When was the last time you were surprised by a book?

Question

Was it a pleasant surpise or an unpleasant one?

Answer 1

I was very pleasently suprised by Alex Garlands The Beach, which i read a few months ago. it's a terrific book. but i was reluctant to read it as i had been unfortunate to see (at least a few bits of, at least) the diabolical film adaptation before i'd even hear dof the book.

Answer 2

Good question. Every book has some surprises, I would say. That's what keeps you turning the pages. Maybe 'surprise' could be defined as anything that engages your mind with new information, whether it's positive or negative, as you point out.



A really BIG surprise is one that engages first your mind, and then your emotions as well. The last time I was REALLY surprised in a BIG way by a book was probably when I read "What is the What?" by David Eggers, a great American novelist. This book is a non-fiction story that is told in a fiction (novel) format.



What really surprised me was reading about the Lost Boys of the Sudan, about their long journeys to escape the horrors of their homeland. Because of the heat during the day, they were forced to march at night. Once in a while, during these night marches, they would be attacked by a lion, a hungry lion who would pick out a random boy as his next meal and drag him into the jungle to eat him. Realizing that this actually happened, and that it was not a made up story, was rather surprising.

Answer 3

Wasp Factory by Iain Banks is one of the few books I've read with an ending that I wasn't at all prepared for. It was a pleasant surprise simply because I love finding a book that isn't predictable. As far as the book, it wasn't a very pleasant story, but it has certainly hung around in the back of my mind for a very long time.

Answer 4

I remember I was reading the fourth book in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy ("So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish"): Arthur Dent goes looking for his old cave, works it all out on a computer, accidentally gets it EXACTLY right, knocks on the door of the house that is now built there, and Fenchurch answers. She's the girl that he'd lost the phone number for, and it was SO unexpected (even if it shouldn't have been!), that I slammed the book closed and THREW it across the room.



Seriously.



It wasn't "How corny!" (although it should have been!). It wasn't "Why are they back together again???" (I was cheering their relationship on, and was upset when he lost her phone number - sappy, I know!) Quite simply, it was "What a brilliant way for Douglas Adams to reconnect them!"



So I guess that'd qualify as a pleasant surprise?

Answer 5

I am reading cloud atlas at the moment. Its unlike any book i have ever read. It started of being about slavery hundreds of years ago, then it skipped to a completely different story set in Victorian times, then yet another one in the 60's and now in the future. Its brilliantly written, but i do wonder how on earth its going to tie together in the end, and if it will at all. In every story there is someone with a comet shaped birthmark on their back.



It annoyed me a bit that the story kept changing, and was unpleasant at first, but now id say im enjoying it.

Answer 6

I was surprised by how terrible Twilight was. So many people had told me it was great, and when I started to read it, I was unpleasantly surprised to find that it was dire.



In terms of good surprises, I was surprised by Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. It's a historical novel (Booker Prize winner) about Thomas Cromwell (NOT Oliver Cromwell - totally different people. I only say that because people keep getting them mixed up whenever I mention it). I had previously studied the Tudor period and read Robert Bolt's play 'A Man For All Seasons' in which Thomas Cromwell is a character, and he is presented by both history books and Bolt as a nasty, unscrupulous and wholly unattractive man. But Mantel's novel makes him fascinating, complicated, human and engaging - a real revelation. Fantastic book.

Answer 7

Really surprised?



Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. I'd been recommended it by a 14 year old, bought it for my 13 year old daughter who's not the world's keenest reader, and thought I'd have a quick look at it before handing it over.



She had to wait a couple of extra days :) Very pleasant surprise.



I was hoping for a similar one with Twilight. Didn't get it :(

Answer 8

That would be when I read the Misery novel by Stephen King.



I'm not a fan of king.And I don't like his sort of books either.But,one of my friends insisted me on giving it a try on misery.



Well,I really was surprised. Although the name is misery,the novel won't be.The plot is this....



What could a novel writer, after getting up in an accident and is practically confined to his bed do when the women he has been rescued by,turns out to be a psycho as well as an admirer?



Answer,pure horror and excitement.

Answer 9

Her fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger (I think I have probably spelled her surname wrong)

it wasn't a pleasant suprise at the time but now looking back on it I quite liked it :) I definitely reccomend the book to anyone who hasn't read it and has read her other book, The Time Traveler's Wife.

Answer 10

It was in the book the Sister's Keeper which I read way before the movie came out. The ending surprised me but it made the book really good but the ending was horribly sad, so it was both good and bad but I think it made the story line more real.

Answer 11

Oh, good question. We found a set of Kipling books from the late 1800's and one of them was a compilation of poems and songs from his stories and plays. His writing is so smooth, and the content varies widely. He was quite against the control of government and very distraught about war. And, the best known of his work, about animals, is heart-wrenchingly astute. He also was a smart enough man to realize that 'The Female of the Species is More Deadly Than the Male!'

Answer 12

that is a shocker to me, Harry Potter and Philosophy edited by employing: David Baggett and Shawn E. Klein Now first, you should comprehend, i'm no longer an obsessive fan the position each little thing I do pertains to the sequence. I loved the sequence although. The e book replaced into suggested by employing my dad. It replaced into very enlightening, it no longer only linked Harry Potter to the real global, yet gave very efficient suggestion. i replaced into pleasantly shocked.

Answer 13

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers



it was unpleasant because It made me feel sad...

Answer 14

It was 3 months ago and it was a surprise that i would even like one called the body farm.It was so interesting how the F.B.I. and other law enforcers can go and see how long a body can turn to grease or how long till maggots hatch..I am quite skirmish but this kept my eyes peeled; till the very end.

Answer 15

I'm currently reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, which i never thought i'd read... but anyway I'm quite surprised at how much i'm actually enjoying it. Really good so far.

Answer 16

this morning when I was reading The Last Knight, by Hillari Bell I think. I did not expect the plot twists that happened, not at all! It was a rather pleasent surprize though.

Answer 17

When it fell off the shelf, made a loud thump, and scared the heck outta me. It was unpleasant. I'm just glad it didn't hit me as it was a large hardcover.

Answer 18

John Grisham's "The Partner"

I literally threw the book across the room when I finished it.

Answer 19

It was about..... 35 years ago. It was a sensational surprise.

Answer 20

neva surprised as such..cuz i choose my books..dnt pik up anythn n evrythng..

i read this book by stephen king wich was boorrrrrrrriiiiiinnnnnnnnnn.....n made me sleepy........