January 6th, 2010 / 8:53 am
Snippets
Snippets
Sean Lovelace—
When was the last time you read a book you didn’t really want to read? How did that go?
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Jodi Picoult “Songs of the Humpback Whale”. It was for a book group that sucked me in by having a Carver month. When I found out Picoult was the next one I was like okay, penance. My friend looked into the book and said even her fans didn’t like this book. It’s her first book and it goes for an atypical narrative structure with multiple narrators narrating along different temporal trajectories (one is moving forwards, one is moving backwards, etc). It’s very tricksy but there isn’t much too it. There’s some LOL lines in it like ‘my redhead secretary who was obviously attracted to me entered the room’.
I tried to make myself appreciate the way Picoult tried to make it work, use conventions etc, but I didn’t enjoy it. At the book group, though, I started to defend the book from being *totally* awful because the woman who’d picked it looked really sad when everyone was just mercilessly slating it. It wasn’t unpleasant to read, just not that interesting.
Jodi Picoult “Songs of the Humpback Whale”. It was for a book group that sucked me in by having a Carver month. When I found out Picoult was the next one I was like okay, penance. My friend looked into the book and said even her fans didn’t like this book. It’s her first book and it goes for an atypical narrative structure with multiple narrators narrating along different temporal trajectories (one is moving forwards, one is moving backwards, etc). It’s very tricksy but there isn’t much too it. There’s some LOL lines in it like ‘my redhead secretary who was obviously attracted to me entered the room’.
I tried to make myself appreciate the way Picoult tried to make it work, use conventions etc, but I didn’t enjoy it. At the book group, though, I started to defend the book from being *totally* awful because the woman who’d picked it looked really sad when everyone was just mercilessly slating it. It wasn’t unpleasant to read, just not that interesting.
Jodi Picoult “Songs of the Humpback Whale”. It was for a book group that sucked me in by having a Carver month. When I found out Picoult was the next one I was like okay, penance. My friend looked into the book and said even her fans didn’t like this book. It’s her first book and it goes for an atypical narrative structure with multiple narrators narrating along different temporal trajectories (one is moving forwards, one is moving backwards, etc). It’s very tricksy but there isn’t much too it. There’s some LOL lines in it like ‘my redhead secretary who was obviously attracted to me entered the room’.
I tried to make myself appreciate the way Picoult tried to make it work, use conventions etc, but I didn’t enjoy it. At the book group, though, I started to defend the book from being *totally* awful because the woman who’d picked it looked really sad when everyone was just mercilessly slating it. It wasn’t unpleasant to read, just not that interesting.
The example that stands out right now comes from early last year, February or so. I read a chapbook that was just one longish short story, and the process went from “this seems pretty interesting” to “this isn’t very good” to “okay, now this is bad,” then ended up counting the pages left after every turn. if you’re counting pages, you are /not/ having a good time.
The example that stands out right now comes from early last year, February or so. I read a chapbook that was just one longish short story, and the process went from “this seems pretty interesting” to “this isn’t very good” to “okay, now this is bad,” then ended up counting the pages left after every turn. if you’re counting pages, you are /not/ having a good time.
The example that stands out right now comes from early last year, February or so. I read a chapbook that was just one longish short story, and the process went from “this seems pretty interesting” to “this isn’t very good” to “okay, now this is bad,” then ended up counting the pages left after every turn. if you’re counting pages, you are /not/ having a good time.
Similar to Kevin’s story, mine was a book group selection: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I read five pages before I gave up. I knew I didn’t have it in me to read the whole book, and I had made a commitment to no longer read books completely that I didn’t enjoy from the start. Usually I’ll give a book at least a chapter to hook, but this one, my gut told me to stop. Just stop. And don’t look back.
And I found out during the book group meeting that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t finish the book. The only person who did was the one who selected it. I’m now suspect of all her future selections.
Similar to Kevin’s story, mine was a book group selection: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I read five pages before I gave up. I knew I didn’t have it in me to read the whole book, and I had made a commitment to no longer read books completely that I didn’t enjoy from the start. Usually I’ll give a book at least a chapter to hook, but this one, my gut told me to stop. Just stop. And don’t look back.
And I found out during the book group meeting that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t finish the book. The only person who did was the one who selected it. I’m now suspect of all her future selections.
except when I read Infinite Jest. I was just impressed with how much I had actually read in one book. that’s different because I really wanted to read it and loved it all the way.
except when I read Infinite Jest. I was just impressed with how much I had actually read in one book. that’s different because I really wanted to read it and loved it all the way.
