Question for September 30, 2010: If you read series, do you ever find a series “jumping the shark?” How do you feel about that? And, do you keep reading anyway?
Answer: Hmmmm...well I have NO IDEA what "jumping the shark" means. My best guess is that it means leaving stuff out...let's go to Google to find out.....according to wikipedia: "Jumping the shark is an idiom used to describe the moment of downturn for a previously successful enterprise... "It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill".
Ok so now that I know what "jumping the shark means" I can answer this question properly. I do read series, in fact I LOVE to read series (serieses??). A few series that I have read include:The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, Earth's Children (Jean Auel), The Outlander series (Diana Gabaldon), The Josephine B. Trilogy (Sandra Gulland), His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman), Twilight, Rashi's Daughters (Maggie Anton), Magic Kingdom of Landover (Terry Brooks), The Foundation Series (Isaac Asimov), The Finovar Tapestry (Guy Gavriel Kay), and I suppose I just started the Millenium Trilogy. Ok so I think that's every series I've ever read...pretty good!
So now to answer the question-the only series that I didn't LOVE LOVE LOVE was the Twilight series-I enjoyed it, but I don't think I was necessarily the target audience, but I read them so fast it wasn't a problem to finish them. I think that if I am more than one book into a series I would tend to keep reading. I actually can't think of any series that I felt was "jumping the shark"-no wait!! The Diana Gabaldon Outlander series is for sure going downhill, but I will read any all books that come out in the future!!
How about you readers?? Have you read any series that you stopped reading because it was going downhill?
Also did anyone else know about the term "jumping the shark"? Ten points to whoever can tell me which television show inspired this term!!
I'm seriously trying to rememember if I suggested this question, so I won't answer the bonus question. I know where it came from. If it was me, I feel bad about using such a colloquial phrase.
ReplyDeleteI too am a huge fan of series books. I tend to stick more in the mystery genre today, but I loved the Narnia series! I did answer on my blog.
Don't worry Sara you're not alone! I had no idea either. I even went and read around and googled it myself. Sometimes not everyone knows what it means so I guess it doesn't matter, but yay for Google.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't find that Narnia lost it along the way? I completely forgot about that one, but that's another jump the shark one for me. I didn't stop reading it though.