AIBU to think a lot of books these days are really badly written?

[TheNameGames]

I'm not going to name specific authors or books but does anyone think the quality in fiction novels has really gone downhill and amateurish lately? I'm not talking '50 shades of Grey' levels where the reviews are scathing compared to the numbers sold. Someone recommended a book to me that they promised that I'd love and I couldn't get past the second chapter because the writing just came across as juvenile. This is a part from the latest recommendation:

'I love you,' he whispered.
'Love you, too.'
He pulled back.
I groaned again, but this time it was with frustration.

Not just that, but glaring grammatical errors (unless it was intentionally written this way):

'You'll love what happens after dinner.' He grinned.

'All right, bring it on.' I laughed.

I went online to see if people thought the same but this has an average rating of 4 and a half stars. I thought it was something that someone had self published but this is a best-seller, apparently. I've read far better written fanfiction. I've read far better written OPs in AIBU!

Someone recommended another book a few months ago and it was the same thing. I don't mean to be a snob and I'm certainly nowhere anywhere near the scale of clever but I just found I couldn't read them because of the way they were written, it was like reading a badly written teenage novel. They're not my normal style of books but thought I'd give some a go for some light reading. Some of these have been pushed to the forefront on the Amazon kindle main page so must be popular and given the reviews, they are.

Is it fake reviews? People accepting or being more forgiving of lower quality writing lately? I've read loads of books I thought were rubbish but only didn't finish them because I didn't like the content, not because I couldn't connect with the writing itself.

I'm prepared to be flamed but does anyone agree?

[sunshinesupermum]

friedbeansandcheese I was puzzled too!

MrsFezziwig In what way bloody annoying?

[BertieBotts]

I can't read books like this. I think I was spoiled - pre-Twilight, YA fiction was generally incredibly good quality, and that's what I grew up reading from about 11. So to move into general adult fiction was a shocker as so much of it is tripe, badly written, predictable, one-dimensional stuff. I've never really found my niche and like you I find people are too tolerant of it so I can't trust general recommendations or reviews. Amazon's try a sample is useful, but some books are written well just for the sample and then the quality sudenly drops off.

And sometimes they are well written but the timeline jumps about constantly and I hate that - occasionally it is OK - I didn't mind it in The Time Traveller's Wife - but struggled with this technique in various other books, which I have forgotten.

I end up reading non fiction, mainly.

[HulksPurplePanties]

The rise of Kindle and Digital books certainly has contributed in the rise of bad books, but I don't think this is new.

Can't help but think people called Dicken's Bleakhouse populist tat because he was using the serial format to publish it. And Louisa May Alcott was only in it for the money and was just writing crap that would sell.

I worked in a book store in uni (back in the 90's) and the most popular sections were romance and sci fi/fantasy, which were FULL of poorly written books that have not stood the test of time. Yet, people actually subscribed to mailing lists for them.

Like a previous poster said, the real crap just doesn't survive.

[editingfairy]

@MrsFezziwig - they are grammatically correct, but bloody annoying nonetheless.

In what way are they annoying? It's much worse to see e.g.

'I know,' he grinned

• you can't 'grin' words.
  

@TheNameGames, the sentences you mention do not contain glaring grammatical errors. It doesn't matter whether they're intentional or not; they're correct. And as an editor, neither jars with me. 'Grinning' doesn't necessarily mean a manic grin; it's just a smile. Similarly, the second character may be giving a small laugh, and this is appropriate for them and for the text. It doesn't say she's rolling around on the floor in hysterics.

Fine if you don't like the author's style, but watch out for calling things errors when they're not.

[StealthPolarBear]

Danglingmod you've lost the phased/fazed battle as far as I'm concerned. People are phased much more than they're fazed, in my experience.

[thecatsthecats]

Fine if you don't like the author's style, but watch out for calling things errors when they're not.

I agree with this.

As an author, I'm well prepared to take advice from an editor on improving my writing, but that doesn't mean writing to fit someone else's preferences of style and tone.

I got very caught up with style rules from one particular instructor at one point, and found their rules miserable to follow.

Killing adverbs for example - yes, sometimes people do bloody say something slowly, sharply etc. No, don't litter your text with them, but if you can list your top 10 favourite books including no uses of adverbs whatsoever then you are a pretty rare creature!

As per the example above re: 'grinned'. Grinning is something people do. Ergo, an author might use it to describe something someone is doing.

[brassbrass]

Came on here to agree and found myself downloading a sample of All the light we cannot see so thanks for that! It certainly ticks my boxes beautifully written so far.

I really struggle to savour prose and can't remember the last time I closed a book with a sigh feeling sad that I'd come to the end. I don't mind page turners but there is so little characterisation or if present it is so utterly cringe worthy that you don't care what happens to anyone.

Anyone can write a sequence of events and call it a story but the craft of writing is in the fabrication of the prose. How to describe a scene and transport the reader there. How to build sincere characters that stay with you. Use language in a way that isn't try hard or naff. And how many plots have you guessed straight away?

I also agree with the whole over hyping thing eg Eleanor Oliphant was drivel and unbelievable but people still rave about it. In fact I've avoided books just because they've been so hyped.

[vassdal]

Really interesting thread.
I was just thinking about this on Sunday as I was reading a wonderful book "The Bird Tribunal" by Agnes Ravatn. I read it in one sitting - yes, it's relatively short.
I couldn't remember the last time I had read a contemporary novel that wasn't drivel. In fact, I've recently read hardly any fiction at all, preferring non-fiction. I'd love to get back into fiction in a big way but the current crop of novels isn't doing it for me.
I do like my nordic noir though for pure "escapism". Apart from that I'm not finding things that really appeal.