Similar to Kevin’s story, mine was a book group selection: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter. I read five pages before I gave up. I knew I didn’t have it in me to read the whole book, and I had made a commitment to no longer read books completely that I didn’t enjoy from the start. Usually I’ll give a book at least a chapter to hook, but this one, my gut told me to stop. Just stop. And don’t look back.
And I found out during the book group meeting that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t finish the book. The only person who did was the one who selected it. I’m now suspect of all her future selections.
except when I read Infinite Jest. I was just impressed with how much I had actually read in one book. that’s different because I really wanted to read it and loved it all the way.
The Yemassee by William Gilmore Sims for a southern lit class.
I still remember the way that thick white book looked in the floorboard of my car with footprints and trash on it.
The Yemassee by William Gilmore Sims for a southern lit class.
I still remember the way that thick white book looked in the floorboard of my car with footprints and trash on it.
The Yemassee by William Gilmore Sims for a southern lit class.
I still remember the way that thick white book looked in the floorboard of my car with footprints and trash on it.
I found What Nature: Poems by Steve Fay at a book sale, and I thought the cover was nice, so I bought it for like a quarter. Later, I saw on Goodreads that no one had read it, this published book, according to the site. With pity in mind, I started.
I can’t say I was disappointed as my expectations were low, but I had to push myself to trudge on. Part of me wanted to like it, but I couldn’t. I found myself looking up far too often and really not remembering a single line.
I found What Nature: Poems by Steve Fay at a book sale, and I thought the cover was nice, so I bought it for like a quarter. Later, I saw on Goodreads that no one had read it, this published book, according to the site. With pity in mind, I started.
I can’t say I was disappointed as my expectations were low, but I had to push myself to trudge on. Part of me wanted to like it, but I couldn’t. I found myself looking up far too often and really not remembering a single line.
I found What Nature: Poems by Steve Fay at a book sale, and I thought the cover was nice, so I bought it for like a quarter. Later, I saw on Goodreads that no one had read it, this published book, according to the site. With pity in mind, I started.
I can’t say I was disappointed as my expectations were low, but I had to push myself to trudge on. Part of me wanted to like it, but I couldn’t. I found myself looking up far too often and really not remembering a single line.
Why would anyone have to read a book they didn’t want to read?
Why would anyone have to read a book they didn’t want to read?
Why would anyone have to read a book they didn’t want to read?
i paid 10 damn dollars for this chapbook. by god, i was going to read that thing
i paid 10 damn dollars for this chapbook. by god, i was going to read that thing
i paid 10 damn dollars for this chapbook. by god, i was going to read that thing
I read through all of the decameron over about a year…one story every three days or so. i really don’t know why–i felt compelled. i loved the framing of it, and all the plague stuff. but i’d say only about 10-15 of those stories really hold any weight.
I read through all of the decameron over about a year…one story every three days or so. i really don’t know why–i felt compelled. i loved the framing of it, and all the plague stuff. but i’d say only about 10-15 of those stories really hold any weight.
I read through all of the decameron over about a year…one story every three days or so. i really don’t know why–i felt compelled. i loved the framing of it, and all the plague stuff. but i’d say only about 10-15 of those stories really hold any weight.
Dale, I was thinking a class, or ever been in a house or situation where you had to read, but the choices were all books you did not want to read, but you read one?
I am picking at, unraveling the idea of ONLY reading what you already know you want to read. What interests me is finding a time to read what you do NOT want to take in…
This could work with music, websites, TV, movies, on and on.
In any downtime, I like to read, so have actually had a lot of instances where I just had to pick up what was near (though I keep stacks in my car, blah, blah).
shaun, 10 bucks for a chapbook! Wow. I wouldn’t pay that unless the book was a rich yellow.
overall – did you like the decameron tho?
overall – did you like the decameron tho?
overall – did you like the decameron tho?
yeah, like i said, i loved the framing and it was a fun book to read–the sexy bits and all the monks lying about being monks and making it with the nuns. but i really had to slog through the great majority of those stories to get to the good ones. it felt wildly uneven.
yeah, like i said, i loved the framing and it was a fun book to read–the sexy bits and all the monks lying about being monks and making it with the nuns. but i really had to slog through the great majority of those stories to get to the good ones. it felt wildly uneven.
yeah, like i said, i loved the framing and it was a fun book to read–the sexy bits and all the monks lying about being monks and making it with the nuns. but i really had to slog through the great majority of those stories to get to the good ones. it felt wildly uneven.
“…ever been in a house or situation where you had to read…”
“Shut Up, He Explained” by Ring Lardner when I was a teenager and visiting my grandmother who lived outside of St. Louis, and my grandpa, who I dearly loved, had just been put into a nursing home because he’d had a stroke, and I slept in his bed (they had separate bedrooms!), and this was one of the few books (I think the rest, and there were only two or three, were those hardcover Reader’s Digest collections) that were on his “nightstand”. (I like that word “nightstand”.) I really liked the title of the book, and I realize now that it predated Carver’s “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please” by, well, a number of years.
