standards taught by teachers who wouldn't know beautiful writing if it was written by their own hand! I include the works of a certain Joseph Conrad in this category -- surely a writer of some of the most beautiful prose ever seen in the English language. --- I could add more, but I'm pretty tired right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brida Posted August 22, 2010 Share Posted August 22, 2010 I hate pretentious writing style. You know when the author is trying to sound sharp, educated, well informed, witty, and is trying so hard it turns out completely artificial. And pretentious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayrha Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 I hate pretentious, over the top, flowery descriptions which do nothing to add to the story but end up having the effect of sending you to sleep!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 I hate books that have multiple colours on the spines. How are we supposed to organise our books by colours when the spine is half white and half black? Where does it go? In the black or the white section? Oh, the horror! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 people who kick the wing mirrors off my car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 people who kick the wing mirrors off my car Really?! People are rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 yep and I can't afford to get it repaired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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