I'm a very slow and casual reader. I'll read about 3 books a year that aren't class related. I used to think it was just the way I was and that it would never change, until I realized that I just wasn't reading the right books. I picked up John Dies at the End in my local bookstore while looking for my college textbooks. I looked at it because the title intrigued me. after sitting in the store reading for half an hour, I decided I HAD to buy this book. I finished the nearly 500 page book in 3 days, a record that is unheard of for me. It would have been even faster if I didn't have classes and a girlfriend to attend to. It was absolutely enthralling. Fair warning though, the book is incredibly vulgar and at some points absolutely disgusting. It is not for the faint of heart. A review on the cover says the author is trying to capture pure lunacy and succeeds with flying colors. I have to agree. It is by far the funniest, scariest, and most disturbing thing I have ever read, and I loved every minute of it. I strongly recommend this book for those who can handle it.
This book is so over-rated. Am I missing something? It's entertaining, yes, of course it is, but I really can't understand why it's always recommended. I went and bought the book because of people recommending it so I had high hopes for it but I was left disappointed. Maybe it's a school thing?
By school thing, do you mean it varies from school to school? Or that only people in school like it? I suppose I just liked it so much because I had never really read anything like it before. It's also been so long since a book or movie has actually scared me, and that alone impressed me about this book. It does seem to be for a very limited crowd though.
what is it about 'being scared' that I am not getting here? why do you need gory and scary to enjoy a book?
I read it online years ago, before it was a book (there's a success story for all you self-publishers). It was okay, I think John Cheese has written better articles though.
Just read a brief synopsis on wiki and I gotta say I'm interested. Overrated or not, it does seem like the kind of guilty pleasure I'd enjoy! I completely understand your reading pace, mine is incredibly frenetic. Sometimes I'll read a chapter or even a few pages then put the book down, sometimes it'll consume the lion's share of my afternoon! Always great when you get that book you can't put down though
It's not that I need to be scared and I certainly don't NEED gory (I can't stand the use of gore for no reason other than spectacle), I was simply surprised that it did scare me. I was expecting it to be just a comical book, but it was genuinely frightening on a psychological level. Yes, there was gore in it, but that isn't what scared me or drew my attention, it was the spiritual ideas presented in the book that truly spooked me. But to answer your question, I really don't need scary to enjoy a book. I love many non-horror alike. This one in particular was just...different.
I have to agree, it's a very unusual but interesting book, and not something I'd normally read either it just got me hooked though.
