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Nicholas Sparks...
Oy.
Where to begin.
Nicholas seems like a nice guy and all but he aggravates me. He writes romance which I don't like to read. (I love romance, but I want it to just happen to be a part of the story. Make sense?) And yet I read his books. His writing kills me. And yet I keep reading.
Not that I know anything about writing skills. I mean when I attempt to write, I write "really really" a lot, and "soooooo very" and "very very", when describing something or someone.
So who am I, right?
And yet because of that, if I have a problem with the way someone writes, you know it's bad.
Case and point, here is his description of Adrienne Willis in Nights in Rodanthe-
As she answered, Paul found himself evaluating her. Younger by a few years that he was, with light brown hair cut just above her shoulder blades and curled slightly. She wasn't thin, but she wasn't heavy, either; to him, her figure was inviting in a way that defied the unrealistic standards of television or magazines. She had a slight bump on her nose, crow's feet around her eyes, and her skin had reached that soft point in between youth and age, before gravity began to take it's toll.
I mean, come on! Compare that to my all time favorite description, John Steinback's Ma in The Grapes of Wrath or Haven Kimmel's description of an elderly neighbor in A Girl Named Zippy-
I spent every afternoon stalking good works. My first victim was Agnes Johnson who was 164 years old. Her skin, impatient for her to get it over with and die, appeared to be sliding down off her body into a pool around her ankles. She was older than dirt, but feisty.
See the difference? (of course you do!)
And yet I keep coming back for more Nicholas Sparks lame writing.
But it's the story telling that keeps me coming back. The books are lame but the movies (some) are where it's at.
So really, what Mr. Sparks needs to do is quit his day job and become a screen writer.
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Who's going to tell him he's close, but not exactly in the profession he should be in? :)
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5 comments:
He's a hunka-chunka isn't he!
I've never read his books, but I have liked the movies I've seen made from his books. His "decription" was a little over-the-top...yeah...Steinbeck has him beat all hollow in that department.
Nicholas Sparks makes me want to throw up every time I am suckered into reading one of his books OR watching one of his movies..ugh he is horrible. However I did not know he was so darn cute!
Ma- his description was LAME-O. I mean, that's how Zoe would describe someone. "She was wrinkled, not fat not skinny", oh come on!! But yes, hunky-chunky. :)
Sandi- I like (some of) his movies but his books KILL me!!! Ack!!! (even though I am reading one now, hahaha!!)
Oh, how I hear ya'! Give me something with some teeth. Something that doesn't beat me over the head with the obvious, over, and over, and over again. Ugh.
I strongly disliked "The Notebook" movie. Double Ugh!
ha ha I lub this post. I haven't ever read him, but from your examples I see exactly what you mean. I am going to go to the library right now and get A Girl Named Zippy.
It does show me (and this is also what Twilight showed me) that people don't care as much about writing as they do about story. Or maybe it's ROMANCE they care about. The secret is combining a great story, with great writing, and then add a little romance.
No, I take that back. To be a best seller you have to suck at writing but be obsessive compulsive about romance.
OY, indeed.
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