I used to enjoy Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult, Anita Shreve and Liane Moriarty as enjoyable, relaxing holiday reads but I feel like the quality of all of these has declined with each book. I think because they are very popular and their first books sold a lot, their publishers push for more and more from then and then at some point they are out of good plot ideas and everything becomes formulaic and boring. I'm thinking of the Liane Moriarty book "What happened at the barbecue?" That wasn't the book's title - no idea what the title was - it was just pages and pages of drivel leading up to a big reveal as to what happened at the barbecue. Jodi Picoult's book about something to do with elephants was pretty bad too.

[PsychosonicCindy]

By the way I recommend my favourite author Anne Tyler especially Ladder of Years and Spool of Blue Thread. Margaret Atwood's Cats Eye is amazing and so is Toni Morrison's Beloved. These books are years old though but I read them all at least once a year!

[BrightYellowDaffodil]

Oh I have found my people!

I have read books that make me despair for the English language. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a bit of fluff and escapism but they’ve still got to be well written. So often the text reads as if the author’s stream of consciousness fell out of their head and onto the page, with never so much as a re-read for editing purposes, or a plot line “twist” that couldn’t be more obvious if it was coming towards you waving a football rattle whilst singing She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain at full volume. See also, series of books that have got one plot line that’s recycled in every book.

The worst offender I’ve found, after the obvious 50 Shades, was Kate Morton’s Forgotten Garden. Read like a first draft that had been accidentally sent to the printers, and had a plot line that was beyond contrived. And yet Amazon was full of 5-star reviews, which is as baffling as it is depressing.

[Stooshie8]

I enjoyed Kate Morton's The House st Riverton but I followed that with Forgotten Garden and it was very contrived.

[CSIblonde]

YANBU. Particularly chick lit & crime are the worst. Martina Cole is dire, it's a teenagers vocabulary & view of organised crime, no real characters, just drivel . The chick lit is worse than a Mills & Boon(used to read my Nan's as bookworm teen who read anything). I've gone back to charity shop finds & the library for stuff written years back that you just can't put down because the characters are so well developed & the plot isn't inane or beyond fantastical.

[IamEarthymama]

I agree! I am an avid user of our wonderful local library and finding so many books abandoned after one chapter. I do not age enough time left on this Earth to waste my time reading rubbish.

I love Barbara Kingsolver, can I recommend Unsheltered please? I am rereading it at the moment because it is such a good story and I love her writing. But I don't just like literary fiction, I adore Georgette Heyer's novels, Terry Pratchett and lots of crime novels.

I think books are just seen as goods by supermarkets etc so the cover and the blurb are seen are most important

[MrsFezziwig]

In what way are they annoying?

Two word sentence once for effect - fine. Two word sentence repeated - not fine. (obviously just my opinion of course because it’s a question of style, the author and anyone who wants can think it’s fine but I don’t).

Phased and fazed have two entirely different meanings.

[SerenDippitty]

I agree! I am an avid user of our wonderful local library and finding so many books abandoned after one chapter. I do not age enough time left on this Earth to waste my time reading rubbish.

Yes but I also feel life is too short to spend reading books you feel you ought to read if you are not actually enjoying them.

I read a mixture. Reading Parade’s End by Ford Maddox Ford atthe moment but also like Santa Montefiore and Dinah Jefferies .

[Basilicaofthemind]

Totally agree that the majority of books are too long but I suppose people don’t want to pay eight quid for a slim volume. Just doesn’t look like value for money piled up on the Waterstones tables.

[BoyfriendCoatBigScarf]

There was a great thread in Chat a couple of days ago asking for well written fiction.

'Padding' used as a verb is a my bugbear. Ugh.

I loved a Gentleman in Moscow and All the Light We Cannot See. I also loved the Nightingale but the same author's other works were very disappointing.

[TheCanterburyWhales]

I also howl in despair at some of the twaddle out there.

And kick myself regularly for falling for the "most unputdownable book of the year" banner on Amazon Kindle (especially) 99p daily offers. The "psychological thriller" seems to be the worst culprit and there I'll go, falling for the schtick again, and 40 pages in I realise my reading time is too short and send the bugger back for a refund.

Loads of female writers churning out the "best friend/neighbour turns out to be psycho" plotline. Just awful.

I also think there is a tendency to be unwilling to criticise poorly written books (purely from a writing point of view and not because of plots) because a) the author is an untouchable (JKR)b) the storyline is tough. (Kite Runner)

[Santasleftboot]

Oh gosh this thread has reminded me of another good writer.

William Trevor - I've read The Story of Lucy Gault and Felicity's Journey and the writing is absolutely superb.

Might have to go in search of other novels written by him. Sadly he died in 2016.

[StealthPolarBear]

"
Phased and fazed have two entirely different meanings."
Not any more sadly. We've lost the battle

[KayakingOnDown]

Stick with good authors.

Jennifer Johnston
Anne Tyler
Lionel Shriver
William Trevor
John McGahern
Andrew Miller
Ian McEwan (can be pretentious but still well-written)

[Santasleftboot]

Thanks @KayakingOnDown will take note..

as have never heard of Jennifer Johnston, John McGahern or Andrew Miller - but have definitely enjoyed the other authors.

[beguilingeyes]

@lolaflores I'm sure I saw a thing about James Patterson. He doesn't actually write his books any more. He has a writing team. He comes up with the plots and they do the actual writing.

[Obviouspretzel]

And it shows. They are awful.