This week we're blogging about reading subsequent books of our favorite authors -- and those books failing to satisfy. I have noticed this trend in some books and also in some television programs that I watch.
Granted that there is a certain point where the story is no longer fresh, where half of the town has been killed off or every character in there has been conflicted up to their eyebrows and you just can't take it anymore. Or when the story takes on a life of its on (I'm thinking X-files) and you don't want to go there.
Sometimes I fall in love so deeply with a character, as I did with Jamie in Outlander that I couldn't take anything else happening to him. I wasn't resilient enough to withstand his conflicts because my heart ached for him. Dumb, I know, but that's how I felt.
I have also read books by famous authors and nearly famous authors that weren't up (to my thinking) to their previous standards. Even so, there are several authors I collect, and even when one of these books is uninspiring, I'll go back and revisit it later and find it wasn't as bad as I thought. It just wasn't outstanding.
Sometimes we just get done with characters. I know I got tired of the Waltons long before it ended. And Highway to Heaven. Those were great shows, with great writers and great acting, but they just didn't hold my attention any longer. I wanted something fresh and new.
I guess that means I have a short attention span. And since we have a plethora of new shows every year and lots of new authors, the market seems to agree with me. But what does it say about our society that we're so easily jaded?
It certainly makes me wonder about where we're headed.
Keep on reading!
Maggie Toussaint
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