Book/Reading Pet Peeves

[Ezio]

For those bookworms like myself, what things irritate/drive you crazy in books? It could be plot elements, punctuation, font/type setting, etc. These are just your opinions, not set in stone.

For me:
1. "Mary Sue/Gary Stu" Characters: These are the protagonists who are absoluty perfect in every way concievable. They are the most attractive, best spoken, and able to do anything they put their mind to.

2. Characters With Hard to Pronounce Names: You'll find these alot in SciFi, Fantasy and Historical Fiction. I understand that names in other langueges are different and I love foreign sounding names in songs/movies, but having to read that hard to pronounce name over and over tends to slow me down.

3. Glaring Anachronism's in Historical Fiction: You don't need to be accuret down to what type of stiches where used in 6th century Napal, but please don't put potatoes in stews during the Crusades or the Borgia's enjoing chocolate bon bons in 15th century Italy. Anyone using the word "Cool" to describe someting other then the temperature prior to 1900.

4. Too Much Romance in a Non Romance Book: I understand that people fall in love, but too much lovey dovey destroyes a book to me. Kissing, sex, etc. I'm fine with. But please, for the love of all that is holy, don't go all Soap Opera.

5. Detail OD: I do not need a paragraph about a couch cushion nor a three page essay on the forest you're walking through.

[ArcticChicken]

2. Characters With Hard to Pronounce Names

I don't mind if they're real names, but I usually put a book down if I open it and find out people have dumb fantasy names, because in general the writing is as terrible as the naming. (FTR, dumb fantasy names doesn't just mean made up names, it means names made up for no reason that are difficult to pronounce and/or don't make any internal linguistic sense. So the names in, say, The Way of Kings don't fall into that category because they're easy to pronounce and sound like they all came from the same language.)

In a similar vein, I hate it when authors use many words in another language (than the book is written in) and don't provide any kind of pronunciation guide. Whether it's Beltugese or Welsh, I'd like some idea how to pronounce the words I'm reading.

3. Glaring Anachronism's in Historical Fiction.

Interestingly enough, most historical fiction includes one big anachronism. Skepticism is a relatively recent mindset, and it just wasn't normal in, say, 1600's France to discount the idea of supernatural forces. But in most modern historical fiction at least the main character has a rather modern view of the supernatural.


One entirely my own is I hate bad foreshadowing. Stuff that does things like change the genre of the book somewhere in the middle. The specific example I'm thinking of is in I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells. SPOILERS: (highlight to read) Up until the end it appears to be a work of young adult fiction set in an entirely modern world, then, suddenly, demons. I would have no problem with this if there were any hint of the supernatural before this point, but it just comes out of the blue.

[ArcticChicken]

But then I've also been known to loudly criticize the costuming, armour, and fighting in movies set in historical times.

I've gotten to the point in my education that any networking stuff drives me nuts in movies. It's a problem because I nearly started yelling at Skyfall. In the theater.

[Eireann]

Overall, I hate historical fiction. You have fictional characters interacting with real historical figures, and I can't stand that. The only exception I can think of, offhand, is Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell. Another problem I have with historical fiction is that the characters, all of them, behave like modern people. Caleb Carr is particular bad in this respect. His books are train wrecks in print.

[Andara Bledin]

The Mary Sue/Marty Stu thing is really annoying. The whole point of a story is conflict and resolution, and if a character is overpowered, it's just boring.

Hard-to-pronounce names are also in there. If I can't easily pronounce a name, even in my head, I come to a screeching halt every time I see it. It's annoying and pulls me out of my suspension of disbelief.

Pointless exposition, which I guess can go in as a subset of detail overdose. Zelazny got into this with his Amber series, with the pages upon pages of walking through Shadow that were great for padding his word count, but didn't really add anything at all to the stories. I seem to recall skipping entire pages just to get back to the action.

^-.-^

[Kal]

Several for me too.
First one's invented names for standard items to make it more "fantasy". If someone has a sword then call it a sword, don't make up a name with three apostrophes in it then describe it at length.
Historical fiction involving magic. Seriously now, I've read quite a few books set in ancient Rome that involve druids/healers actually performing magic. It's either historical fiction or fantasy; I know there's not a full historical record but I think someone would have noticed magic.
I think the worst though is dull characters using nothing but "said". Doesn't matter if it's "said angrily" or "said quietly", it's still "said".

[Dave1982]

One that tends to bug me is when the author hasn't done their homework when it comes to real-world items, places, or concepts that are in the story. Now if it's something minor and inconsequential that's one thing, but when a key plot point revolves around something that is flat wrong it just takes me right out of the story.

[gremcint]

5. Detail OD: I do not need a paragraph about a couch cushion nor a three page essay on the forest you're walking through.

Well then I would not reccomend recent honor harrington books or lord of the rings.

