I've had the same list of books on my blog for months. You might think that I've just been too busy to update the list, but no. I'm still reading all of those books. Except for the Kimmelman one. That I finished. In addition to the books still on the list, I have also started reading the following:
Jane Smiley's 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel
The Best American Essays 2005
The Best American Travel Writing 2005
The Best Food Writing 2005
Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (although that was only a brief encounter before giving the book to a friend as a Christmas gift, so it probably doesn't count)
And I did begin and actually finish two books:
Nicole Krauss' A History of Love
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which I read because of recent hype and because I absolutely hated the book when I was a kid, even though I couldn't remember why. I wanted to see if I'd still hate it, which I did--but not as much as I remember. Now it seems trite and heavy-handed but I'm not sure that was my reasoning as an 8-yr-old.
I seem to have a problem lately. I buy books and I start reading them, but I never seem to finish them before I get distracted by another. The stack by the side of my bed is perpetually growing. I'm not sure what accounts for this. I could say that I'm busy, but in all the time I've spent reading each of the books, I probably could have finished at least one of them. You could say that I'm just disinterested in the books I'm choosing to read, but I do like them all--perhaps too much. Maybe I'm just indecisive, unable to commit to any one narrative or collection of ideas. I keep telling myself that I can't buy a new book until I've read five that I already have, but it never works, so the stack keeps growing. And then there are the books I check out from the library. Ugh.
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8 comments:
I'm in the middle of two books. One, Atwood's Blind Assassin, I'm making progress on. Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel....well, some.
Still, I used to finish a book a day. What's going on. Harper's and The New Yorker going unread....
Am I reading too much blog? Is my attention span getting forever shorter? Are books getting longer????
I thought that you were persona non grata at the library. Never mind. I have a new theory about books--the ones that consume you will consume you. The ones that don't--well, it's okay to read _in_ those books, as opposed to reading and finishing them. Life's too short to make yourself finish books if they don't compel you to. In my humble opinion.
I was persona non grata, but I paid my fine. Although I'm already working on a new and ever-growing one. Currently $5.50
You have to finish the Michaels book. You are the only person I know that has even expressed an interest in reading it. I have to discuss it with someone. It will make great Xmas reading.
I was having trouble being "grabbed" by a book. But I just finished _A Million Little Pieces_ by James Frey. It was instantly compelling and hard to put down. Mostly because he was so messed up. But now I'm done with that. I have a few others that I have started. I'm going to finish them just so I can include them on my 2005 list before it's too late. But I think my problem lately has mostly been with novels. I can get into Nonfiction more easily. Why is that?
How you didn't like TLWW as a kid I will never understand. I was taken in from the first entrance into Narnia. I was going to ask you if you were going to use it in ch lit but I guess that would be a no.
I too buy and read a chapter or two and then buy again and again. I don't think it's whether a book is compelling or not that determines if I complete it; most often it's the books' connection to other people and events. I finished Scholes because we were discussing it in our 5 yr committee--it was compelling but I still wouldn't have finished it on my own. I finish just about every book we read for our bk club (most recently Lord of the Flies) because I want to talk about the book (even if it's to bash) with others. I finish other books because they are specifically connected to a class I'm teaching.
I think I read mostly in order to connect with other people. People make good books great. Last book I finshed on my own accord? I can't recall for sure but probably Lance Armstrong's 2nd autobio; they are usually kind of trashy books, not well written and heavily plot driven.
I also almost continually feel guilty for reading anything that isn't directly connected to an event with people. In part this is because I'm always behind on the reading I think I should be doing for a class, my career, etc. Therefore I rarely just read. Ironic: I teach in part so I can read and get paid but now I rarely just read to read, read for pleasure.
Since I'm not posting in my blog I thought I'd post here, i.e., this is really long.
Yes, I don't think my failure to read a book has anything to do with whether I find it compelling. All the books that I'm in the process of reading I actually want to keep reading. I'm enjoying them all--I just get distracted. And there's no pattern to it. Sometimes I have a hard time reading novels, but other times those read quickly and I find myself bored with nonfiction. Even reading with a group (like the Scholes) can't get me to finish a book sometimes--but I plan to finish that one as well. MB, I'll finish the Michaels book eventually--I swear.
I find it harder and harder to take novels seriously. I used to finish everything I started (including terrible movies), but yeah, life is too short. If a novel doesn't grab me in the first 70 pages then it goes out the window. It's make-believe. Why should I struggle with it? The author can do absolutely anything he or she wants to retain my attention; if they can't handle that then maybe their books don't need to be read, sorry. Gone are the days of reading novels for self-improvement.
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