“…ever been in a house or situation where you had to read…”
“Shut Up, He Explained” by Ring Lardner when I was a teenager and visiting my grandmother who lived outside of St. Louis, and my grandpa, who I dearly loved, had just been put into a nursing home because he’d had a stroke, and I slept in his bed (they had separate bedrooms!), and this was one of the few books (I think the rest, and there were only two or three, were those hardcover Reader’s Digest collections) that were on his “nightstand”. (I like that word “nightstand”.) I really liked the title of the book, and I realize now that it predated Carver’s “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please” by, well, a number of years.
“…ever been in a house or situation where you had to read…”
“Shut Up, He Explained” by Ring Lardner when I was a teenager and visiting my grandmother who lived outside of St. Louis, and my grandpa, who I dearly loved, had just been put into a nursing home because he’d had a stroke, and I slept in his bed (they had separate bedrooms!), and this was one of the few books (I think the rest, and there were only two or three, were those hardcover Reader’s Digest collections) that were on his “nightstand”. (I like that word “nightstand”.) I really liked the title of the book, and I realize now that it predated Carver’s “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please” by, well, a number of years.
I’m currently reading Bolano’s 2666 not because I want to, but because 1) I wanted to finally see what all the fuss was about, and be in a position where I could critique his work 2) I agreed to review it for a friend’s journal.
Goddamn it is sooooo boring. Seriously, it’s just aweful drudgery to flip through — and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so boring — to use Lutz’s terms, it’s a page turner rather than a page hugger — so in this way it reminds me very much of my experience reading Harry Potter, except that Harry Potter was actually engaging and entertaining.
In the nearly 200 pages I’ve read so far, there have been maybe three paragraphs worth reading. I don’t know how I’ll ever get through it, but I’m pages away from completing the first section so I’m gonna force myself to at least do that much.
Those who consider this book a masterpiece are working from a different understanding of what defines a masterpiece than I am.
I’m currently reading Bolano’s 2666 not because I want to, but because 1) I wanted to finally see what all the fuss was about, and be in a position where I could critique his work 2) I agreed to review it for a friend’s journal.
Goddamn it is sooooo boring. Seriously, it’s just aweful drudgery to flip through — and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so boring — to use Lutz’s terms, it’s a page turner rather than a page hugger — so in this way it reminds me very much of my experience reading Harry Potter, except that Harry Potter was actually engaging and entertaining.
In the nearly 200 pages I’ve read so far, there have been maybe three paragraphs worth reading. I don’t know how I’ll ever get through it, but I’m pages away from completing the first section so I’m gonna force myself to at least do that much.
Those who consider this book a masterpiece are working from a different understanding of what defines a masterpiece than I am.
I’m currently reading Bolano’s 2666 not because I want to, but because 1) I wanted to finally see what all the fuss was about, and be in a position where I could critique his work 2) I agreed to review it for a friend’s journal.
Goddamn it is sooooo boring. Seriously, it’s just aweful drudgery to flip through — and that’s one of the reasons why it’s so boring — to use Lutz’s terms, it’s a page turner rather than a page hugger — so in this way it reminds me very much of my experience reading Harry Potter, except that Harry Potter was actually engaging and entertaining.
In the nearly 200 pages I’ve read so far, there have been maybe three paragraphs worth reading. I don’t know how I’ll ever get through it, but I’m pages away from completing the first section so I’m gonna force myself to at least do that much.
Those who consider this book a masterpiece are working from a different understanding of what defines a masterpiece than I am.
i kno what you mean…anything written before – what? – 1800, you’ll have to slog through. @ least that’s the case w/me.
the heptameron was written something like 200 years after the decam & basically steals everything – specifically the frame – you might like it.
i kno what you mean…anything written before – what? – 1800, you’ll have to slog through. @ least that’s the case w/me.
the heptameron was written something like 200 years after the decam & basically steals everything – specifically the frame – you might like it.
i kno what you mean…anything written before – what? – 1800, you’ll have to slog through. @ least that’s the case w/me.
the heptameron was written something like 200 years after the decam & basically steals everything – specifically the frame – you might like it.
My grandparents’ also have separate bedrooms. What’s up with that?
My grandparents’ also have separate bedrooms. What’s up with that?
Hi Christopher – this is me, Roberto Bolano. I suggest you keep reading. By page 300, you’ll be whistling a different tune. By the end, you’ll be like oh, ok, shit, goddamn.
