When reading a book, what aspect of it is most important to you?

Question

As in, do you find character development the most important? The plot? A feel to the novel you can't explain? What are some things you generally like? What are things you dislike? I'd just like a general feel for people's feelings regarding their reading experience, and any contribution would be appreciated.

Answer 1

They say you can tell a good book by the first page. Maybe we all suffer attention deficit syndrome. I like a book to hold me. A not putdownable book. The plot is the most important thing and the characters take their places within it. I hate a book where you have to have a dictionary beside you where the author is trying to hard.

Answer 2

Initially, if I'm browsing the book shelves of the bookstore, I do have a tendency to judge books by their covers. You have to admit, you can tell a lot by how the publisher has decided to present the book.
The first page must draw me in. Writing style is everything for me. I need well written sentences that flow. If I'm not interested by the end of the first page, the chances are that it may not be for me.
Plot is important, as well. A well written, well thought out plot is the difference between finishing the book or putting it back on the shelf at page 183.

Answer 3

I'm a sucker for good characters.
John Irving is my favorite writer, and his are wonderful.
Good characters are the only reason I'm still willing to read Steven King...they're so human, so real....IMO he kind of lost the ability to tie his plots together in the end around "It" or so. The buildup is great, but the explanation that's supposed to tie it all together at the end is weak. That's common in the horror genre.
Dean Koontz, on the other hand, writes great plots with the most cliche, cardboard, insipid characters.
I've decided that he should write outlines and SK should flesh them out, that would be great.
Now if only I could get Irving to be as prolific as Stephen King, that'd be great.

I'm currently reading the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman, which have both great plotting and characters. they're wonderful.

Answer 4

The setting is the most important thing to me. If a book takes place somewhere that I enjoy, it makes reading the book so much better. But if the characters and plot are not interesting, chances are the book falls apart, setting or no.

Answer 5

The plot needs to be exciting and I have to care about the character. If the character is not interesting then it is hard to keep reading the book because if I don't care for the character then I'm not interested in what happens to them.

Answer 6

I'd have to say that when I really like a book it's usually because I like the characters in that book. My favorite author is Tom Robbins and I love his characters. They are interesting and have these amazing lives. The other thing I like about his books is he is always posing a philosophical question through his stories. They make you take a look at your own beliefs and views.

Answer 7

The writer's voice is most critical to me. The plot could be flimsy, the characters one-dimensional, and the conflict non-existent--but so long as the writer's voice and prose are pleasant, I'm willing to hang out and see what happens.

J.K. Rowling and Terry Pratchett are both stellar examples of writers with excellent voices. Both writers take their time with their intricate plots, but I don't care. Their worlds are so wonderful I feel privileged to have that much more time to wander around in them.

Answer 8

I am quite impatient. Characters and their relationships that require a lot of figuring out, looses me. Books rely heavily on the written word but does not engage all the senses in the learning process. It has to set the scene and the mood right using only words - I cannot touch, nor see nor feel, nor smell the environment. It better be good!!!

Answer 9

well, i like to know the characters as individuals, and i seem to appreciate them more, if they are presented in the first person. I like to experience the world through their perspective, the view behind their eyes.

the plot needs to be natural. realistic, believable, especially from the perspective of the presenter.

I don't like all sorts of jumping around........or predictable plots.
I hate gratuitous sex........it seems to be just thrown in there, because the author felt it needed a little "something" with an edge. Forget about it. If sex is important to mention in a story, make it believable. All the cutesy speak is rather nauseating.

I don't like it when the author seems to be pontificating -- using his characters to give an obvious political point of view.

I truly appreciate stories that are not predictable, do not seem cookie cutter remakes of something already in print. I hate it when the books I read get schmaltzy - laden down in altruism and wishful thinking.

I want to be interested enough to keep on reading. I want it to hurt when I put the book down, and miss the characters until I return. I want these characters to remain with me until the book is over, and I want to have cause to remember them time & again, as events unfold in everyday life. Is that too much to ask, she wonders knowingly!

((((((ps.......yikes, i just re-read that & the final paragraph sounds like "misery".......not hurt in that sense, perhaps it is better said like this......i want to have cause to remember this book.))))))))

Answer 10

When i am reading a book i most want it to flow...(i am horrible with words so you are going to have to forgive me) When i read i want to be sucked into the book i don't want to feel what the characters feel...but there's more to it..i want a little mystery i don't want everything laid out on a platter for me...i want to work for it. I want to be surprised by the book but not overly shocked...yeah i know i want a lot. I absolutely hate those endings that dont even begin to wrap things up...you knwo the ones that keep your guessing and your dont quiet know (refer to The lady or (and) the tiger.) I also hate the usual and they lived happily ever after. No one lives happily ever after why even go there?