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this is certainly a question of taste
well.
to me all that matters about a novel is the stile of writing (with poems it's the same to me). the story can be crap and I will love the novel as long as the stile is good....
others think vice versa I know
and I just want to know what you think
story or stile?
I see that you are having a little trouble with our crazy English language, it's the other style you want although I have climbed over many a stile on country walks.Quote:
Originally Posted by inbetween
Really your question concerns form and content and, while they are both important, I think many people don't worry too much about the form/ style but are mainly interested in the content/ story.
I think the form/style of a novel is something I check in the first instance and if I don't like it I won't read the story.
It's both for me, I think. I can get exasperated by a good story written in a bad way and I can get exasperated by a bad story, but written well, although then it should be really worse than sh*t. I can have quite a lot if I like the style.
Brian, good point about the 'stile' :D.
yep I know my ortography .. guess I'm more one to talk than to write
just ... you think you first check the style? :)
I don't want to know what you think you do or what you think others do .... I want to know what you DO
tell me I wanna know it :)
Brian... I don't think it's quite so easy. "Content" is really the result of the "Form" and the "Subject" or Narrative. The subject of two works of art can be the same and yet the content differ greatly as a result of the form... of how the artist approaches this subject.
Both, but if one is horrible, it doesn't matter how good the other is. If the story is wonderful and creative and amazing, but the style (or form, whichever term you prefer) is horrible, it doesn't matter; I can't read it. And vice-versa. But, I guess the main things is style when initially starting a book, since it is easier to decide on right away, whereas a story can take a while to get going.
And don't worry about grammar/spelling mistakes. One of this board's quite intelligent posters has atrocious grammar due to English not be his primary language.
For me it IS very simple: style. I wouldn't even put story second, that'd be reserved for characterization; but it's 90% about style.
Obviously it's great when great style and story go together, but I would rather read nonsense from a great writer (see my #2 favorite, Tristram Shandy) than the most exciting story imaginable by Joe Bestseller.
I agree StLukes, but I was trying not to complicate the issue, because the OP seems to be from a non-English speaker.Quote:
Originally Posted by stlukesguild
A good story is of value to propel the reader along. There are many examples of this in all forms of Art, but it is as though you are imagining a story to be difficult.
Tristram Shandy is an anti-novel (not following conventional form) and thus has at it's heart the original derivation of 'novel' as it relates to the concept.
Mezzanine lists in fine detail everything that can occur and be observed on a simple framework of a story.
A good story is really something that takes you in and leads you to turn the page, continue watching after the ad break, return after intermission, until the end.
But a bad story doesn't refer to the setting and the events within it, because a good story can be told anywhere and be set at any time. So it may be a novel about how disgusting cockroaches are, but really it's about whether it's well told and captivating.
Style on the other hand is a reference to how you relate to the story. If the style was about writing backwards then you wouldn't expect people to nominate it for the Booker Prize, though it might win the Pullitzer for Journalism, but most likely it would just be a load of crap if it's too difficult to read or follow so good style is equally important.
I confess I have no idea what that means. I don't understand how style can be about anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by XQZ
I might me german but, please, treat me as if I was british... I'm willng to learnQuote:
Originally Posted by Brian Bean
:)
and besides. my spelling and gramma aren't better in my mother toung when I have a bad day and since I write these things in the evening... really in german it wouldn't be any better:smilewinkgrin:
Well I sympathise because it took me a while to learn German and that is why I realise how difficult English can be for people who are learning it.Quote:
Originally Posted by inbetween
One good thing about your language is that it sounds as it is written, although the case endings are quite difficult for English people to learn. If you decide to stay with this forum you will be able to improve your English but there are differences in spelling between some American and English words even though the pronunciation is the same.
I know...
I've bin learning english for more than a decade now and got an A on the FCE (cambridge thing...)
and if I was to judge which is the more difficould language to learn I'd say german... but my writing is something special... when I'm tired spelling and gramma (rather spelling than gramma but though) get lost... can't help it, it's bin like this since first class and I guess it'll never change (but I rather lose spelling than contend...to lose gramma is not so nice though)
well of course, if you know how all the sounds are written... and there are enough exepitons (sometimes, when I think about it, it seems to me german was the language of exeptions)Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Bean
anyways... there are enough words one can easily mix up... even for a native german speaker (take for instance für and von... and other ocasions where you don't know what to use F or V.... and if I'd take more time I'd find lots and lots of examples like this)