What are your literary "pet peeves"?
The things that drive me bat-s***-crazy in the literary world are pretty similar to the "nails-on-a-chalkboard" incidents that irk me in real life. I'm a character-driven reader ~ I feel that the characters are what make the story and everything else just trickles down from them. So when a character is shallow, lazy, helpless, and just plain stupid, I get a little irritable. (People are the only things that bug me in real life, so I guess it makes sense that characters are the source of my annoyance in the literary world).
One example that comes to mind, probably because it's the most recent book I completed (yay! I finally finished it!), is Clary from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. I love the series, but Clary.. she's just.. well.. annoying. She always wants to be in the middle of the Shadowhunter "fights," but when they find themselves in the thick of it, she freezes, screams, and waits ever-so-patiently as a ten foot demon is fatally creeping towards her to be saved by someone else who already has their hands, clothes, and hair full of gooey monster ichor. She doesn't think about the situation at hand, and only worries about what she's feeling, about getting gratification or resolution for her worries, when really, a little patience would go a long way and not ruin everyone's careful plans. Sorry, I ramble. But her helplessness and idiocy just made me so furious!
So to make a too-long story short, characters are usually the biggest source of my literary "pet peeves." I don't mind if they make mistakes - in fact it's the faults that make the story interesting - I just want them to learn from those mistakes and realize it's probably in their best interest not to repeat them ~ although many seem to create patterns, which just rakes my nerves.
Happy Reading Everyone :)
~ Keely ~
One example that comes to mind, probably because it's the most recent book I completed (yay! I finally finished it!), is Clary from Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. I love the series, but Clary.. she's just.. well.. annoying. She always wants to be in the middle of the Shadowhunter "fights," but when they find themselves in the thick of it, she freezes, screams, and waits ever-so-patiently as a ten foot demon is fatally creeping towards her to be saved by someone else who already has their hands, clothes, and hair full of gooey monster ichor. She doesn't think about the situation at hand, and only worries about what she's feeling, about getting gratification or resolution for her worries, when really, a little patience would go a long way and not ruin everyone's careful plans. Sorry, I ramble. But her helplessness and idiocy just made me so furious!
So to make a too-long story short, characters are usually the biggest source of my literary "pet peeves." I don't mind if they make mistakes - in fact it's the faults that make the story interesting - I just want them to learn from those mistakes and realize it's probably in their best interest not to repeat them ~ although many seem to create patterns, which just rakes my nerves.
Happy Reading Everyone :)
~ Keely ~
