I've been on a reading binge the last two weeks, but instead of working on reviews and a way over due follow up post to my movie list, I will instead proceed to write about all the books on my shelf that will never get a post to themselves.
I try to read and recommend classics that are accessible and a bit marginalized compared to the 'greats' that you will see on most every reading list. (Say, The Scarlet Pimpernel over The Old Man and the Sea.) But I occasionally attempt those books too. Usually to the same results.
You see, when I was in middle school or high school, I thought it would be great fun to read The Three Musketeers. I tried and managed to slog through most of the book before I got so completely frustrated by the plot that I gave up. (I had pretty specific needs about good defeating evil in the narrative. Something I still struggle with.) Sometime later I decided that to be so close to the end and give up was just ridiculous. The problem was that I couldn't remember what had happened up to that point (or where that point was; both times I checked a copy out from the library) so I had to start over. I finished it the second time through.
This experience did two things for me:
1. I came up with the theory that Dumas can only write a good first half of a book. (More on this later.)
2. There are certain books that are Two-Attempters.
Sadly, I have given very few of these books the benefit of a second attempt. Sense and Sensibility was more of a restart (only after I saw the movie and knew it was going to go somewhere). There are a few books that I have tried to re-read after having completed them once, only to abandon them on the second time through. Les Mis (abridged no less!) was the most notable one of these.
I have a LOT of books on my shelves (and others I've checked out or borrowed over the years) that I have never finished. Most of the books are definitely two-attempters, but I simply haven't made the attempt. (The ones with really well known story-lines I plan on finishing even if I can't remember all the previous details. I have a lot of bookmarks.) I collected them all because I am a sucker for cheap classics. (There are even more that I have never started.) These are the ranks of the unfinished:
Swiss Family Robinson, The Last Battle, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Oliver Twist, The Toilers of the Sea (another Hugo), A Pair of Blue Eyes, The Second Jungle Book, And Then There Were None, The Grapes of Wrath, The Lady of the Camellias...
A brief word about The Count of Monte Cristo. I attempted this book after finally finishing Musketeers. The opening chapters are cinematic in there scope and vivid storytelling. But the further into the book I got the more bogged down in felt. Pretty soon I was in chapters so convoluted I had no idea what was happening or why. I skipped to the end to see if it was worth my time. For my narrative needs, it appeared Dumas had ended another book on a 'meh' note. And yet the first half ranks among my favorite books of all time. I plan to finish it one day (I may appreciate it more than I did in high school) and read the other great works of Dumas, pere. I just have low expectations for most of it.
There are probably more I'm forgetting or no longer own. Each was abandoned for unique reasons. However, as a general rule I read for pleasure. And I'm not an English lit buff that gets my kicks from reading Faulkner. So, this is not meant to diminish the greatness of these works. I just couldn't get into them.
I try to read and recommend classics that are accessible and a bit marginalized compared to the 'greats' that you will see on most every reading list. (Say, The Scarlet Pimpernel over The Old Man and the Sea.) But I occasionally attempt those books too. Usually to the same results.
You see, when I was in middle school or high school, I thought it would be great fun to read The Three Musketeers. I tried and managed to slog through most of the book before I got so completely frustrated by the plot that I gave up. (I had pretty specific needs about good defeating evil in the narrative. Something I still struggle with.) Sometime later I decided that to be so close to the end and give up was just ridiculous. The problem was that I couldn't remember what had happened up to that point (or where that point was; both times I checked a copy out from the library) so I had to start over. I finished it the second time through.
This experience did two things for me:
1. I came up with the theory that Dumas can only write a good first half of a book. (More on this later.)
2. There are certain books that are Two-Attempters.
Sadly, I have given very few of these books the benefit of a second attempt. Sense and Sensibility was more of a restart (only after I saw the movie and knew it was going to go somewhere). There are a few books that I have tried to re-read after having completed them once, only to abandon them on the second time through. Les Mis (abridged no less!) was the most notable one of these.
I have a LOT of books on my shelves (and others I've checked out or borrowed over the years) that I have never finished. Most of the books are definitely two-attempters, but I simply haven't made the attempt. (The ones with really well known story-lines I plan on finishing even if I can't remember all the previous details. I have a lot of bookmarks.) I collected them all because I am a sucker for cheap classics. (There are even more that I have never started.) These are the ranks of the unfinished:
Swiss Family Robinson, The Last Battle, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Oliver Twist, The Toilers of the Sea (another Hugo), A Pair of Blue Eyes, The Second Jungle Book, And Then There Were None, The Grapes of Wrath, The Lady of the Camellias...
A brief word about The Count of Monte Cristo. I attempted this book after finally finishing Musketeers. The opening chapters are cinematic in there scope and vivid storytelling. But the further into the book I got the more bogged down in felt. Pretty soon I was in chapters so convoluted I had no idea what was happening or why. I skipped to the end to see if it was worth my time. For my narrative needs, it appeared Dumas had ended another book on a 'meh' note. And yet the first half ranks among my favorite books of all time. I plan to finish it one day (I may appreciate it more than I did in high school) and read the other great works of Dumas, pere. I just have low expectations for most of it.
There are probably more I'm forgetting or no longer own. Each was abandoned for unique reasons. However, as a general rule I read for pleasure. And I'm not an English lit buff that gets my kicks from reading Faulkner. So, this is not meant to diminish the greatness of these works. I just couldn't get into them.
