The trouble with rating media

You may have noticed that I don't really include ratings on book. I tend to shy away from the practice as I often ffind it hard to know how to rate things like movies, books and TV shows.  You know things that will be compiled and make recommendations for future suggestions.  I find it hard to know where the break points should be.  First I should say I am very stingy on giving out 5 stars, as I think that only perfection deserves 5 stars.  Gatsby and Breaking Bad fit this category, but perfection is hard to reach. 

From there you go to 4 stars.  This is where I tend to put things I really like and enjoyed and that are well done.  But even a 4 star rating can be hard for me to give out, because it has to be near perfection.

1 and 2 stars are a bit easier, actually, I wish there was a zero star for things I just hated.  But these are things I really don't like and it is easy for me to know when it just isn't for me.

And that leaves the 3 star ratings.  These are the hardest for me because there are 2 types of books, movies and TV shows that I partake in.  And a 3 star classic novel would be vastly different than a 3 star YA book.  Not to mention how do I reckon a bad story by Fitzgerald or Asten to a good fluff book.  When I rate Fitzgerald or Austen it is usually to their other work, but just because I liked it less than something else they have written dosen't mean it should resided in the realm of Divergent.  Divergent is a good YA novel.  I didn't hate it, so I wouldn't give it a 1 or 2, it is a 3 star book for me.  But when I place it next to A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway, it just seems wrong that they should even be rated the same.

I need  2 prong rating system. One for more serious works and one for fluff.  Does anyone else have this problem?  How do you deal with this?

Book 24: After Dachau- Daniel Quinn

Can I just start out by saying how much I enjoyed this book.  I picked it up for my Reader and knew it was an alternate history type story where Germany won WWII and that was all.

And wow- it is so much more than that.  There is a whole thing about reincarnation that sucked me in right at the beginning, and then I was hit by the twist.

I have been so frustrated with books that are being recommended for me.  It seems like the only books that are suggested are YA books, and ones that are poorly written.  And I really want something more hearty, and well how can I put this....well written.  This book satisfied that.

My one criticism of the book is, that after it is revealed that they are 2000 years in the future, the story hits a slump.  Well, I shouldn't even say slump, because I think I was pushing through my fatigue to keep reading and glanced over some important info. So in hindsight that is my fault, not the authors.

Ok I have one other criticism, and it really isn't about the book, but what the author wrote postscript.  He needed to make sure that the readers knew he was Christian and did not believe in the whole idea of reincarnation.  Its not that he doesn't believe in the premise of the book, I just found it odd that he needed to include this, in the book.  Yes, in interviews make it clear your views, but it seemed to take away something from the story, like some of the magic was tarnished.  I hate to say it, but because of his insistence to include that blurb, I am very leery to read any of his other books, as I am afraid they will come off preachy, especially when it is titled The Holy.

But with all that said- I really loved this book and highly recommend it.

Update:  Ok So I decided to do a bit of research on Daniel Quinn to see if his books would come off preachy and very Christian.  It looks like I may be wrong about my reaction to his postscript.  But you know what that happens.  I made a knee jerk reaction.  In fact from my cursory search into the man, I am finding that the opposite may be true. I am amending my statement of being leery on his other works.  I think I would like to add Ishmael to my list of books to read.

Update:  After sitting with book for about a month, I have to say how much it has effected me.  I keep thinking about it and really want other to read it so I can talk to them about it.

Reading frustrations

Recently my hubby purchased a new Kindle reader for me, and I took advantage of the Amazon lending library to check out a free book.  I really wasn't familiar with any of the books available, so I just chose on that was on time travel.

I read on chapter and I am giving up.  I really wanted to give up on it after the first paragraph because I found the writing terrible.  I even tried to edit it to make it work.

Here is my edited version....

"Behind me the footsteps halted for an instant before I ducked into the next corridor.  Had I been in my usual shorts and t-shirt, I would have been able to get out of this hotel long ago, and a good solid kick to the head would have rendered the good doctor unconscious and my neck would not be in agony."

That would have been an opening paragraph that I could have rolled with, instead the story opens with....

"The heel of my white kidskin boot ripped a six inch gash in the hem of my skirt as I whipped around the corner.  Behind me, the footsteps halted for just an instant, and then continued, faster than before.  I ducked into the corridor, silently cursing the gods of 1890's fashion.  had I been in my usual shorts and t-shirt, I would have been our of this retched hotel long ago.  A solid kick to the head would have rendered the good doctor unconscious and the side of my neck wouldn't be screaming in agony."

Part of me hates pointing out what I find as poor writing (as I am not even to write a single paragraph for a story).  But, to me this seems like the sort of stuff written in an intro to creative writing class in college and is distracting and painful to read. 

I blame my lack of tolerance for this writing style on Mr Fitzgerald and his elegance of prose.  I was talking to my hubby on how I would take any one of his poorly written stories and ridiculous plot twists over a more modern interesting plot and terrible writing....any day.

