Lusastrium

What makes you want to read a particular story?

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"Life is the greatest author"
- Unknown Chinese Philosopher

"I'll pwn u in Halo 2"
- Noodleownsall

Hodge

Pretty colors!



I don't know. I go to the used book store every weekend and buy a load of books that look good (at 25¢—$1.00 each I can do that). I'm probably a more steadfast reader than most, as once I start a book I feel compelled to finish it, even if it's really bad. But what usually draws me in is either the setting or the characters. Well developed characters that I fall in love with make me want to see what's going to happen to them, and good settings paint pictures in my mind that I want to fill out.

I'm not action oriented, so when I read a book it doesn't have to immediately start with something happening.

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Science

Saponification

Something that reels me in and gets me to ask a lot of questions. But most of all, the experience. To me a good story is an experience. That thing that Tarantino says, it's true. Movies should be an experience, a journey that takes you somewhere that's maybe not so comfortable for you. A roller coaster ride. I believe that philosphy also applies to the written word.

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Metta.

Gauda

Several different things:

1) recommendations
2) a good summary
3) something that's bound to make me think/wonder
4) originality - I don't like to read "the high school romance" over 100000000 times if it all ends up the same (ie: boo hoo she's unpopular and then the hot football player starts dating her because she all of a sudden turns pretty..)

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We live; we love; we learn; we soak it in; we spit it out; we run in circles and then sleep face down, with our heads buried in our pillows, trying to shut it out.

http://farfromnirvana.blogspot.com

The Man in Black

I work part time at a Quiznos and we just started selling those new Pepper-Jack Doritos with the wrapper made out of aluminum foil and you won't believe how hard it is not to buy them, its like crack for the eyes. Not that that has anything to do with this (unless you take it as an analogy to coverart), but I thought I'd throw that in.

For me, a few different things can influence me.

-An author I like (generally if its from an author I like I'm 30x more likely to give it a try than if it was from an unknown author)
-Good reviews (not too big for me because I don't generally read them, but it couldn't hurt)
-Good summary on the flap (the flap needs to get you engaged in the story and help set the story apart from the scores of other books on the shelves)
-Title. (maybe its just me, but in some cases the title effects my decision)
-Word of mouth (probably the most important, if other people who like my kind of books like it, chances are I will too)

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The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Lusastrium

If it's too original and seems to be really wierd, would you still read it, or would it be too big of a turnoff? What if its not a happy book, and all the characters die, would that leave you angry and never again wanting to read what that author wrote, or would it make things more interesting?

__________________
"Life is the greatest author"
- Unknown Chinese Philosopher

"I'll pwn u in Halo 2"
- Noodleownsall

The Man in Black

Ah, that gets to be something different. I personally hate endings where everything ends all happily ever after and all the good guys are sitting around in lounge chairs drinking martinis without taking a hit while the bad guys are all brutally slaughtered. Wierd is a very broad term so I can't answer the first question, for the second question I think its very interesting. Keeping in mind what I already said, I don't particularly like books where the bad guys win either. Take A Tale of Two Cities, that book has one of the best endings I've ever read. I was gripped. Had Defarge taken her gun and killed everybody I don't think it would have been nearly as fulfilling, so after rambling a bit--I'd rather have some characters die than none, but also rather than all of them. It wouldn't make me necessarily angry with the author and never want to read it again, but it would make me feel unfulfilled after reading that particular book.

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The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Lusastrium

Is it ok to kill off the main character in a particularly grusome way after a bloody battle that wipes off all but 10% of his army?

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"Life is the greatest author"
- Unknown Chinese Philosopher

"I'll pwn u in Halo 2"
- Noodleownsall

The Man in Black

That'd be fine by me, as long as it meant something (ala Carton sacrificing himself so the others could escape Paris). I can't stand it when somebody's just gotten through some huge and difficult ordeal just to get killed by something stupid. (Like say in Lord of the Rings if Aragorn had gotten shot through the neck by a stray arrow, or if instead of getting pulled in with the Balrog, Gandalf had just slipped and fallen after beating it). Sometimes it works, but in my oppinion a main character, presuming he/she's been well developed and the reader cares for them, deserves more than that.

(this actually intrests me a whole lot too, because I'm currently writing a story that is pretty much just a series of the good guys getting their collective asses whooped over and over again)

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The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Lusastrium

Does age matter when you decide to read a book? If you see some young guy on the cover or some old dotard, will you just immediately put the book down?

__________________
"Life is the greatest author"
- Unknown Chinese Philosopher

"I'll pwn u in Halo 2"
- Noodleownsall

The Man in Black

doesn't seem like something that important to me, I don't think cover art has ever had any negative effect on me when buying novels.

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The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

woodcut.evolution

If that's the ending of the book and his death has some meaning to it (i.e. don't just kill them to kill them) then by all means kill them off. If however there is still story left to tell after the main characters death there needs to be a well developed secondary character who can step in and finish out the story.


I'm in my twenties and I still read "childrens" books as well as "adult" books. Readers don't care what level a book is, only if it is entertaining and fun to read.

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++ Imagination is more important than knowledge - Albert Einstein ++

lisajane

- cover art
- blurb
- author, depending
- reading bits and pieces inside

If I like all those, I'll buy it.

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'Beauty stands and waits with gravity to start her death-defying leap. And he, a little charleychaplin man, who may or may not catch her fair eternal form spreadeagled in the empty air of existence.' - Laurence Felinghetti, 'The Acrobat'

Lusastrium

Do people care if a story is philosphical or just a mindless action story?

__________________
"Life is the greatest author"
- Unknown Chinese Philosopher

"I'll pwn u in Halo 2"
- Noodleownsall

Hodge

I do. Mindless action is retarded... A story has to evoke something inside of me. It could inspire deep thought or it could just be a simple emotional response. But there has to be some point to the story.