Explanation - invariably I will read a fantastic book, beautifully written with a sweeping or moving story that is profoundly impactful…and some amateur reviewer will have written, “That book is so boring! Blah, blah, blah, nothing exciting ever happens!” 🙄
When I read these, I often pause to try to imagine what sort of book those reviewers WOULD like, lol. No doubt its probably an elitist, pompous exercise…but its fun imagining for a moment a book filled with non-stop, over the top action, gory or imaginative deaths by the dozens, torrid romantic liasons, CIA and KGB and SS agents around every corner, etc. Ive been tempted to write that book, tongue in cheek, just so those reviewers would have something to be happy about.
Then I thought…maybe someone has already done this? Intentionally written a book so egregiously over-the-top that even those action-aholics might be tempted to say, “too fast, and too much excitement…” in their reviews?
I think I get that with John Grisham. First novels I read of him were like, “what if an idealistic young lawyer tries to help poor people?” or “what if a kid witnessed a murder haha”. Then I read a recent book and it was like “ok this guy rapes a girl and a black kid gets blamed and goes to prison 9 years on death row and and a whole BML movement happens and the rapist gets a brain tumor and decides to confess and the community doesn’t care and the black kid dies and the cancer rapist flees and suddenly the pastor of the cancer rapist is who we follow now?”
Ha, ive noticed that as well! Sort of gave up on Grisham over a decade ago.