True confessions
Consider this a week of confession, a chance to clear your conscience. We'll discuss unread books, including those we started but never finished.
I have one of those in front of me now: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63. I put it down when I was less than halfway through (page 389 to be exact), and now I'm afraid to pick it up because I'd be lost in the complexity. I feel doubly guilty because it was widely acclaimed, and written by Taylor Branch of Baltimore.
As for Nancy, she stalled about halfway through Foucault's Pendulum; hasn't read a page in about four months. And she says of Only Revolutions: "While I love the rhythm of the poetry, it's really difficult to stay focused on what the heck the storyline is supposed to be. I THINK it's a love story? With time travel? And history? I don't know."
So, in the spirit of shared confession, what book have you started but not finished? Get it off your chest; you'll feel better.
Comments
War and Peace. I feel as though I'm missing something by not reading it. I've borrowed it umpteen times from the library--see I don't even own the book--and I think I've read the first 50 pages a dozen times by now but I never get any farther into the book.
Posted by: Darlene Ryan | August 3, 2008 7:17 AM
Catcher in the Rye: I have never read it & Nancy's feelings for the book are not encouraging.
Posted by: Michelle Johnston | August 3, 2008 1:21 PM
Michelle, views expressed by Nancy do not represent the official position of Read Street Inc. Maybe it's a Northeastern guy thing, but I've read Catcher in the Rye a couple of times and I think it really captures teen-age angst.
Posted by: Dave | August 3, 2008 2:00 PM
Dave,
I realize that. Nancy's taste is often similar to mine & I highly respect her opionions. Of course I am predjudiced, I am her mom.
Michelle
Posted by: Michelle Johnston | August 3, 2008 7:43 PM
The Brothers Karamazov. Tried it twice and bailed out both times on saintly Father Zosima. Does anybody remember anything about that book except for a line or 2 and the Grand Inquisitor scene?
Posted by: Jeff Landaw | August 3, 2008 8:30 PM
"Blindness" by Jose Saramango has been on my nightstand for half a year now. I got halfway through, which kills me. I must finish! But it's so dense! Argh!
Posted by: Mary | August 3, 2008 9:39 PM
To The Lighthouse. I've "finished" the book twice now, once in college (and I passed the exam) and once again a year later just to make sure I wasn't in the wrong mood the first time. I truly cannot stand Woolf's style, and I still haven't read the last third.
Also, I never finished For Whom The Bell Tolls. I had to return it to the library and just didn't have the interest to renew.
Posted by: Thomas Bechtold | August 4, 2008 10:52 AM
I didn't finish Foucault's Pendulum either, but I'm not feeling especially guilty about it. Nor do I necessarily hold it against anyone for not getting through Catcher in the Rye, even though I loved it. That's just the way the ball bounces. Not everyone is going to find greatness in every book, even if it is considered a classic. That's part of the beauty of these things and what makes book club discussions kind of fun.
Posted by: Claude | August 4, 2008 11:25 AM
Mary, is that MY copy of Blindness? I lent it to somebody, but I can't remember who.
You really should finish it!
And as for me, I have two laughably high piles of books on my nightstand, though I haven't started most of them. Don Quixote is one of mine, as is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Posted by: Justine | August 5, 2008 6:27 PM