NationStates Jolt Archive

:cry: And I feel a little ripped off. I went and bought the book "Jennifer Government" which was $22 (admittedly I bought it at an airport so I guess I deserve that.)

But the book is not really big enough to be a book, they have cleverly formatted the text to make it fit into a normal novel sized book, but it is really a short story, or maybe a treatment for a movie script. The story is OK (yes it is the kind of genre that I normally like) but a little predictable and a little weak. It will probably translate quite well to a movie script, and will probably not even require much trimming down.

Max is obviously a clever guy, and has some talent, but he needs to develop the plot a bit more, add a bit more complexity, and a few twists, and give us some value for our reading dollar. I read the thing in about two evenings, and for $22 I would like to get a least a weeks worth of

But the book is not really big enough to be a book, they have cleverly formatted the text to make it fit into a normal novel sized book, but it is really a short story, or maybe a treatment for a movie script.

Yeah, it's fine for a book, and the story is book-size based on word count alone. Most novels of this genre are easily made into movies, because the genre itself allows for it.

Max is obviously a clever guy, and has some talent, but he needs to develop the plot a bit more, add a bit more complexity, and a few twists, and give us some value for our reading dollar.

Right. It wasn't complex enough for you? Were you reading the right book? With the amount of inter-personal relationships developing throughout the book, you're saying that's not enough for you?

I read the thing in about two evenings, and for $22 I would like to get a least a weeks worth of

I read the book in a day, because I couldn't put it down. Are you saying the same thing here?

I loved Jennifer Government. I finished it in a day while I was flying from Iowa to Washington D.C.! And, like Tuesday Heights said, it was complex and interesting. And besides, I wouldn't expect anything less than a days read for $22. But the book is excellent! You might not consider it a novel, but to me, it was more of a novel than most novels! And I've read a lot of novels! 8) :wink:

Quility, not quantity my friends :wink: .

"Right. It wasn't complex enough for you? Were you reading the right book? With the amount of inter-personal relationships developing throughout the book, you're saying that's not enough for you? "


Soap operas have a large amount of inter-personal relationships developing throughout, that makes following them complex, but they aren't deep. I think that's what Fark-U was saying. Jennifer Government personally reminded me of the 60s movie version of Dr. Zhivago, with the plot being very interesting, but poorly portrayed and with poorly developed characters (as in you cannot understand their emotions and the reasons to their reactions to events)

Well, I'd have to disagree with you and you're right, to pay airport charges for JG...very stupid indeed! :D

Heh... you really judge a book by how long it takes you to read? Come on, Crime and Punishment took me months to read but it was terrible. I'm with Tuesday, I received the book in the mail in the morning and was on the last few pages when I had to leave to go out in the evening.

Anyway, I thought it was fairly complex, well developed, with some deep concepts and a very very fast plot. All, to me, very excellent things.

Well we are all entitled to our opinions, I have mine and you have yours and that is OK. I do a lot of reading; personally I have a book collection that stretches to several thousand, so I feel I am reasonably qualified to make some judgments, or at least comparisons.

I am not saying I didn't like the book, I did, but in general I found it unchallenging, and not particularly complex. The interpersonal relationships were also very shallow. I very much disagree that there was any complexity of characters at all.

And yes I do judge a book like this on the volume of entertainment I get from it, lets face it, I might be satisfied with a 5 page book of deep thoughts and philosophy, but this book was purely entertainment, and the more you get for your money the better.

If you are interested in excellent examples of this broad genre, try authors like Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and even Ben Elton (although Ben tends to the underdone as well). And for truly exceptional then try Bliss by Peter Carey, this is a different setting, but Carey is a Master at the social commentary, and the subject matter is not dissimilar in a way, and the complexity of character and story telling ability is sublime. An altogether more subtle and yet far more powerful work.

Max has talent, and I can see him producing some very good work in the future, but he has a bit of development and writing maturity to go yet.

And really, it's quite a challenge to find intellectual science fiction. Maybe that's unfair, but I've done my fair share of reading, and imho, the plots are very similar. I'd rather just read a 5 page outline of the technological and cultural ideas the author has then force my way through a pile of meaningless attempts to make the book seem "literary".

I agree with Fark-u's recommendations, except Terry Pratchett, who I haven't read. If you want to venture out a bit into the world of excellent literature with a dose of sci-fi, try some of Kurt Vonnegut's books. They have a lot on social commentary, are incredibly odd, but actually have a kind of intellectual touch without being stereotypical. Pure genius. Slaughterhouse 5 is pretty good, but I liked God bless you, Mr. Rosewater better.

Also, if you don't feel like reading something thattttttt deep, Orson Scott Card writes some good Sci-Fi, but I wouldn't quite call for it to be on the best books of the century list. Pretty good plot, pretty good characterization, emphasis on pretty good.

Quility, not quantity my friends :wink: .

Indeed. Gotta have that "quility".

Quility, not quantity my friends :wink: .

Indeed. Gotta have that "quility".

you're evil to the poor newbs :P

Quility, not quantity my friends :wink: .

Indeed. Gotta have that "quility".

you're evil to the poor newbs :P

But it's funny! :lol: