This is a major issue for me as a non-native English speaker (it even happens in my own language, but the effect is not as bad). Why do some authors go out of their way to make their books very convoluted? Like they make it so hard for you to connect the dots from different chapters or even the same chapter. What’s the point? Do some readers actually enjoy this? Or is it the author trying to show off/feel superior? (This is not meant as an insult, just an assumption/opinion?). I’ve read several Stephen King books and they’re mostly easy to understand, but sometimes he’d go on tangents where shit doesn’t make any sense. I just skip all that “filling”, as a I call it. Like who’s whom, and what’s just happened? Where did this come from? And so on. Tried with the Malazan book of the fallen, and holy shit. The beginning of the first book was a major pain to understand, so I stopped and I’ve been reading more English books so I can get better then go back to it. On the other hand, my wife has introduced me to this writer, Freida McFadden. The lady has the most straight forward books I’ve ever read. You read and you understand everything from start to end. I don’t even find myself getting distracted like I do with the books that I have a hard time understanding. Her books are very clear and the English she uses is very simple in terms of vocabulary. Vocabulary… That’s another can of worms that I don’t want to open.
Thanks for reading my rant.
Stephen King was on a lot of cocaine when writing his most famous books. A lot of them have weird stuff or stuff that isn’t all that coherent.
But yeah I mean reading literature in another language really is a whole different experience than just conversing in that language. Many authors bend or break conventional rules for literary effect, and many languages even have dedicated language constructs and idioms for literary writing. I’d even go so far to say that being able to effectively read literature in a language is a step beyond fluency and reflects a deep understanding of the language.
Well, that makes a lot of sense now. Lol
King does go on some tangents that seem to make no sense sometimes. So that all makes sense now. Also, thank you for the encouragement. I love reading would be understatement on how I feel towards reading. I’ve been reading since I was about 12, and I’m talking big books, be it fiction or nonfiction. It’s something that has been with me my whole life and I don’t think I’ll ever completely stop. I read books back home when we didn’t have power in our house and my only entertainment was practice calligraphy and reading books. It’s like a part of my person, if that makes sense.