Hyped Up or Hyped Out?
Hype. It’s enough to ruin a girl’s reading career. Here’s the story. I’m in a book club called Book Babes (aptly named since the group consists of seven 30- and 40- somethings who are, quite literally, babes). Right now I am really struggling with our current selection. I think it’s a book that you either love or hate. There isn’t much in between.
It’s called The Shack. Have you heard of it? Apparently, it has been well-received and talked up by some people who have a platform (Wynona Judd, for one, whose blurb graces the back cover), and rumor has it that it may be made into a movie.
I have to force myself to read this book. In fact, I find myself coming up with excuses NOT to read it. Like cleaning the kitchen or doing the neighbor’s laundry or scrubbing the shower with bleach. I’m not even kidding. I…just…don’t…like…it. And I wish I did. It’s about a man and his faith journey. He lost his daughter to violence and has struggled with the idea of God ever since. As a person who seeks understanding and inspiration, I was totally excited to read this story and embrace this book and the hero’s journey.
Imagine my dismay when I couldn’t embrace the book and I didn’t care for the hero. Even though the topic of the book could be taken to serious depths, the book and hero, to me, are hollow. It’s not the hero’s fault since he is fictional, after all, but it so clearly demonstrates the importance of creating a complex and layered character. This is something we’ve talked about at Chasing Heroes before, and I’m sure we’ll discuss it again. Heroes (and characters in general) HAVE TO BE COMPLEX AND LAYERED! THEY HAVE TO HAVE DEPTH!! And it’s up to the author to give it to him.
It’s the old showing, not telling thing. Don’t say: ‘His thoughts were jumbled and confused’. Show it! Make me care about the hero and his jumbled and confused thoughts. Isn’t it better to say: “His jumbled thoughts spun through him like a tornado.” It’s not much of a change, but creates a launch pad for further exploration of the man’s jumbled thoughts.
Hype. Beware, because when a book doesn’t live up to the buildup it has received, it can be a real disappointment for the reader. And not just for the book, but for the hero.
Question of the Day:
Have any books received hype that it just didn’t live up to in your opinion? And do you finish reading something that you’re just not that into?
March 24th, 2008
Misa 
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March 24th, 2008 at 9:25 am
A book has to grab me in the first chapter, or it will end up the donate bag. Like you I’m constantly searching for a book that I can relate too, follows my ideals and I fall in love with the characters page one. I’m also trying to write a book like that. When one comes alone and its surrounded by hype, and by the second chapter, I’m ready to toss it across the room, its disappointing. The publishing world is a harsh place, and its difficult to cross those boundries. But yet many do, and I wonder how, since I hated their story, the characters were distastful, and I couldn’t force myself to read it if my life depended on it. I’ve heard read the first one hundred pages, before deciding on the book. Not for me, its got to be a fast and furious love, or its off to donation, no matter the hype.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Are we allowed to name titles and authors? I read the series for a while because I liked other characters, but I could never work up any enthusiasm for the quasi-hero Richard in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake books. A few years after I gave up the series, I read an article which mentioned the author had based Richard on her then-husband and as her marriage ended, Richard’s character made a downward spiral in the books. I found that interesting, but even before his character went south, I had thought he was flat as a pancake.
As for trying to finish a book that I’m just not into - no, not anymore. There are a lot of great undiscovered authors sitting spine-out on the shelves next to the hyped-up book of the moment. I can take an extra second to pull out an unknown and skim it to see if its something I might enjoy.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I have yet to find a review source that aligns with my taste a significant percentage of the time (”How much crack did you have to smoke to make you think that was good?” is my usual bewildered response when I weaken and succumb to outside recommendations), so I generally assume hype = I won’t like it.
My house will probably be torched while I sleep for this blasphemy, but I wouldn’t have finished Austen if it hadn’t been required reading, and I dropped the class when I found out she was on the schedule again. Since then, I haven’t finished any book that causes me to feel irritated and frustrated and dissatisfied. Reading is supposed to be a pleasure, not a chore.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Bummer that The Shack isn’t very compelling. With all the books out there, we should be rushing to read them–not bleaching the shower! The Devil Wears Prada was a hyped up book that I wasn’t that into. The movie was great though. How often can you say you loved the movie better than the book, huh?
March 24th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I remember my first year going to RWA’s National conference. A friend said she only takes a few books, but I was in book heaven, taking almost any book that was offered. Well, a year later, most of them still sat on my bookshelves, unread. I’d like to think that I’ve now grown smarter and I also have a ‘donation’ bag going at all times. With such limited reading time, I have to be choosy.
BTW, Lee, Denzel looks smokin’ in that photo! Great Hero of the Week choice. =)
March 24th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Great example of a series with hype, W. I haven’t read the Anita Blake series…maybe because I’m afraid to!
March 24th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I have to be in a certain mood for J.A., too, Kerry. I do love Pride and Prejudice, but mostly it’s Colin Firth in the A&E version that I love.
Life is too short for books we don’t love!
March 24th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Oh my gosh, Susan, I so agree! I couldn’t stand the book–didn’t finish it. In fact, like Lee, I only gave it a chapter or two. The movie I did like okay. I just like Meryl Streep, though. Rarely is a movie better than a book, but definitely the case in this instance.