Jess’s Comments (group member since Sep 27, 2018)

Jess’s comments from the Public Domain Readers group.

I've made it to the halfway point of War and Peace a long read for sure but I've never read anything like it!

Lanelle wrote: "Jess wrote: "Why is it that early genre fiction is written in such a weird and detached style?"

That's a very good observation, Jess. I wonder if we are so used to the current style of "show, don'..."

I wouldn't say it's hard to get through as it's short and fast paced. Just that the style was odd. You're right in that we've just got used to a different style of writing.

For example, in The Phantom of the Opera a character was randomly introduced 2/3rds through the book and the book is switched to his perspective. He was clearly just introduced to provide exposition and it is the sort of thing that a decent writer would never get away with nowadays as readers are more savvy to writing conventions.

I think serialisation in the 19th and early 20th century also affects these books as they're supposed to be read in small bursts. I can't help thinking of a TV show when reading this book there's been cliffhangers, 'filler episodes', flashbacks and even a jump scare! It's all very amusing but not what I would call a good book.

Oops sorry for jumping in without introducing myself! I've got a lot of public domain books on my Kindle so I'm hoping to tick a few off!

I'm going to read Dracula it will be my second go at reading early horror as I'm currently reading The Phantom of the Opera and not enjoying it.

Why is it that early genre fiction is written in such a weird and detached style? I found the same with A Princess of Mars.