Briefly... a pet peeve!

I discovered recently that I have a pet peeve when it comes to novels.  I've been reading two really good books - Wise Children by Angela Carter and A Favourite of the Gods by Sybille Bedford - and they both are really, really good.  But both were a little marred for me... I've discovered that I really don't like it when a novel starts with one scene in 'present day', and then skips back and starts again in the past, progressing forwards again to the present.

I haven't quite worked out why.  I think I'm used to 'flashbacks' being a bit of something to skim through, and when the flashback takes up the entire novel, obviously things are different - and perhaps I find that disconcerting.  Somehow everything takes on that sepia tone of prolonged anticlimax...

Does anyone else feel like this?  I imagine not... but perhaps you have other pet peeves which feel irrational, yet affect your enjoyment a bit?

Sorry for such a brief post - I've spent the evening painting (final picture will be shown, if it is ever finished!) and now I'm going to sleep the sleep of just person in a turpentine-filled room.