This is my first blog of the season so I am warming up to it...first thing came to mind is all of the books I have been reading lately. But rather than do a year end review of the books that I have read this year (I think I will clock out at ~22), I thought it might be interesting to discuss what makes a good book good?
I think about this question every single time I read a
book. Particularly if I do not like the
ending of a book. I feel like anybody can write a great set up but only a
skilled author can deliver the wrap up. So, if I have stuck with you for 300 –
400 pages, then I want my return on investment.
I may have enjoyed your story all along, but if you don’t stick the
landing, then I don’t like your book.
Another deciding element for me is if I care about at least
one character. Certainly, it helps if that one character is the protagonist,
but preferably not an anti-hero type. Just for fun, I googled examples of
anti-heroes and the webiverse offered up two television characters: Walter
White of Breaking Bad and Tony Soprano of The Sopranos. Given that I thoroughly
enjoyed Walter’s and Tony’s stories, I now had to ask myself what my problem is
with anti-heroes and why those two guys are the exception.
I think I generally don’t like anti-heroes because many of
them are not redeemable or even nice.
And it seems like many of my fellow book club members agree with me on
that. Predictably, when we talk about a
book, if somebody doesn’t like it, it is most often because they did not care
about any of the characters. But I do like Walter and Tony. I think Tony, even though he is a monster,
squeaks by in that he sees a therapist so in my mind he is a monster who is
trying – and maybe even repenting. Whereas Walter devolves into a monster but
he is fighting cancer so somehow that gives him a pass.
To recap, bad endings and unsympathetic characters make a
book bad. Conversely, what makes a good book good is good endings and
sympathetic characters. Taking this further, what makes a good book great (for
me) is putting it in a setting that I had no prior knowledge of: Japanese deep
sea diving women, the Russian revolution, volunteer nurses during WWII, orphans
being sold to families instead of being adopted. This type of book changes me a little as a
person. And it sticks with me. That’s
what makes a great book for me.
Thanks for reading!
Eve