Book 23: Sometimes Madness is Widsom by Kendall Taylor

I have often said I am not a fan of Zelda.  This is mostly due to the fact that most biographers feel they need to blame one of them for destroying the other.  There has been a surge of love for Zelda (which is not undeserved) but at the expense of Scott, and I have a hard time when I read that.

In this book, Kendall Taylor seems to do a good job of presenting a balanced view of the pair.  Neither one is solely responsible for the others misfortunes.  I liked the balanced reporting I found in this narrative.  I found Zelda interesting and tragic.

The only criticism I have is that in the final chapter, it seems like Ms. Taylor undid all the balanced reporting and heaped a bunch onto Scott (which seems so easy to do).  I am willing to overlook this and move on. 

I have read too many biographies on Zelda that sensationalize and place blame, and seem to have an agenda that I am unable to recommend those books, but this one I feel comfortable recommending.

Short Stories 53-74: Various FSF short stories

Wow- it has taken me a long time to update my reading list.  School has kicked back in and I just have not had the time to get everything noted.  I was hoping that this wouldn't happen but instead of beating myself up about it I will just get it all out here and hopefully be better about it in the future.  As always, I will have more details on the Fitzgerald short stories on my Fitzgerald Musing site, just follow the links.

Read in January:
The Fiend
Night in Chancellorsville
Zone of Accident
The Intimate Strangers
The Passionate Eskimo
Shaggy's Morning

Read in March:
One Interne
The Pusher-in-the-Face
The Third Casket
The End of Hate
Six of One-
New Type
Her Last Case
No Flowers
I Got Shoes
The Family Bus
Diagnosis
The Rubber Check
One of my Oldest Friends
Not in the Guidebook
John Jackson's Arcady
The Unspeakable Egg
Diamond Dick and the First Law of Woman

Books 20, 21 & 22: Divergent, My Name is Memory & Fool For Love

Well we are quite a way into 2014 and I have been very neglectful on logging my reading progress.  I have been reading, I am just finding it hard to find time to get it typed out.  I even have short stories I finished in December that need attention- Guess I will be re-reading those stories.

Anyways. 

There are 3 books I will be talking about today.  I know two of them I finished in January and the third was either January or the beginning of Feb.

First I read Divergent, by Veronica Roth.  I was not so sure I wanted to read this one, but it looks like it is required reading for anyone who is looking for a book after reading "The Hunger Games".  And of course there is a movie coming out.  I don't want to go into too much plot detail, but lets just note that it takes place in a dystopian future and has a girl who needs to find her strength as the main character. 

I did not hate the book, nor did I love the book.  I did feel like the the author needed to sit with the book a bit longer and really flesh out this new world.  There are 2 more books to the trilogy, but at this time I have no interest in reading them.  But I will probably go see the movie.

Next I read My Name is Memory, by Ann Brasheres.  This is a book I had been really wanting to read.  The subject matter is right in my sweet spot, a man who remembers all of his past lives.  Oh I had high hopes.  Well maybe I had too high of hopes.  I was really let down by this one.  It is the first "adult" novel by the author, who is known for "The Traveling pants" books, and the writing felt like it was a YA book. At the start of the book I was Ok with it, but as it progressed the story and the dialogue just became painful.

In the book I was hoping for more introspection and reflection on being out of time, or the burden and conflicts of remembering all the lives.  But instead it was a sappy "soul mate" search through time, and even that love seemed forced and not real.  Instead of being in my sweet spot, it hit all of the tropes that make we cringe, which is too bad, because I really wanted to like it.

After that, I decided to read a palette cleanser type book.  So, I picked up a book that has literally been sitting on my night stand for at least a year "Fool for Love, F Scott Fitzgerald" by Scott Donaldson.  Yes, a biography on Fitzgerald.  I can't say I learned a whole lot.  Most of what was there I had already read in other biographies.  However, there was some interesting facts about his time in North Carolina, that I had not really known about.  That time and the women he was involved with always seem a bit sketchy in most biographies of his life.  It was some of the time where he was at his lowest, and getting involved with women.  It was just the type of book I needed at that time.

Well I am on to another Fitzgerald biographies, this one focusing more on the couple.  Hopefully It won't take me months to log that one.

Book 19: Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton

I did finish this in 2013, just right at the end, and I have not gotten a chance to do a write up.

As I was reading this I was thinking how much of a geek I am.  I am not what one could consider a full fledged geek.  I don't do what most people consider geeky, but I understand geek culture to a higher degree than the average person.  This may be due to the fact that I am married to a geek, but I think I was leaning that way even before I meet him.  But back to my level of geekness.  Even if I am not up on computer games, cos-play or conventions I have my own things I geek out over that most people just don't understand- Have you seen my blog devoted to F Scott Fitzgerald?

However, I don't think you need to be a geek to appreciate this book.  It is more a book about coming to terms with ones-self.  I didn't realize how old the book was when I downloaded it (it was written in 2004).  I just wish it was a bit more current.