June 16th, 2004

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Books
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Books That I Gave Up On

This posting could be subtitled: Ways in Which My Intellect Disappoints Me. It comes from Bill Stillwell via Richard, who have photos of books that are pending or partially-read. I’m refining things a bit. These are books which I’ve started reading, but given up on.

Actually, I’m surprised that there aren’t more. I guess I didn’t look at the bookshelves closely enough. A quick summary of the rejects, from top to bottom:

  • Copyrights
    and Copywrongs     - Decent book, but very American-focused and a bit academic
    for my taste.
  • Two
    Noble Kinsmen     - My director friend once joked of this book: "Hey,
    Bill wrote a new one." How much Shakespeare actually contributed to this
    work is in question. Regardless, it’s as dull as cheddar cheese.
  • Immortality
    - It’s about girls, right (anyone…anyone…)? This one’s my fault entirely.
    I should have been more interested in one of modern literature’s heavyweights, but
    simply wasn’t.
  • Galileo’s
    Commandment     - A series of essays by science’s great thinkers. I got hung
    up on one, and went no further. Might come back to it.
  • A
    Gentle Madness     - About bibliomanes. I don’t think I’m old enough for this
    tome yet.
  • Buddha
    - I’m going to give this one another try. I often make the error of bringing
    challenging books on vacation, when I just end up pining for Steven King.
    More on Karen Armstrong soon.
  • The
    Everlasting Story of Nory     - A deeply boring book from one of my favourite
    writers. I’ve read everything else he’s written, and loved most of it. However,
    I couldn’t make it passed chapter two in this badboy.

Comments: 8 Responses so far

Devon
June 16th, 2004
6:25 pm

You didn’t finish Immortality? Shame on you!

I didn’t finish “Dance Dance Dance” by Haruki Murakami, though, so I should just shut up.

[Reply]

champ
June 16th, 2004
11:17 pm

If you are planning on selling following books please let me know (cant afford new):
+Buddha
+Galileo’s Commandment

[Reply]

Sue
June 16th, 2004
11:46 pm

You know, I used to beat myself up mentally if I didn’t finish a book, especially if was supposed to have so-called literary merit.

Then I adopted my new philosophy: Life is too short to read books that you’re not enjoying.

Reading is supposed to be a pleasure. While banging my way through the 5-year plan for my English degree at UVic, I coined the phrase “hairball reading” for anything that I had to practically choke down/up to pass a course. The first entry was Tristram Shandy. A quick second was The Fairie Queene.

If any of the books on your list are “hairballs” in your life, I strongly urge you to grant yourself the freedom to put them aside and never try to read them again.

[Reply]

Hugh
June 17th, 2004
6:39 am

“A Gentle Madness” is a long slog unless you treat it like a bathroom book. Skip over the historical sections, and start with the chapters on The Garden, Ltd. and the 1980’s book market. Then start picking up a section or two at a time. A related book is “A History of Reading” by Alberto Manguel. Or you could just leave it on the shelf, and treat it like the beautifully produced book that it is.

[Reply]

Darren
June 17th, 2004
7:58 am

Sue: Don’t worry, I’m generally happy to reject art that doesn’t keep me engaged. For example, I leave plays at intermission all the time.

[Reply]

bree
June 17th, 2004
8:34 am

I have a ton of partially read books on my shelves. Some I put down temporarily and never picked up again, some I really do intend to finish (and I occasionally do!), and some were just that painful a slog.

[Reply]

Myron
June 17th, 2004
9:53 am

I’ll vouch for Manguel’s History of Reading. Fine book. Easy read. Just don’t expect comprehensiveness and do expect to feel just a little inferior when you’re done.

[Reply]

marginalia.org
June 17th, 2004
11:06 pm

Read & Unread

My current pile of started-but-not-finished books: An approximation of what I’ve read in the past, say, 6 months: Update: Richard provides a photo of his unread pile and some details about the contents. I must confess that my photo was just of th…

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