[Misc] Books you gave up on

[heathgate]

But are highly rated

Ulysses, Wolf Hall, Paradise Lost and Captain Corelli‘s Mandolin for me

Yes I know I am a peasant/philistine

I know some people who NEVER give up on a book, my wife is one of them, you?

I gave up on S by JJ Adams..... but I may revisit, it's a complicated book about and within a book.... deciding how to read it is the key.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Dan Brown - is completely unreadable crap.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

This has been a really interesting thread - despite three of my favourite writers (Dickens, Hardy and Joyce) featuring prominently.

A few surprises though. Amazed at the mentions for Catch 22, a very funny book that grabs you from the first line and, as mentioned, surprised to see Candide there.

It's the writers omitted that are more interesting. Only one mention for that prize bore, Henry James. And no mentions at all for Proust. I really like his work but nine volumes to say not much in particular can lead some people to distraction.

I have considered Proust but I’m just not sure I’ve got it in me. I did have the most delicious madeleine earlier in the summer in south east France that gave me encouragement.

 

[North of Robertsbridge]

I have considered Proust but I’m just not sure I’ve got it in me. I did have the most delicious madeleine earlier in the summer in south east France that gave me encouragement.

You’ve just saved yourself a few hundred pages of tedium (another of my degree texts). The madeleine is as good as it gets

 

[Questions]

Does he make it?

Well….. yes and no. Apparently the ending is contentious

 

[Gwylan]

Well….. yes and no. Apparently the ending is contentious

Schrodinger's Jesus?

 

[Han Solo]

How can something be boring AND interesting?

I mean, it is theological stuff and I'm holding tight to not believing or not not believing in anything. He discusses God, which isn't necessarily my favorite topic, but everything is quite radical in a sense that seems... metaphysically sensible some x hundred years later. Very much in touch with Christian tehology, yet hated by all of churches. He held a very human-centric view which has today become dominating.

It is interesting to find out on the origins on why we reason why we do, and he is influential in that, but half of his stuff is quite incomprehensible.

This is where I left off this morning:

Every sentence takes 15 minutes to read and probably 30 if you're stoned. Then trying to understand the shit and puzzle it together with what has been said on the previous 500 pages, well... I'm not giving up but I'm getting there...

 

[Wardy's twin]

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).

It was 50+ years ago when is 14 or so and haven't been tempted back . I guess most of what i read is 'light' stuff so I just plough through it often as a way to fill time rather than be engaged. Some books are heavier or factual accounts but most are simple detectives. Loved Orwell though and Lord of the Rings and have reread each probably every 10 years . Probably need to go back to Steinbeck and a few others.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

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.

Want to know what I mean by "inconsequential dross"? Let's consider the start of A Christmas Carol:

"Marley was dead"
Great start, let's move on.
"to begin with."
It's the start of the book, so that makes sense.
"There is no doubt whatever about that."
Glad about that, it'd knock the story off track if you changed your mind in the second sentence.
"The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner."
Starting to lose me now mate if I'm being honest.
"Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to."
Good for him.
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
I know, that's what you started with.

Even the occasional IMO or "not for me" would give your rant a bit more credibility.

It clearly wouldn't.

It's not like I'm aiming to convince anybody of anything anyway, it's a thread about books people have given up on. Ironically I'm pretty sure I read A Christmas Carol in full at school. Of course in my memory (and most people's) that starting paragraph's shortened down to less than the first and last sentences, which is clearly exactly what Dickens should have done himself.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

For those who have listed Wolf Hall, I too made multiple failed attempts. Then one day I persevered, it suddenly clicked and I was rewarded with the most stunning piece of literature I’ve ever read. (And when I make that claim, you have to bear in mind that I’ve read Kev the Ape’s account of his time working at KFC, so I know what I’m talking about).

Simply, if you’ve given up on Wolf Hall previously, it’s worth at least one more attempt of anyone’s time - it’s an absolute masterpiece.

I'm one of the people that gave up on Wolf Hall, however, the Barry Shitpeas review of the TV adaptation is a thing of beauty

 

[chickens]

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.

Dylan Thomas has a great reputation as a poet, but apparently has been criticised for the lack of a consistent voice in his fiction. I’ve read his collected short fiction, and it’s genuinely brilliant. So, ignore the scholars that sniff and give it a try. I think I had a Penguin “Modern Classics” edition before one of the small childlike forms dropped a glass of milk over it while it sat on the coffee table.

