Quote #54 – Mark Twain

03 Dec 2012

Quote #54 – Mark Twain

“The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible.”
–Mark Twain

(Certainly BAD fiction makes me feel just that way.)

Posted in Humor, Quotes and tagged Fiction, good fiction, Humor, Mark Twain, quotes

6 thoughts on “Quote #54 – Mark Twain”

idiotprufs on December 3, 2012 at 10:50 pm said:

I feel the same way about most reality television.

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Marcia on December 3, 2012 at 11:01 pm said:

Me, too. I usually read at night, instead of watching tv, with very few exceptions. Right now, there’s not a single show running I want to see, so thank goodness for a full To Be Read basket! Thanks for commenting, IP.

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sheridegrom - From the literary and legislative trenches. on December 4, 2012 at 2:19 am said:

I give a novel 50 pages to capture me. If I’m not caught by then – the book goes in the donation pile and I’m on my way to the next read. There’s not enough time to give it up in order to read bad books.

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- Marcia on December 4, 2012 at 9:04 am said:
  
  You’re better than I, Sheri…I can often tell from the way the first page is written whether or not I’m going to like the author’s writing style enough to keep going, and for me, the WAY the story is told is so much more important than what the story is about. If I read past the first chapter and still don’t finish, then I probably don’t like the characters very much, and begin to agree with Mark Twain. I definitely agree there is not enough Reading Time left for me to waste it on books that aren’t working for me. Nice to “see” you here this morning!
  
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sharechair on December 4, 2012 at 7:21 am said:

That’s why I love the samples that Kindle offers. If I’m not grabbed by the sample, I don’t buy the book.

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- Marcia on December 4, 2012 at 9:07 am said:
  
  It’s a handy feature, all right. I sometimes use it for authors I’m not sure of, but often, I just open the first pages of the book on amazon, and do the same thing there. I have so many authors that I love, though, that I will usually give them a chance on something new even without a preview. But the Kindle offers so many great opportunities, especially if its not a book I feel I NEEEEEEED to have in my physical library. Happy Tewe’s Day, SC!
  
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