Degrees of dissonance

[graculus]

In the six or seven years I've been in fandom, I've read widely in a number of fandoms. I'm wondering if my tolerance levels are the same as they were, or whether it changes as new fandoms gain my interest, or is dependent on the fandom itself.

I've been reading a lot of Harry Potter fic recently. Some of it is excellent and some of it can only be described as god-awful. In essence, no better and no worse than any other fandom, as far as I can see. But where it differs in one respect is the couple of fics I've given up on early on because they just don't work - there's some fundamental flaw to the story premise that is only evident to me because I have a knowledge of the law and mores of the culture the stories are based in (not the wizarding world, of course, but mid-90's England).

So, I was wondering about this - I know there are people reading this entry that read in an equally wide variety of fandoms, or focus intently on one to the exclusion of all others, people with a wide variety of life experiences and areas of expertise. Can you get past a glaring error in something you have knowledge of and move on to read the rest of the story? Are you someone who, once they've started reading something, have to finish it? Or is it dependent on the quality of the tale, that if it's good enough then you can ignore something you know to be incorrect?

Inquiring minds and all that...

Comments

[khek.livejournal.com]

Can you get past a glaring error in something you have knowledge of and move on to read the rest of the story?

I can move past a glaring error ONLY if the rest of the story is so compelling that I want to know how the author gets to the end. Otherwise, I just go read the end to satisfy my "so, what happens" craving and forget about it. And to be honest, I can only think of a couple stories where a glaring error hasn't made me give up, read the end, and move on.

If I start something, I do have to read the end, just to have a conclusion. That doesn't mean that I can't stop at page 18, check out page 50, and read page 88 and 89 to the "the end" posting that signifies that my torment is over.

If something is very well written, or if the plot makes so much sense except for one little niggling detail that doesn't work...I can keep reading and somehow justify it into my world view of THAT particular written world.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

If I start something, I do have to read the end, just to have a conclusion.

Occupational hazard? ;)

[khek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think so.