Comments on: The First Five Pages…

By: Edie Ramer

Edie Ramer — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 01:43:44 +0000

The five page rule works for me too. I’ve been stung by too many books with great descriptions and covers, only to discover the writing isn’t good enough. If the author is new to me, i always read the first few pages before buying.

By: Angelle Trieste

Angelle Trieste — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:51:20 +0000

If it’s really well written (as in interesting voice and/or prose and/or style, etc.) I’ll manage dull slow opening pages. Otherwise, no. I’m too busy to waste my time on books I won’t enjoy reading since I rarely do w/ those I found lacking in the beginning.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 15:25:00 +0000

There are books that I didn’t like immediately and I forced myself to continue, to give them a chance. Sometimes it was worth the effort; sometimes I put the book down after 10 pages. I’ve put books down in 2 pages, when there were enough clunky sentences and/or editorial errors to turn me off.

I’m judging entries for a writing competition now. 25 pages each. Believe me, you can definitely tell whether a story has something going on in the 1st five pages. These are only 25 and I’ve had to make myself continue on at least one of the entries. Another switched POV so many times in the first 3 pages, I got a headache. Too bad because the plot had potential.

So as a writer, my judging experience makes me think a lot harder about those first few pages.

By: Gennita Low

Gennita Low — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 14:08:38 +0000

I’m bad. I rarely start with the first five pages. I’ve been known to start from the last five pages and work myself backwards. And then restart from the beginning afterwards because, obviously, I liked the book A LOT to read it backwards like!

The hardest book I’ve ever started that I stuck with is Leon Uris’ Trinity. Trust me. Best book evah. Kick ass heroine to the max. Broodiest hero. I’ve read that book backwards and forward many times, but those first fifty pages were killer.

And oh. Don’t. Read. The. Sequel. I warned you here first.

By: Eileen

Eileen — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 04:09:26 +0000

Timing is everything for me when I read. I’ve picked up some books and put them down because I couldn’t seem to get into them, picked them up at another time and loved them. No matter what, fair or not, readers decide quickly if they’ll stick with it. Grab em early and don’t let go.

By: Anita

Anita — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 02:48:43 +0000

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon didn’t grab me for about 100 pages. Hyperion by Dan Simmons took a while to get into also, and I probably reread the first chapter several times before going further.

I doubt I’d have stuck with either if I hadn’t been told that they had a slow start and to stick with them. Now they are two of my favorite books.

By: Latonya

Latonya — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 02:20:55 +0000

People shouldn’t be so quick to judge a book in the first five pages.

By: Laure

Laure — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 02:09:30 +0000

I very rarely give up on books, even if I don’t like them. Heck, I slogged through Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby when I knew within the first page that I was going to hate it. And I did. Every blasted paragraph, but I kept reading and feel a sense of triumph I finished the darn thing.
Since I read a lot of historical fiction as well as romance, I’m not usually bothered by a slow beginning and generally give the book 50 pages to get interesting, then I give up. Leon Uris’s Trinity started off painfully slowly, at an Irish wake in the 1800s, and didn’t pick up for about 75 pages, but when it did, it was the most powerful, emotional read I’d done in a long time. It’s one of my all time favorite reads now. I’ve started the first 20 pages or so of Thomas French’s Year of the French, which has been recommended to me but is hard to follow to begin with. Hopefully it’ll pick up soon.

By: Shelli Stevens

Shelli Stevens — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:18:00 +0000

Nope, I do the first few pages (not even 5!) rule too. I figure, if I’m getting judged by it, I’m doing the same darn thing. Life is short, catch my attention.

By: Lynne Connolly

Lynne Connolly — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:28:52 +0000

One in particular – Dorothy Dunnett’s “The Game of Kings.” I didn’t get it. I just didn’t get it.
But I got to page 150 and couldn’t get enough. I’ve been obsessed by the books ever since.
Worth it because GOK is the first in a six novel sequence, not a series, but a continuing story that has to be read in order.
Worth it because it’s one of the most intense, fulfilling series I have ever read.
Worth it because re-reads just add more and more to the read.