Authors who are very popular but you just don't get....

Terry Pratchett .... bought for bookworm son who also didn’t get it ... both disappointed as he wrote so many books I thought sons reading was sorted for the foreseeable

Yes, I remember she seemed to be all right with it and she may well have been. But yes, I am a bit disgusted that he allowed it to happen. Whatever, it isn't my business, but the thought lurks. I still think he's amazing as an actor.

I think Mark Rylance is amazing too. I've been lucky enough to see him live several times. After Jerusalem I sought him out whenever I had the opportunity. I'd liken the experience of seeing him perform to people who reminisce about Olivier or Gielgud. Truly amazing.

That's doesn't sound so good niddedibble and I think there can definitely be an issue about actors being pressurised into performing acts they're uncomfortable with which is obviously wrong. However Kerry Fox has been quoted saying she doesn't regret the scene. There's an interesting interview with her in Filmink where she discusses the issue at length. Apparently they were both unhappy at how they were judged when the film came out. So if they both agreed to follow the director's instructions at the time and as intelligent adults agreed to the scene is it right to be disgusted by him?

In interviews he really does come across as the most modest and likeable man.

I think Mark Rylance is a genius actor. But...many years ago, there was a discussion about Kerry Fox having to actually give an actor oral sex in a film. I remember it because I was quite young and rather than go 'oh for goodness sake' and tut at the misogyny, we discussed it endlessly: was it for art? Was it a reasonable request from a director? etc. You get the gist. Apparently it was Mark Rylance and I'm now a bit disgusted by him.

spongedog when you say you fell head over heels with Mark Rylance, does that include his work in Bing on Cbeebies. 😊

I only came to Wolf Hall late in the day. I binge watched the TV series; fell head over heels with Mark Rylance portrayal; followed Mark Rylance literally around the world with what ever he was doing; and then finally read the book. It is brilliant. I studied this period ( a very long time ago) for A level history and so much has come flooding back. The book feels accurate and that counts.

She basically just said we’re all stupid.

I don't know it was deleted very quickly!

Georgette Heyer, nothing much seems to happen.

Dean Koontz. Only read half of one book and that was a challenge. The only book I’ve not read all the way through.

Love Jasper Fforde, Terry Pratchett, Marian Keyes (though agree with pp her more recent stuff hasn’t been as good. Looking forward to her new one which is out soon, Grown Ups).

If you enjoy Jason Isaacs with a Yorkshire accent then you may enjoy this Blake

m.youtube.com/watch?v=jNbvepjd46A

YY Jason Isaacs was very good as Jackson. Unfortunately I saw him in an interview and he was NOTHING like the character (Isaacs was very actory and not at all strong silent Yorkshirman (phwoargh) and it really upset me for ages!
Soz folks, derailing book thread to discuss totty.

Terry Pratchett I just don’t like. BUT Good Omens is one of my favourite books. (I do like Neil Gaiman tho)
I think Jodi Piquolt is naff.
I also hate Dickens and Hardy which is more controversial. Hardy’s poetry which is just a suasion of guilt about how horrible he was to his now dead wife and moaning about the weather.
Dickens is far to wordy, even for that time.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin on to me because she thought it was brilliant, Tried to read it a couple of times but only managed a couple of chapters

The first hundred pages or so were tedious but then it suddenly took off. Granted, a hundred pages is a lot when you’re bored.

A friend pressed Captain Corelli's Mandolin on to me because she thought it was brilliant, Tried to read it a couple of times but only managed a couple of chapters. Can't abide Adrian Mole as a child or adult. Twee and annoying. Didn't get on with My Brilliant Friend. So miserable.

Highland it might just be that I really fancy Jackson Brody

And who could blame you Blakes77? Jason Isaacs channeled his fanciability (and his essential decency which is also v attractive) pretty well in the TV version I thought.

I remember a conversation with my friend Tom who quite liked the show but was complaining that there was a lot of time wasted with too many shots of JI striding around in jeans and a leather jacket. I pointed out that in Baywatch the scenes where Pamela Anderson sprinted up the beach in a high-cut red swimsuit weren't essential to the plot either

Jodi Picoult. Her books sound brilliant but are utterly tedious on reading. Cheesy and fluffy at the same time. Maybe her more recent writing is better but the last one I tried I couldn't get past the first chapter.

Haruki Murakami

I've read all of Hilary Mantel's books and love them all. The one about the French Revolution 'A Place of Greater Safety' is fascinating. I lent it to a French friend and she said that even though she had done the revolution at school in France, she learnt more from this book than she had at school.

Just read more of the thread seen others have a similar opinion.

Hilary Mantel. I tried to read Wolf Hall. I think it's the only book I have given up on. I got about a quarter of the way through. Her style of writing obviously isn't for me. I just couldn't follow it/understand who was talking most of the time and had to keep reading pages again.
I've heard others say the same although it's a best seller and was even made into a series so obviously many people will disagree with me. Would be interested if anyone else has read her and what they think?

Oh I agree with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Any magical realism really. One minute someone is working in an office and the next they're flying around or something. I just find it stupid tbh.

I think generally I just don't like any kind of fantasy or sci fi or anything that couldn't happen in the real world. Someone (Tina Fey? Or someone else entirely) said somewhere that it just feels like lazy writing if you can just conjure up a dragon or travel through time because you can just make up any rules you want so it's easy to write.

That's how fantasy and stuff always feels to me. Like if you're stuck with your plot, just create some type of magic or mystical creature and it will solve everything.

Imagine being stupid enough to read a thread about authors people don't get and being surprised that it contains negativity