Your Most Hated Genre?

[Stacy]

Hi All,

What's a genre you simply cannot stand and hate to read and definitely wouldn't wanna write? One you might not like when it comes to movies and television as well.

For me it's Sci-fi and Fantasy. I've always hated anything Sci-fi whether it was a book, television show or movie. I just don't like Sci-fi or fantasy. There are some movie exceptions but I've never liked any of the Sci-fi or Fantasy books I've read.

Just not my thing. I hate things that deal with outer space, aliens, flying creatures, LOL. I love mythology though and things dealing with the Gods but that's as close to fantasy I can get. Anyway, what's your most hated genre?

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Robin Spano]

I agree with Garry - I get scared easily, so Stephen King and Dean Koontz are not for me. I'm petrified to read Chelsea Cain or that new one, Chevy Stevens - though both look like great writers, and I'll probably at least crack their covers one day. Later. When I'm brave.

[Ed Harrison]

Hate is a strong word. I can't say that I really hate any genre, but I can't read much fantasy. If it's got dragons in it I'm probably not going to be able to read it. I couldn't even make through more than half of Lord of the Rings. I know its well done and a lot of people liked it and the one ring to rule them all was maybe supposed to be nuclear warfare or something but I just couldn't hang with it. Give the rings to your dragons....

[EDWARD C MORGAN]

There is not a specific genre I hate, but I do get discouraged by anything too formulaic.

[JackBludis]

It's all formula. We just have to peel back the layers. Even our own work is formula. Often we don't know that until somewhere along the way in the project, sometimes not until the end, or even days or weeks later.

Ah, but your key word was "TOO" applied to formula--but what I said in the first paragraph still applies.

[Chris Rhatigan]

I love Sci-fi. Philip K. Dick, Arthur Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Huxley, the list goes on.

For me, I think the vast majority of recent "literary fiction" sucks. John Updike and Joyce Carol Oates bore the hell out of me.

[Albert Tucher]

Interesting. Tastes are obviously very individual, but Updike is one of the few literary authors I can tolerate. In fact, present-tense narration usually makes me run screaming away, but it seemed to enhance the Rabbit books.

[I. J. Parker]

Hmm, at the risk of bashing again . . . isn't Updike the one everyone made fun of because of his really bad sex scenes? Sorry, not my verdict. I haven't read Updike. :)

[Caroline Trippe]

I read some of his short stories, years ago. Seem to remember liking them. However, I have not read the Rabbit novels. For novels of suburban anomie, nothing quite matches Sinclair Lewis' s "Babbit." Funny, that. Babbit, then Rabbit. Think it's a coincidence?

Oh, I guess I did bash Joyce Carol Oates. Not really, I hope. Actually I have read quite a few of her novels---and short stories. I always thought I would get to like her, as she deals with very important and powerful themes, but somehow she never became one of my favorites. Style was less important to her than content.
One of her best, though, was a novella called "Cybele." About one man's descent into the erotic underworld---her use of mythology in that one, making it contemporary, is brilliant. Unforgettable, and powerful. And poetic as well.

[Albert Tucher]

It's news to me that his sex scenes are supposed to be bad. I have found them very effective devices for moving the plot and revealing character.

[Caroline Trippe]

Joyce Carol Oates bore the hell out of me.

You're not the only one. And believe me, I've tried. She is alas, IMHO, a fairly pedestrian stylist.
But there are a few truly fine literary talents out there. Cormac McCarthy isn't easy....but he is not boring. He can write lean, economical prose--or blow-you-out-of-water with the lyricism of his language.

[Miriam Pia]

Wow, I am the complete opposite. I love SF & F; they were the lifeblood of my mind throughout childhood and I still love them dearly!

Horror, I would hate to write, followed by technical manuals for computer technologies that I barely fathom and dislike. After that, probably masectomy manuals...followed by textbooks or pamphlets about how to handle human corpses for funeral homes....Actually, if they paid me well enough...Maybe torture manuals? That would be hellish to write...Or nonfiction books based on findings by psychiatrists handling horrific cases of abuse. That would be really disturbing.

Just about everything else is yes, but corporate finance is not my favorite subject to write about.

[JackBludis]

It's hard to "hate" what you don't know. I can't get into vampires, but I can't say that I hate them. Romance, has never done anything for me although I have written it and sold it under pen names.

But hate? Nah, all writers and readers deserve their niches.