[ArcticChicken]

Historical fiction involving magic. Seriously now, I've read quite a few books set in ancient Rome that involve druids/healers actually performing magic. It's either historical fiction or fantasy; I know there's not a full historical record but I think someone would have noticed magic.

I've found a few of those labelled with the term "Historical Fantasy" which I find to be very fitting.

Though, FTR, there is plenty of magic in the historical record. Maybe not flashy create something out of nothing magic, but people took omens all the time. In the early days of Christianity, it's main competition was a guy who talked to a snake. Like, and actual snake, not a metaphorical one.

I think the worst though is dull characters using nothing but "said". Doesn't matter if it's "said angrily" or "said quietly", it's still "said".

Whereas one of my pet peeves is authors who think they have to use the whole thesaurus. "Said" is a perfectly functional word, and what's more it doesn't intrude into the narrative the way another synonym might. It's not boring because I don't even notice it, I notice what the characters are actually saying and I can tell how they're saying it through contextual clues.

[BroSCFischer]

For myself:

1. Overwrought plot: If it seems that the author is doing everything possible to foreshadow a major plot twist, or the plot is so cliche as to be entirely predictable from any point earlier than ~3/4 through the novel.

2. Overhyped publicity: There is nothing that turns me off to a book faster than it being the most advertised thing ever. If there is a media frenzy behind it, I have already become annoyed by it. Thus, I have never read anything Harry Potter or Twilight.

3. The "I wrote myself into a corner, and now have to find something totally implausible to get myself out of it" manuever.

4. Uninteresting writing: This is the most subjective. I still cannot read "The Red Badge of Courage" or "Jane Eyre" because nothing in either story caught my interest. I can get bored with a novel rather easily, but I can also get drawn in, too.

SC

[Gizmo]

As a history major I tend to RAGE But then I've also been known to loudly criticize the costuming, armour, and fighting in movies set in historical times. I'm a bit of a weenie at time

My friend said she almost stopped watching Merlin because when they change filming locations they change the horses and had them both riding completely different breeds and colours in shots that were supposed to lead straight on from one another.

[firecat88]

Probably my biggest turn-off bookwise is when books are overly repetitive. For example, if it's one sad/bad/depressing instance after another. It was for this reason that I never finished The Jungle when we read it in my Legal Environment of Business class. I do get that, with that particular book, it was supposed to show how horrible life was back then for immigrants, but...seriously. I've read other books set in that era with very similar situations that were able to mix it up enough that it wasn't *just* page after page of "And then this person died/was horribly maimed/got sick/was arrested/whatever".

Pillars of the Earth was the same way, except that, when people weren't dying/killing each other, they were going at it like jackrabbits in heat.

[Gizmo]

Well then I would not reccomend recent honor harrington books or lord of the rings.

Yeah, I've read the entire Katharine Kerr (15 books) series through about 2-3 times a year for the past 5 years... and I can't get through LOTR or Gormanghast because of this issue (3 pages of location descriptions).

Mind I almost fell asleep at the cinema during LOTRs. Far too long.

[Andara Bledin]

2. Overhyped publicity: There is nothing that turns me off to a book faster than it being the most advertised thing ever. If there is a media frenzy behind it, I have already become annoyed by it. Thus, I have never read anything Harry Potter or Twilight.

As much as I hate overhype, myself, I am not going to let anyone else decide for me whether or not I read something, whether because they've shoved it in my face for three months solid, or only metaphorically done so.

If I feel like reading something, I will, the hype machine be damned.

As for boring books, that is the reason why I have never read Little Women. I don't know what it is about the writing, but about 15 pages in, I'm ready to take a nap or go do something more exciting like, say, watching grass grow.

^-.-^

[Lace Neil Singer]

Whereas one of my pet peeves is authors who think they have to use the whole thesaurus. "Said" is a perfectly functional word, and what's more it doesn't intrude into the narrative the way another synonym might. It's not boring because I don't even notice it, I notice what the characters are actually saying and I can tell how they're saying it through contextual clues.

Agreed. Allergy to "said" is one of my pet peeves about both books and fanfiction, cuz sometimes a character really is just saying something. No need to regurgitate a thesaurus; don't be afraid of "said".

One of my peeves is a writer who creates a character who's obviously a complete sociopath, but the author means for them to be thought of as a hero or romantic lead.

My friend said she almost stopped watching Merlin because when they change filming locations they change the horses and had them both riding completely different breeds and colours in shots that were supposed to lead straight on from one another.

Frink: "Yes, over here... in Episode BF12, you were battling barbarians while riding a winged Appaloosa, yet in the very next scene, my dear, you're clearly atop a winged Arabian! Please do explain it!
Lucy Lawless: Uh, yeah, well, whenever you notice something like that...a wizard did it.
Frink: Yes, alright, yes, in episode AG04-"
Lucy Lawless: Wizard!