Worried Man Blues
Well-known member
French in 3 months......had the bastard 40 years
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[Misc] Books you gave up on
- Thread starter Flounce
- Start date
Wardy's twin
Well-known member
- Oct 21, 2014
- 8,703
Martin Chuzzlewit - 40 pages , so hard to read had to stop.
Yeah, that's the one I mentioned that is really dull. Try The Pickwick Papers first, that's a really light read (and his first big hit)
A pity. The book is brilliant. As is book 4 (Spider's web)
I have 'The girl in the eagle's talons' throbbing to be read on my bookshelf as a type.
But alas I have my singed copy of 'With a mind to kill' (Anthony Horowitz's continuation of the James Bond œuvre) to read first.
deletebeepbeepbeep
Well-known member
- May 12, 2009
- 21,606
I was on a historical podcast kick and decided to try and read Histories by Herodotus, a founding piece of historical literature about the Greco Persian wars. Not an easy read but made it half way through before giving up.
Almost the exact opposite of you
Stato
Well-known member
- Dec 21, 2011
- 7,136
You didn't get to the worst bit. I'd say that the account of the trip to America hasn't aged well, but apparently nobody much liked it when it came out. Not one of his best. I had to read Hard Times as a youngster and that put me off for years. I was sucked back in by seeing some of the RSC' s Nicholas Nickleby on Channel 4. I read that and, after struggling at the beginning, got used to the language and really enjoyed it. Went on to read one every year or two. They're worth the slog. He's sometimes boggy, and you have to forgive the frequent massive coincidences in the plots, but when he's good, he can be thrilling, angrily reforming and really funny. (Not Shakespeare funny).
That's one of my favourite books
HalfaSeatOn
Well-known member
Middlemarch was a nice, light read.
I enjoyed and finished Moby Dick but gave up quite early on Catch 22. As you say, utter drivel
"Under the Volcano" by Malcolm Lowry.
I've started and given up on this book about five times now, not because I didn't enjoy it but because my head wasn't in the right place to be able to commit to it.
Each time I start from the beginning again. I must give it another go cos the last time was about five years ago. Its been on my bedside table for nearly ten years.
I've started and given up on this book about five times now, not because I didn't enjoy it but because my head wasn't in the right place to be able to commit to it.
Each time I start from the beginning again. I must give it another go cos the last time was about five years ago. Its been on my bedside table for nearly ten years.
BluesRockDJ
Well-known member
- Jan 24, 2020
- 1,241
The Bible................Jesus gets killed in the end !
North of Robertsbridge
Active member
Spoiler alert!
Coincidentally this article lists Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano" which I posted about only half an hour ago....
The best boring books
There are times when dullness is exactly what you want from a book. Here are some of my favourites
www.theguardian.com
- Jan 3, 2012
- 17,137
On the “books you think you should read theme……
10 years ago we were in a cottage in West Wales for Mrs DiS’s 60th birthday. There was a copy of Under Milk Wood on the coffee table and I thought maybe I should give it a go. I don’t like poetry, and I thought it was a poem. It’s not a poem, and I loved it. The man’s use of language and words was inspirational. In the first couple of pages the expression “starless and Bible black” came up. So this is where that came from. So evocative and powerful!
A few years ago I was staying in a French house for a conference for a couple of days. A copy of Hemingway’s “the Old Man and the Sea“ on the shelf. Oh well. Might as well give it a go. Loved it. The Economy and spareness of the writin I liked, although I would usually go for more “florid” stuff.
Professor Plum
Well-known member
- Jul 27, 2024
- 312
No, the point of writing is not to pad out the page with so much inconsequential dross that any memorable line begins to seem less the product of a writer's imagination and more the inevitable product of random chance.
And Orwell's writing's an ideal example to illustrate that it's possible to be interesting and memorable and widely quoted while being economical.
I don't have an issue with the characters or the stories themselves, I've enjoyed plenty of adaptations, but with his writing on the page. So no, I wouldn't agree with the description of him as a brilliant wordsmith. "Paid by the word hack" would be my summation.
Somehow, I struggle to imagine Dickens ever making a story shorter.
You don't like Dickens, we get it. But to describe literary works that form the foundation of many an English or Modern Novel course in universities across the world as "inconsequential dross" doesn't make any sense. Even the occasional IMO or "not for me" would give your rant a bit more credibility.
Mr Bridger
Sound of the suburbs
- Jan 3, 2012
- 17,137
Except there’s a lot goes on after he dies, so it’s not “in the end”.
note - this is a statement of fact, not a misguided attempt at evangelism to the heathen hordes which inhabit this place!
