jumping the shark?

I recently read a book that started out very well, sucking me right in. The pace was swift, the plot twisted and went to interesting places. Then about half way through, it got bogged own in heavy academia and ended in disappointment for this reader. When a television show "jumps the shark" some change in cast or plot has ruined it.

Does anyone has a bibliocentric equivalent of "jumping the shark"? Perhaps it would be based on a major, much-hyped book that did not live up to expectations. I look forward to hearing suggestions!

We're looking for suggestions for a term, right? Not a list of books that have actually done it? :)

The Graveyard Book was a much-hyped book that didn't live up to my expectations, but I think I'm in a substantial minority on that one so it probably wouldn't make a good trope namer. Maybe a book in a series that made the series turn suckish? A la Icefire by Chris D'Lacey but more well-known? (I'm drawing a blank. I'll think of one as soon as I hit "submit.")

The ultimate "jump the shark" event was in one of the best American novels of all time. Huckleberry Finn was a hilarious and beautifully written Odyssey. Then ol' Tom Sawyer has to show up and do all these stupid antics. It really threw off the whole novel, for me.

Smilla's Sense of Snow is the one, for me, that best falls into this category. I thought parts of it were beautifully written and I was on the edge of my seat until - are you friggin' kidding me?! I don't want to give it away for those who might still be wanting to read this, I know it's on the 1001 Books list, but let's just say that I was seriously let down.

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is one that did it to me. I liked the beginning, where the book concentrated on Oscar, but after that, the book went downhill for me.

Oh, yes the list will be loooooong! Any ideas for a term though?

Oscaring the Wao? Tom Sawyering? :)

In The Amber Spyglass when God is shown as a decrepit, scared, old man and he/it dies.

"Pulling a Pullman"?

FFortuna and d_perlo, you are both brilliant! "Oscaring the Wao" is hysterical!

I'm still wracking my brain......

I know I've read at least a handful of books that have those sort of going-off-the-rails moments. The one that most stands out for me is Dan Simmons´The Hollow Man. It's not a great read to begin with, the protagonist is a bit too much of a misanthrope and a bore, but it's engaging enough. But then....

Well, the protag is reminiscing about his dead wife in a cliché-filled passage which is less about their emotional connection and more about how she's so much hotter and classier than a pin-up model, and this is all topped off with the protagonist's observation that she has the innocence and beauty of, get this, Mary Lou Retton. All I could think, between bouts of laughter, was, "What an effective way to akwardly date your novel, so future generations will find it utterly ridiculous."

Later on, in case the reader has been forgiving so far, the novel has an older, sexually appealing woman use razor-sharp dentures to try to slice off the protag's manhood. Perhaps the whole book was meant as a series of bad jokes, and I failed to understand Simmons' dead pan delivery. But I'm not forgiving enough to seriously consider that possibility.

Carlos,

OUCH!

I've been wondering about The Hollow Man. I see used copies all the time and know Dan Simmons is a popualr enough writer (I have a number of his books, but haven't read any yet). The cover for that one intrigues me. Now I'm glad I didn't pick it up.

Yeah, it was a disappointment, since I've liked Simmons' other works. But that one is best avoided.

I found The DaVinci Code so ridiculous and overrated. What about "that book DaVinci Coded once the waitress quit her job"? (for example!)

A Maggot by John Fowles - 3/4 of the book setting up an authentic 17thC atmosphere and an intriguing puzzle. The answer is stupid and dull.

Explaining the Maggot?

Dropping the Good Plot?

Ooh, I like Explaining the Maggot! Although Dropping the Good Plot is pretty useful...

Broke the Binding.

As in, most Neal Stephenson books really Break the Binding about half way through.

However, I must say I like DaVinci Coded as well.

to me, Break the Binding would mean a really good book... I liked the book so much that I broke the binding getting into it.

How about 'Walt Catches a Cold' from The World According to Garp, the title of the chapter where Garp's 5-year-old dies.

I vote for Oscaring the Wao.

And HEY! I like Garp!

This is a bit late and a bit off-topic, but re msg 8 - that wasn't God. It's a common mistake, but it really, really wasn't God.

Bit the Binding.

#22: YES!!!!!

Absolutely!

O the W is just too obscure.

Iain Banks would have to be the author who does my head in. I loved The Wasp Factory but was slightly disappointed by the ending which was in my opinion a bit predictable. His subsequent books have been much the same, they all seem to start out brilliantly and then he just loses the plot.

With the exception of Dead Air which I just couldn't get into at all, I have always finished his books hoping that there is going to be an ending that doesn't seemed rushed or predictable.

Thanks so much. My favorite were "DaVinci Coded" (ahem, my own idea) and "Bit the Binding" and "Dropping the Good Plot". I shall try sprinkling these in during book club meetings to see if any of them stick. Awesome suggestions!

I think Bit the binding is best for something that is just bad through and through.

Where as "DaVinci Coded" is good for some thing that starts out good and fails to deliver by the end, similar to "Dropped the Good Plot"

Usage.
I thought author X dropped the good plot about half way through book Y.

I was really into book Z until it DaVinci Coded!

Next book conversation I have I will use these.

I think anything by X bite's the binding.