Jane Austen.I don't have a good track record with Ms Austen. I have started and stopped "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense & Sensibility" after getting no further than 30 pages in. I just wanted to strangle the Mom in the first couple pages of P&P. Blegh! Maybe it's because I'm not a hopeless romantic or maybe I will just appreciate them more when I'm older, I don't know. But for right now I'm taking a pass.
Though I am pro-Colin Firth in anything.
Though I am pro-Colin Firth in anything.
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| This place is probably haunted by the spirits of women who weren't married of by 18 and died being old maids at 30. |
The Harry Potter books. Don't chase me with torches and pitchforks. I don't have anything against these books I just don't feel the need to read them.It probably has something to do with Harry Potter overexposure. I mean, just the Pinterest boards alone are enough to keep the Potter Phanatics up and at it for years. Also probably has something to do with my aversion to reading overly popular books.
Though having said all that I do enjoy some of the movies.But I have to say my boarding school experience was less magical. But also less ghosts.
Though having said all that I do enjoy some of the movies.But I have to say my boarding school experience was less magical. But also less ghosts.
Shakespeare's comedies. I love Shakespeare. I am in awe and wonder of most everything he writes. His comedies,not so much. I love his tragedies; they are emotional and sweeping and show us characteristics in humans that we pray are not reflected in our own selves.
But the comedies...Maybe I'm just a Morbid Milly (?) but the "Oh I love him but he can't know because I'm cross dressing and he thinks I'm a man because I'm on the run" blah blah blah just gets on my nerves and annoys me. Again, not being a hopeless romantic is a problem here too? I find myself thinking "if everyone was just honest with everyone else right away this play would be 30 pages max!"
Though in "Winter's Tale" (a tragi-comedy) someone gets eaten by a bear. So that's good.
But the comedies...Maybe I'm just a Morbid Milly (?) but the "Oh I love him but he can't know because I'm cross dressing and he thinks I'm a man because I'm on the run" blah blah blah just gets on my nerves and annoys me. Again, not being a hopeless romantic is a problem here too? I find myself thinking "if everyone was just honest with everyone else right away this play would be 30 pages max!"
Though in "Winter's Tale" (a tragi-comedy) someone gets eaten by a bear. So that's good.
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| I talk about cross dressing a lot. Is that weird? |
So I'm sure that some will think I'm being vapid or unfair but that's what great about books, everyone gets to read what they want and it's all good.
Are there any books that you just can't finish or that you feel like you should like and you just don't?
Are there any books that you just can't finish or that you feel like you should like and you just don't?
It took me quite a while to get into Moby Dick. To the point where initially the only reason I kept reading was because my father told me he started it several times and never finished it. So I set out to conquer where he failed. Hmmm one-upmanship perhaps not the greatest reason to read? There's a topic for you: reading motivation. Why you read and is there a wrong reason to read. I always feel terrible after not finishing a book (Timeline, Killer Angels, Shakespeare...) I always imagine meeting the author and saying something like "Oh I loved the first half of your book but then it got so boring that I couldn't finish" Awkward.
ReplyDeleteMoby Dick is a monster. I don't blame you for that struggle.
DeleteAs far as reading motivation if it weren't for a) one upsmanship b) trying to sound cool in front of your friends c) trying to impress a boy/girl enough for some kind attention or d) because you have to read it in school I think a shocking number of books would be left unread. It is an interesting question though.
I struggled with Killer Angels too. I learned a lot, and I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't go so far to say that I enjoyed it!
Yes, yes, yes, yes to Jane Austen. I just cannot care about her books. At all. I've tried so may times, and I never get more than halfway through. Movies are hit or miss depending on how good the actors are and how hot the leading men are. (There, I said it).
ReplyDeleteAs for HP, I was in the same boat as you for a loooong time. (Now I freaking love those books, but don't worry I won't try to convince you to read them!) Finally I ended up picking on up when I was babysitting (yes this was back in high school) because the kids had gone to bed and it was just sitting on the coffee table staring at me. So I figured, whatever, I'll read a few chapters and then make fun of people for how lame it is. Except I couldn't freaking put it down, and power read my way through the next 4. And then I sat waiting for the rest of them to come out so I could devour them. I will say this though, as an adult, the first books are slow and are written at a youth level. But books 5-7 are fantastic from a writing standpoint. While you might not always be into the story, the way she writes is phenomenal. She's a master of foreshadowing without you even realizing it. Like you'll get to a huge plot twist and be like "WHAT!?!?" and then you realize that she literally told you that in chapter 2 and you didn't catch it. Also, the movies have nothing on the books. At all. As in it's almost painful to watch because they oversimplify everything and leave out huge plot points. And then they throw in random things for "the book fans" but don't really explain them and I have to wonder if people who never read the books are just scratching their heads because wtf?!
ANYWAY, rant over. And I hear you on Shakespeare. Love the man, but maybe people were more easily amused back then? I don't know.
Thank God! Another person who doesn't dream about Mr Darcy! If I want books about oppressed women in England I'm reading Jane Eyre. Which is considerably more awesome.
DeleteI love your Harry Potter love story, I've been in that same situation but never had such a nice result like you had! I get legitmately scared watching the last few movies so I can only imagine what more details in the books would do to me! I'm glad that they make you so excited. Books are magic!
The best I can figure for all of Shakespeare's shenanigans is that it's like early slapstick/physical humor and we just don't get it because we're not sitting in the Globe. We have cat videos on the internet instead I guess.