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Original poster

I wish I could return this book....

37 replies

antimatter · 19/11/2015 16:18

Got it on Kindle. Paid a tenner
Purity by Jonathan Franzen.

I liked only some parts of it. Gave up after reading half if it. Not going to read his other books either even though reviews say they are fairly good.
He is a mysogyn who thinks he can write. There's god book in it but it would require someone better than this author.

I think East Germany part was the best of what I read so far. Frantzen describing sexual scenes? Unpleasant.

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Original poster
antimatter · 20/11/2015 18:07

Audible book is read with various jamaican accents. To me it's a great performance! I love it so far. 2 hours out of 26 behind me.

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 20/11/2015 17:44

Somebody I know recently finished that and absolutely raved about it - loved it.

Original poster
antimatter · 20/11/2015 17:25

Remus, I am sure some people would enjoy this book. I was simply angry and upset.
Mire serene now thanks to very good audible narration of A Brief History of 7 killings. So reading another male authot and even though there's a lot of violence I didn't find so far any overriding mysogyny. Just stories of various characters and their points of view.

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 20/11/2015 17:11

What did I miss? Confused

Antimatter Thanks for starting this thread. It has been both interesting and enlightening.

CoteDAzur · 19/11/2015 23:33

Um.. One post from over a year ago and the other from February? It's not like every day or even once a week, is it? How are you so sure that we must have seen them and are being "disingenuous" by saying we haven't?

In any case, OP barely made it to half of the book and now she will return it as is her right. Amazon allows her to do it. What is your problem? Hmm

CheBoludo · 19/11/2015 23:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 19/11/2015 22:06

I love Bill Bryson.

Che - Disingenuous??? What the flip? Just how candid do you need me to be? I have never seen the kind of comments to which you allude. I am on Adult Fiction pretty much every day. I 'claim' it because it is the truth, or certainly the truth as I have seen/experienced it.

Can I be candid here? I think you're being deliberately provocative. Whatever axe you have to grind, this thread really doesn't seem to be the right place for it. You have got on your high horse based on not having read the thread properly, and by deciding that people have said things which they haven't actually said. Maybe start your own thread, if it bothers you that much?

Are you a writer, by any chance?

Original poster
antimatter · 19/11/2015 21:29

Che, no, I would listen to 10% of book and if narrator is making me stop concentrating because s/he shouldn't be reading it that is when I am returning it.
I think of 2 books which are great and when read by it's authors made a joke of the idea of enjoyment which should come from listening to them.
The Poisonwood Bible
The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Bill Bryson is nearly as bad but I managed At home.

I have no shame in doing it. Audible alows it for that exact reason. It keeps me buying more because I am alowed to be trusted to return what is done badly.

OP posts:
CoteDAzur · 19/11/2015 21:27

"As three of the most prolific posters in Adult Fiction are also on this thread, I find it slightly disingenuous that you claim never to have seen people talk about returning books for refund after having read them."

Disingenuous? What? I don't remember seeing anything of the sort on here.

Have you been drinking, by any chance? I can't see anything on this thread that could possibly have deserved this sort of bile.

TheSpectreOfMorningtonCrescent · 19/11/2015 21:15

I loved (well, liked) Pure, cant stand Franzen though.

CheBoludo · 19/11/2015 21:05

Antimatter - do you listen to the whole book, then return it? I too have bought several hundred pounds worth of books from audible and only one had atrocious narration. As I listened to more than 30% of it, I did not return it because I believe the author deserves to be paid for their work. YMMV

CheBoludo · 19/11/2015 21:03

Remus, the comments I have seen have been on Adult Fiction. As three of the most prolific posters in Adult Fiction are also on this thread, I find it slightly disingenuous that you claim never to have seen people talk about returning books for refund after having read them.
But if that is the case, then so be it. Glad to hear that you all happily pay for books whether or not you get full enjoyment from them.

Original poster
antimatter · 19/11/2015 21:00

Che, I bought several hundred pounds worth of books on audible. If narration spoils the book I return it. I think I have right to be unghappy about 1 in 10 or 15 boooks I paid for.

