(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

In the comments of this mildly satirical piece on how to write book recommendation lists, the author, James Nicholls, wonders if anyone would be interested in his "Top Ten Books That Are By Any Objective Standard Terrible That James Nevertheless Rereads."

Which got me wondering what I reread that falls into that capacity... but also wondering whether, if a book can keep you coming back to it, is it really terrible across the board, or is it merely mostly terrible, yet with one redeeming feature (which, admittedly, you may be virtually the only person left alive who still values it)?

I've got a suspicion I might, ten or twenty years down the line, end up placing "A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" in that category - I certainly think it's going to end up looking like a massive period piece, unless of course civilisation does break down entirely - but I do enjoy it very much, even though I'm not quite convinced it's actually a good book...

Comments

[choco_frosh]

'I am aware of the argument that, if a tale has enough grip, one can for a while forget, if not forgive, the crumbling coarseness of the style; otherwise, why would I still read “The Day of the Jackal” once a year?' --Anthony Lane, "Heaven Can Wait: The Da Vinci Code", The New Yorker, 2006

I've got a suspicion I might, ten or twenty years down the line, end up placing "A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet" in that category
< Nods >

[naraht]

I think we have categories like "comfort reading" and "idfic" to describe fiction that, while it might not succeed as literature (whatever that is), does do a good job of meeting the specific need that we bring to it – whether comfort or having our id scratched. I'd class Angry Planet as comfort reading and can believe it fills that role for lots of people, even though I had a hard time getting through it myself. You're very right that it seems like a massive period piece; that hadn't occurred to me before.

[tree_and_leaf]

Huh. Yes, of course, id fic.

[serriadh]

I enjoyed A Long Way... but I admit I spent most of the time trying to work out why/how someone had published a Kaylee AU with the serial numbers barely filed off.

There are quite a few Bujold I re-read even though I don’t think they have many redeeming qualities.

[tree_and_leaf]

Ha, yes, whatshername is blatantly Kaylee.