Was the authors style distracting from the plot?

Use this forum to discuss the March 2018 Book of the Month, "Final Notice" by Van Fleisher.
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toribyers13
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Re: Was the authors style distracting from the plot?

Post by toribyers13 »

I agree with you, I was distracted multiple times during this book because of instances like that. The most distracting thing to me is the way he would sometimes interrupt the story to basically write about his political beliefs. I understand that politics was involved with the story, but I felt his style sort of pushed his views onto the reader.
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Post by R-g-R »

No, I didn’t find the things you mention, annoying.
I thought the changing of names was clever and gave me a laugh. The only changes I would have suggested were instances where the chapter or part of the story was coming to an end and the final sentence or two seemed anti-climactic, almost unnecessary or perhaps a bit ‘naff’ (to use the technical term!).
The following is not a quote, but it’s the equivalent of concluding with: They finished their dinner and went to bed. This type of finalizing statement was used a little more regularly than I preferred, but perhaps it was indicative of the world of seniors where often each action can seem measured and repetitive, but are significant parts of their day or life.
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Post by n-dai che »

toribyers13 wrote: 24 Mar 2018, 17:03 I agree with you, I was distracted multiple times during this book because of instances like that. The most distracting thing to me is the way he would sometimes interrupt the story to basically write about his political beliefs. I understand that politics was involved with the story, but I felt his style sort of pushed his views onto the reader.
I understand with your point as well. The political scenes only portrays our recent situation. I understand the author's point, he only depicts the picture of the real situation in our generation today. :!: :cry:
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Post by britt13 »

420waystoreachthesun wrote: 20 Mar 2018, 12:17 To be honest, I didn't find it distracting at all. I loved his writing style. I feel that it further enhanced the plot.
Good! I am glad that you enjoyed it! I found it less distracting my second read through for sure.
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Post by britt13 »

kfwilson6 wrote: 20 Mar 2018, 15:03
britt13 wrote: 15 Mar 2018, 19:01
Honeybeetle wrote: 14 Mar 2018, 23:05 I already vented most of my spleen about this in my review, but I felt like the author's style absolutely killed the book's momentum. I found it a struggle to read all the way through as so much of the narrative felt unnecessary. The asides, the irrelevant business jargon, always jumping to a new scene... I honestly got pretty frustrated with it.
I felt the same way. I have yet to write my review because I am rereading the book to see if I was too harsh in my first evaluation of it, but so far I still feel the same way. I was actually surprised to find how many people really enjoyed the book. Just goes to show that people have all different types of tastes in topics, styles, and such in writing.
As long as I am really engaged in the story itself, I am less likely to notice problems with the writing. The thing that bothers me the most are OBVIOUS errors. I can't stand spelling errors especially when it's a character's name!!! I was mildly engaged in this book. Political commentary is pretty boring to me but Fleisher did a pretty good job except with the excessive dialogue from Vince. I also think, being reviewers makes us focus on many aspects of a book and so we don't tend to just immerse ourselves in a story the way we might otherwise. Those who are not reading to do a review may be less critical than those who know they are writing a review and must point out both the pros and cons of a book and those pros and cons must be all encompassing.
I totally agree with that sentiment. When I was reading it the second time I was just reading for reading sake. I found it much more enjoyable that time than the first. I think when I am taking notes on things in a book I am much more critical of the book. I will try and keep that in mind on further reviews I do.
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Post by britt13 »

toribyers13 wrote: 24 Mar 2018, 17:03 I agree with you, I was distracted multiple times during this book because of instances like that. The most distracting thing to me is the way he would sometimes interrupt the story to basically write about his political beliefs. I understand that politics was involved with the story, but I felt his style sort of pushed his views onto the reader.
I suppose that every writer is a bit guilty of pushing their views on the reader because it would be hard not to when writing a book. That being said I agree with you that this felt very pushy. Very little was given to see the positive side of guns. I judge that a bit unfairly because I am very anti gun and do not think I could do what I am asking of the book. I just think that many would instantly put this book down because it seems preachy.
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Post by britt13 »