Under Milk Glass more like.

 

[The Clamp]

Dune.

I have tried to get into it in all its variations. I just found it incredibly tedious.

 

[Stato]

Want to know what I mean by "inconsequential dross"? Let's consider the start of A Christmas Carol:

"Marley was dead"
Great start, let's move on.
"to begin with."
It's the start of the book, so that makes sense.
"There is no doubt whatever about that."
Glad about that, it'd knock the story off track if you changed your mind in the second sentence.
"The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner."
Starting to lose me now mate if I'm being honest.
"Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to."
Good for him.
"Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
I know, that's what you started with.

It clearly wouldn't.

Strange piece to try to pick apart. It's comedy. He's deliberately saying the same thing in different ways to amuse through repetition. For me, it's the obvious inspiration for 'Red Dwarf's' 'He's dead Dave'. Dickens goes on to start wondering 'what's so dead about a doornail?' You're criticising it for being inconsequential, when it's supposed to be. He's playing with language and playing a part to ease the reader in before things get first serious, then scary.

You don't have to like him, but there are far worse bits you could have picked to stress how annoying he can be.

 

[The Clamp]

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.

Hemingway and Thomas are two of my favourite authors.

Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises being my favourite book of all time.

Under Milk Wood is magical and I own many performances of it, the iconic Burton reading being one of my favourites.

An animation of it exists and is wonderful.

I’d also recommend Orwell’s, Down And Out in Paris and London. Great piece of work.

But anyway enough about stuff I like, back on track;

Terry Pratchett’s books. I want to like them. Never got through one of them .

 

[Iggle Piggle]

Dune.

I have tried to get into it in all its variations. I just found it incredibly tedious.

Glad it's not just me. I should love everything about Dune. Spice. Yawn.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Strange piece to try to pick apart. It's comedy. He's deliberately saying the same thing in different ways to amuse through repetition. For me, it's the obvious inspiration for 'Red Dwarf's' 'He's dead Dave'. Dickens goes on to start wondering 'what's so dead about a doornail?' You're criticising it for being inconsequential, when it's supposed to be. He's playing with language and playing a part to ease the reader in before things get first serious, then scary.

You don't have to like him, but there are far worse bits you could have picked to stress how annoying he can be.

Yeah probably. I'm not taking this conversation nearly as seriously as some people seem to be. I could do pretty much the same with, say, A Tale of Two Cities, which riffs on its opening line so long that even Tony Iomi would say he's taking it too far.

Of course, it's not funny anyway. I don't really see the Red Dwarf link either, that feels more like a reference to the emotionless delivery of HAL9000 and how a complete idiot like Lister would react to it.

 

[Stato]

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!

'Under Milk Wood' was, I think, originally a radio play, written to be heard. I picked up the CD a few years back. Richard Burton challenging John Arlott for the title of greatest radio voice ever. It's one of the most beautiful things ever made. I hadn't a clue what any of it was about until about the third or fourth listen, but just drifted off, floating on a warm ocean of the sounds of language. Here's the 2003 revamp:

 

[Gwylan]

Dylan Thomas has a great reputation as a poet, but apparently has been criticised for the lack of a consistent voice in his fiction. I’ve read his collected short fiction, and it’s genuinely brilliant. So, ignore the scholars that sniff and give it a try. I think I had a Penguin “Modern Classics” edition before one of the small childlike forms dropped a glass of milk over it while it sat on the coffee table.

Under Milk Glass more like.

I was brought up on Under Milk Wood. I took it to primary school once when we had to talk about the books we were reading, gave my teacher a bit of a shock.

My father used to do a one-man Dylan Thomas show, so I got used to him rehearsing that. I still have a recording of it, so any time I want to hear my dad's voice I can. And he's been dead as a doornail for 32 years.

 

[Stato]

Yeah probably. I'm not taking this conversation nearly as seriously as some people seem to be. I could do pretty much the same with, say, A Tale of Two Cities, which riffs on its opening line so long that even Tony Iomi would say he's taking it too far.

I think it's a Victorian thing. They loved the sound of their own voices. A lot of Moby Dick is more whaling manual than plot and I remember, when reading Les Miserables, being enthralled by the daring escape from the authorities by diving into the sewer, then turning the page to a new chapter to find out what happened to Valjean and Marius and getting a full history of the Paris sewers, for an entire bloody chapter. Thanks Vic.

 

[m20gull]

I'm not sure I've ever got past the second page of 'A Tale of Two Cities'