books you've had to stop reading
- Thread starter Woebot
- Start date
droid
Well-known member
Thanks - looked that up a while ago after a recommendation somewhere. Ill have to find a copy.
droid
Well-known member
Funny thing is, that when I read the introduction I discovered that Im an acquaintance of the guy who unearthed it and was primarily responsible for its publication. Wrote him an excited email and later had to pretend Id finished it, which, I think, he saw right through.
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
i posted a thread about books that got the better of me, either on this board or another, i don't remember.
i can barely understand woebot's reaction to Moby Dick
it is one of my favorite books and i am firmly anti-whaling
i also love Death in the Afternoon despite being against bullfighting
i couldn't get through Ulysses but i will try again
i'm not up on irish history and i kept getting bogged down
and i gave up on Nigger of the Narcissus (J. Conrad) - i kept losing track of the characters - i reckon i'll give that another go when i'm feeling up to it
also The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein
i just couldn't stick with it - she can be maddening
plus it is a huge tome
there's more...
i can barely understand woebot's reaction to Moby Dick
it is one of my favorite books and i am firmly anti-whaling
i also love Death in the Afternoon despite being against bullfighting
i couldn't get through Ulysses but i will try again
i'm not up on irish history and i kept getting bogged down
and i gave up on Nigger of the Narcissus (J. Conrad) - i kept losing track of the characters - i reckon i'll give that another go when i'm feeling up to it
also The Making of Americans by Gertrude Stein
i just couldn't stick with it - she can be maddening
plus it is a huge tome
there's more...
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
never got through the phonebook, whatever that is.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
You think that's a slog, wait till you try the 'face book'!
I've just remembered that I was unable to get past about page 100 of 'Lord Jim' - I found it uniquely tedious, which surprised me.
I had no trouble finishing 'Ulysees', I skipped joyfully through it. I'm big on style though, plot doesn't overly interest me. Two of my favorite novelists are Saul Bellow and Huysmans, both basically plot-less novelists.
I had no trouble finishing 'Ulysees', I skipped joyfully through it. I'm big on style though, plot doesn't overly interest me. Two of my favorite novelists are Saul Bellow and Huysmans, both basically plot-less novelists.
IdleRich
IdleRich
I've read the bible right through a couple of times, I guess I probably kinda skipped all the "and jehosophat begat jehenosat" stuff. I think when I was younger I thought that it was kind of important to know what it was about for some reason. And now I'm glad I do I guess - it's obviously useful for the millions of times quotes appear in popular culture and it's handy to know all the shit that is and isn't in there for religious (obviously) debates.
Just read this thread and can I be the nth person to say that I just can't get that reaction to Moby Dick. I don't even remember those scenes if I'm honest but even if I did and was horrified I wouldn't let it spoil the rest of the enormous book and.... it's all been said before anyway.
Like someone said I can't imagine being put off a book by something like that. I give up if I'm bored and the level of boredom outweighs the desire I have to finish it, otherwise I don't. Unless I lose the book - in the last couple of years I lost Pynchon's Mason and Dixon and one by Eco and I made zero effort to replace them even though I was enjoying them both. Just shrugged my shoulders and moved on to the next thing in my pile.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
So many, I can't remember them all. best to recall the ones I threw across the room. Midnight's Children was definitely one of them - insufferable, trying way too hard to be 'clever'. In non-fiction, there was a book by Adam Phillips (psychoanalyst) I was so angry at that I took to defacing it, at the age of 35 rather than 15.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
I finished Paradise Lost and remember quite enjoying it - but then, I'm one of those insufferable cunts who actually really likes The Silmarillion. I have it on good authority that Paradise Regained is a massive pile of arse, however.
I liked Midnight's Children! I appreciate that I have probably got a higher tolerance for overly flashy writing and self-indulgent magic realism than some people (although not to the extent of tolerating Orhan Pamuk, it would seem). Got The Satanic Verses sat on a bookshelf in front of me but haven't read it yet.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Not that I ever heard of. I can imagine it'd be pretty hard to pull off without looking kooky, campy and generally a bit fey and silly.
Edit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714866/?ref_=nv_sr_1
Edit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714866/?ref_=nv_sr_1
empty mirror
remember the jackalope
ah, Billy Budd! didn't get through that for some reason.
i've noticed that novellas are hard for me to finish unless i am totally gripped by the story. maybe because i feel i've got no skin in the game with a short book.
i've noticed that novellas are hard for me to finish unless i am totally gripped by the story. maybe because i feel i've got no skin in the game with a short book.
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
Saw this book on the NYT's 'Books of the Year' list and thought it might be an interesting read for those who love/loathe 'Moby Dick':
Amazon product ASIN 1471151263
'The north water is where the whales are, and this novel is about the dying days of Hull’s whaling industry, in the late 1850s. Paraffin and coal oil are replacing whale oil, threatening ruin to shipowners who have invested heavily in their fleets. Only the most agile or ruthless will survive, even though there are still whales to be hunted.
The story opens violently. Henry Drax, a harpooner, has signed on for a six-month voyage on a Greenland whaler, the Volunteer, which is presently being trimmed and packed in harbour. Drax is a brute, a vacuum into which men and boys are sucked and do not emerge alive. Within the first 12 pages he has killed a Shetlander who has crossed him in a bar. Next he beats unconscious and rapes a young boy whom he suspects of leading him into a trap. Before doing this he says to the child: “I’m the fucker, me, I’m never the one that’s fucked.” Drax joins his ship, and it’s clear that if he has anything to do with it, the Volunteer is already marked for trouble.'
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/19/the-north-water-ian-mcguire-review
Amazon product ASIN 1471151263
'The north water is where the whales are, and this novel is about the dying days of Hull’s whaling industry, in the late 1850s. Paraffin and coal oil are replacing whale oil, threatening ruin to shipowners who have invested heavily in their fleets. Only the most agile or ruthless will survive, even though there are still whales to be hunted.
The story opens violently. Henry Drax, a harpooner, has signed on for a six-month voyage on a Greenland whaler, the Volunteer, which is presently being trimmed and packed in harbour. Drax is a brute, a vacuum into which men and boys are sucked and do not emerge alive. Within the first 12 pages he has killed a Shetlander who has crossed him in a bar. Next he beats unconscious and rapes a young boy whom he suspects of leading him into a trap. Before doing this he says to the child: “I’m the fucker, me, I’m never the one that’s fucked.” Drax joins his ship, and it’s clear that if he has anything to do with it, the Volunteer is already marked for trouble.'
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/19/the-north-water-ian-mcguire-review
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
I can't believe I wrote a sentence like this and wasn't struck down by a thunderbolt the very same day.
you
Well-known member
I seldom re-read. But the tale of lucky Pip is one I could revisit again and again.