R-g-R wrote: 25 Mar 2018, 00:24 No, I didn’t find the things you mention, annoying.
I thought the changing of names was clever and gave me a laugh. The only changes I would have suggested were instances where the chapter or part of the story was coming to an end and the final sentence or two seemed anti-climactic, almost unnecessary or perhaps a bit ‘naff’ (to use the technical term!).
The following is not a quote, but it’s the equivalent of concluding with: They finished their dinner and went to bed. This type of finalizing statement was used a little more regularly than I preferred, but perhaps it was indicative of the world of seniors where often each action can seem measured and repetitive, but are significant parts of their day or life.
I appreciate that insight. I thought of the repetitiveness in that way actually my second time through and it made it much less distracting to me. I almost actually appreciated it in a few places.
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Post by BookishCreature »

I definitely found the style distracting. It seems like the author was using the book as a pulpit for all of his stances - which is fine, I guess, but not really the thriller that the synopsis promises. The random aside about how nice and quiet Vince's Prius was had me rolling my eyes. It had no bearing on the plot at all!
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Post by R-g-R »

britt13 wrote: 25 Mar 2018, 09:42
R-g-R wrote: 25 Mar 2018, 00:24 No, I didn’t find the things you mention, annoying.
I thought the changing of names was clever and gave me a laugh. The only changes I would have suggested were instances where the chapter or part of the story was coming to an end and the final sentence or two seemed anti-climactic, almost unnecessary or perhaps a bit ‘naff’ (to use the technical term!).
The following is not a quote, but it’s the equivalent of concluding with: They finished their dinner and went to bed. This type of finalizing statement was used a little more regularly than I preferred, but perhaps it was indicative of the world of seniors where often each action can seem measured and repetitive, but are significant parts of their day or life.
I appreciate that insight. I thought of the repetitiveness in that way actually my second time through and it made it much less distracting to me. I almost actually appreciated it in a few places.
That’s fascinating, how a second read can change our perspective! Thanks for sharing :)
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ccrews0408 wrote: 11 Mar 2018, 18:45 I thought it was just me who found his writing style distracting!! I still enjoyed the book, but I was unable to read as quickly as I normally would have.
I agree. I found myself re-reading passages quite often just to make sure everything was the way I thought it was going. So my reading speed was also hindered. It was kind of frustrating but the theme kept me hooked.
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Post by n-dai che »

VictoriaMcMillen wrote: 25 Mar 2018, 18:54
ccrews0408 wrote: 11 Mar 2018, 18:45 I thought it was just me who found his writing style distracting!! I still enjoyed the book, but I was unable to read as quickly as I normally would have.
I can relate both of you. But the bold print of the place helps me understand well. It guides me what will be the next story.

I agree. I found myself re-reading passages quite often just to make sure everything was the way I thought it was going. So my reading speed was also hindered. It was kind of frustrating but the theme kept me hooked.
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Post by Jessi5443 »

Fletcher's style of writing was distracting to me, but I am definitely going to try rereading from a different perspective. What an excellent idea.
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Post by britt13 »

BookishCreature wrote: 25 Mar 2018, 14:35 I definitely found the style distracting. It seems like the author was using the book as a pulpit for all of his stances - which is fine, I guess, but not really the thriller that the synopsis promises. The random aside about how nice and quiet Vince's Prius was had me rolling my eyes. It had no bearing on the plot at all!
Several times I felt like he was getting paid to put an ad in the book. The one you mentioned was one, and also anytime they mentioned Apple products it seemed very over the top. I talked to my husband about it and he was like "maybe he just really likes those products", but it just really seemed odd to me.
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Post by britt13 »

Jessi5443 wrote: 26 Mar 2018, 07:15 Fletcher's style of writing was distracting to me, but I am definitely going to try rereading from a different perspective. What an excellent idea.
I really did find it helpful to just try and let go of all that in the second read through. While I still had some issues with the writing, some melted away. Happy reading to you!
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Post by kfwilson6 »

BookishCreature wrote: 25 Mar 2018, 14:35 I definitely found the style distracting. It seems like the author was using the book as a pulpit for all of his stances - which is fine, I guess, but not really the thriller that the synopsis promises. The random aside about how nice and quiet Vince's Prius was had me rolling my eyes. It had no bearing on the plot at all!
I don't know who chose to refer to this book as a thriller but I don't think that is an accurate description at all. Even "political thriller" seems a bit off base.

You mean you don't care that Vince has a quiet Prius??? There were definitely some odd, off-hand remarks made. I could have done without those as well. It throws off the pace of the story and I already found it a bit slow anyway.
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