This book, Purity I read 50% of and it really upset me that I didn't like it. I wanted to like it! I persevered. I spent my precious 2x30 min I have on the train during my commuting every day.
I have to say I get easily swayed by an atmosphere of a book I am reading.

Unfortunately Frantzen's book upset me because he writes about women in derogatory way.
I haven't read any interviews with him or articles about this book prior. I like reading anything and everything with an open mind. I don't like influence if others to cloud my experience.
I am not a book snob or interested in trends. Just like good literature and good, well written stories.
Not sure why comments about great writers not being valued made it to this thread.
It is debatable if Frantzen is a great writer but by now I read on the net that he would like to be called that.

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 19/11/2015 20:57

Che - maybe address those comments, rather than the people on here who are absolutely not talking about what you are describing.

You're on Adult Fiction. The people on here buy/read lots and lots of books. We're talking about realising within a few chapters/soon after buying that the book is not for them, not about greedily devouring a book and then expecting our money to be returned.

Although,to return to Merrily stupid W, I probably ought to have been paid for finishing the damn thing!

CoteDAzur · 19/11/2015 20:30

Well, I've read many moronic comments on MN over the years but I'm not beating YOU over the head with them, am I? Hmm

CheBoludo · 19/11/2015 20:26

Well, I've lurked on many threads over the years and I've seen plenty of comments about listening to whole books through audible and then returning for a refund, simply because they didn't enjoy the narration.
I've also seen the "didn't like it, return it" position put forward about ebooks. Having spent the afternoon with some wonderful writers, I was upset by how little their biggest fans value them.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 19/11/2015 20:21

Having said that, I have met many cups of coffee which represented more talent than the horror that was Merrily W.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 19/11/2015 20:19

I think you will find that most of the thread is about people discussing returning a book when they discover they dislike it, rather than having read the whole thing, or most of it.

CheBoludo · 19/11/2015 20:14

Seriously? Most people on this thread would return a book after reading all or most of it? You don't think that a year or several years' of an author's working life is worth whatever you paid for the book? Would you drink a latte and then try to get a refund? Or wear a coat twice, decide you didn't like it and return it to the store?
I don't begrudge paying for books that I haven't enjoyed - I respect the time and effort the author has put into it and I feel they deserve to be paid for their work even if it is not to my taste. I can't understand avid readers who begrudge paying a fair price for a book or think that because it isn't to their taste, they should be refunded.
If you buy something by accident, or read 20 pages (listen to 20mins) and decide you don't like it, then I think a refund is perfectly acceptable. But the people who read or listen to a whole book then return for refund are no better than those who read pirated copies. Since when did we as a society decide that a coffee had more inherent value than a book?

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 19/11/2015 20:09

Ah - I think the one I disliked was a different book = 'Pure' not 'purity'. Doh!

Fatrascals · 19/11/2015 20:05

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This post has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns

Original poster
antimatter · 19/11/2015 20:00

Frantzen mysogyny screamed at me in the way he describes male-female relationships.

I wa going to buy the latest book by Houellebecq. I read first chapter in the bookshop and just felt sick at the way he talks there about women. I am not going to prop his ego by buying it.

I am so angry at Frantzen that I vowed to myself to read for a while books written only by female authors.

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Original poster
antimatter · 19/11/2015 19:45

Margo - I really wanted to finish it. It took me to 30% to start enjoying it but the mysogyny and the outragenousness of Purity the character just upset me.
I am off to read thar article Cany.

No option to return my book on Amazon account.
I returned several on Audible in the past.

OP posts:
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 19/11/2015 18:09

Glad I'm not the only one who gave up on 'Pure.' The cover was so pretty but I was bored stupid by it.

Canyouforgiveher · 19/11/2015 18:04

you show excellent taste, OP.

You might enjoy this article

www.salon.com/2015/08/21/dear_jonathan_franzen_no_women_dont_need_to_go_looking_for_a_villain_and_you_are_not_a_victim/