Which authors' success is a complete mystery to you?

[emkana]

Tony Parsons

Jodi Picoult

Actually, UD, that is actually his actual name, not an affectation. The fact that he was a year below me at college has absolutely NOTHING to do with how very callow and seitgeisty I find his books. Really.

z

paul coelho

some people must be stoopid

UD - I can't agree that JK isn't a bad writer!! How many pages of
x said
y said
x said
y said
etc, can any person wade through? Also, once you've noticed that Dumledore's eyes only glitter at baddies and twinkle at goodies it's hard to take it seriously... BUT, I think she has a great imagination and writes really exciting stories....

JK is a boring writer. She over-writes.

The ability not to be boring is an improtant writer's skill I'd've said

JKR is badly edited, maybe because no one actually dares.
And I think she was rushed to produce some of them, especially no 4. The worst.

I wish I had written them. It would not be spag bol for tea if I had. I would have a slave in roasting peacock.

weeeellll, you;d have to do so much editing it would still make me question the writer's skill

Any votes for Rosie Thomas as a good writer? It's romance/chicklit, but I think she's pretty good....

FGS, JKRowling is a children's writer.
Children want Action! and more Action! not beautiful prose. Her success isn't a mystery at all.

Any of the miserable 'please daddy no' type books, I dont know who would want to read them!
Agree about Cecilia Ahern ....snoozefest

Love Marian Keyes for some light holiday reading, also sophie kinsella and jane green

Cant believe no-one has mentioned Martina Cole, I can get totally lost in her books i think shes great

action and more action?? The over-written lengthy description after lengthy description is what drove me to tears. And I was only listening to a cd, not reading it.

Yes but some childrens books are well written, philip pullman is a good writer, so too is Susan Cooper. They have action, are well written and have depth, which JKR is lacking.

Yes, who reads those Not Again Daddy and please Vicar Not In There and I Was Forced To Live In The Shed And Drink My Own Urine books?

I think you're judging them by adult standards, tbh.

Yes, I probably am. Ds loved them when he was younger but, many adults seem to like HP and tbh I'm mystified as to why.

well I enjoyed them, but when I first read them I had to consciously think myself back to being a child reader, to jump over the gaps that would be gracefully filled in an adult book.

dd2 loved first couple of potters then got var bored by them and hasn't finished one since.

UQD those last two are very good titles. If you don't want them can I have them?

redadmiral - I'm with you on rosie thomas..decent romance/chicklist. Big thumbs up for barbara ewing too as similar kind of thing

Not tried her. Thanks for the tip :-)

Kathy Lette is as funny as ebola.

Salinger! I recently read Franny& Zooey, inspired by F&Z on here. But sorry, no. He's a good writer, a clever man, can't take that away from him, but he's rated like a GOD or something in America. I thought his writing was petty and a little sheltered- as if the angst of a white rich kid in America is really going to tug my sympathies. But maybe thats related to the time it was written when the world was a smaller place. Just don't understand why he's quoted alongside Hemmingway as one of the "great" authors? Maybe because he has an interesting style? But he tells a crap story. Doesn't tip the balance for me. ANyone care to explain?

Zadie Smith- Great writer but I do tend to get bored halfway through her novels. Her characters in On Beauty were such stereotypes!

barbarian - feel free
The "Wretched Lives" shelf of Waterstones beckons.

OK, Rowling isn't a terrible writer then. I'm only basing my opinion on 1.5 books (yes, I gave up halfway through 2) but she is distinctly average. Kids like her. Fair enough, really. What annoys me about her (from a writer's perspective) is not her, but the people who assume that all writers live like this and the "ooooh, going to be the next JKR then?" type comments that ensue if you mention you are working on a children's book.

It's also very irritating when you have to hustle, hassle and prostitute yourself to get people to go and seek out your own books in shops. And the fact that they constantly go on about JKR as if no other books existed.

It's a bit like being a footballer in a decent second-league team and finding every social event dominated by discussion of David Beckham, and that people - even your friends - are queueing up to see his games when they won't come and see yours - it's not that you begrudge a talented/lucky person their success, just that you wish a bit of it could be spread around.