typically-me
typically-me t1_jdfn45g wrote
Reply to Appreciating the Hunger Games by Friesandmayo2665
Hunger Games gets lumped in with all the other (mostly lacking in substance) dystopian novels that came out during that era, but what what people forget is that Hunger Games is really what kicked off that whole craze because it was actually pretty good. There’s this interesting phenomenon where when something is good enough it will kick off a bunch of bad to mediocre copycats until everyone is sick of that thing and decides that it’s a tired cliche. And with Hunger Games I think the copycats came out so quickly and got enough traction that people forget or don’t realize that Hunger Games was actually the original.
Currently I’m noticing this with the whole “humanizing the villain” trope. It was cool for a while, but now it’s tired and everyone wants to have a villain who’s just an actual bad guy again.
typically-me t1_itn2puh wrote
Reply to comment by Lae_Zel in Do you guys count DNF’d books as read? by omahyv
Huh, guess I stand corrected then
typically-me t1_itn1i1g wrote
Reply to Do you guys count DNF’d books as read? by omahyv
No, not really, but I’m not sure what you would be “counting” them for anyway. Unless you happen to be like under 10 years old, it’s not like you’re going to have a book quota or get some prize for each book you read. But I would expect if someone tells me that they have read a book then I would expect to be able to talk freely with them about any part of the book.
typically-me t1_jdfpx6c wrote
Reply to comment by lucyjayne in Appreciating the Hunger Games by Friesandmayo2665
I think you can see the flaws in something and still appreciate it. With Hunger Games it’s simple writing (but for YA so that’s kind of understandable) and Katniss is a bit too conveniently good at everything and has the whole “not like other girls” thing going on which is very out of vogue nowadays. But it does have some interesting themes and does a good job of subverting certain tropes in a way that is interesting and actually has something to say.
Eragon doesn’t have a whole lot of depth to it and is largely Star Wars in a high fantasy setting (like I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually started out as a fanfic with that premise), but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. I can’t really speak for Ready Player One since I’ve only seen the movie, but I’m guessing it’s kind of similar in that way. And ultimately one could argue that being entertained is largely the purpose of reading.