Oh, I get it. The last book I read that I didn’t want to read, or that I felt I had to read, was A Heartbreaking Work…by Eggers. Since I grew up in the 90s, and cut my serious-lit wisdom teeth reading IJ during the summer of 96, I found the Eggers both derivative and totally unnecessary.
Hi Christopher – this is me, Roberto Bolano. I suggest you keep reading. By page 300, you’ll be whistling a different tune. By the end, you’ll be like oh, ok, shit, goddamn.
Oh, I get it. The last book I read that I didn’t want to read, or that I felt I had to read, was A Heartbreaking Work…by Eggers. Since I grew up in the 90s, and cut my serious-lit wisdom teeth reading IJ during the summer of 96, I found the Eggers both derivative and totally unnecessary.
high school, maybe college (do textbooks count?)
high school, maybe college (do textbooks count?)
Justin Cronin’s Mary and O’Neil, for MFA school. Picked on it in class for being tripe. Was afterward told I was a terrible writer and might not graduate. There were meetings.
Now I fucking hate that book.
Justin Cronin’s Mary and O’Neil, for MFA school. Picked on it in class for being tripe. Was afterward told I was a terrible writer and might not graduate. There were meetings.
Now I fucking hate that book.
I read the DaVinci Code back when it first came out, because someone told me I was being a terrible snob and it was actually really entertaining.
It was the worst reading experience maybe ever. I know some people can get past shitty writing and just enjoy plot, but I. CAN. NOT. Nothing in the world will turn me off from a book more quickly than shitty writing. I don’t care how goddamned entertaining your plot is, if you describe your character by having them looking at their “mousy, straight-brown hair that she’d hated since childhood” in the mirror, I will not read your book. You see, I will not enjoy your book, because I will spend the entire time thinking about the injustice of your six-figure book deal and how you’re stealing my time, precious time that could be spent with writing that will slay me instead of make me groan out loud.
Anyway, since then I promised myself I would never read another shittily-written book, no matter how much hype or who wanted me to read it. And I haven’t. Best decision I’ve ever made.
I read the DaVinci Code back when it first came out, because someone told me I was being a terrible snob and it was actually really entertaining.
It was the worst reading experience maybe ever. I know some people can get past shitty writing and just enjoy plot, but I. CAN. NOT. Nothing in the world will turn me off from a book more quickly than shitty writing. I don’t care how goddamned entertaining your plot is, if you describe your character by having them looking at their “mousy, straight-brown hair that she’d hated since childhood” in the mirror, I will not read your book. You see, I will not enjoy your book, because I will spend the entire time thinking about the injustice of your six-figure book deal and how you’re stealing my time, precious time that could be spent with writing that will slay me instead of make me groan out loud.
Anyway, since then I promised myself I would never read another shittily-written book, no matter how much hype or who wanted me to read it. And I haven’t. Best decision I’ve ever made.
I had to read “The History of Love” for an MFA class this past semester. The class got to choose what novel to read via a voting system. This is what won. I was upset. Going into it, I figured it would be schmaltzy and cutesy and trying too hard to be different. Once read, I thought it was schmaltzy and cutesy and trying too hard to be different. Sometimes I’m just right.
I had to read “The History of Love” for an MFA class this past semester. The class got to choose what novel to read via a voting system. This is what won. I was upset. Going into it, I figured it would be schmaltzy and cutesy and trying too hard to be different. Once read, I thought it was schmaltzy and cutesy and trying too hard to be different. Sometimes I’m just right.
i took an irish lit class last semester. there were some books i wanted to read on the list and some books i didn’t much care about. two books i read that didn’t initially interest me were ‘the sea’ by john banville and ‘the gathering’ by anne enright. they ended up flooring me. ‘the sea’ especially. if you are interested in irish literature, those are two authors you should go read right now.
i took an irish lit class last semester. there were some books i wanted to read on the list and some books i didn’t much care about. two books i read that didn’t initially interest me were ‘the sea’ by john banville and ‘the gathering’ by anne enright. they ended up flooring me. ‘the sea’ especially. if you are interested in irish literature, those are two authors you should go read right now.
Probably D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, in college. Not that I didn’t want to read it, but as soon as I started it I was tired of it.
Probably D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, in college. Not that I didn’t want to read it, but as soon as I started it I was tired of it.
I had to read “Women in Love” for a class in college, and I found it really annoying. I took the class (I was a Bio major) because “Madame Bovary” was on the syllabus.
I had to read “Women in Love” for a class in college, and I found it really annoying. I took the class (I was a Bio major) because “Madame Bovary” was on the syllabus.
I started Women in Love after that on my own and was bored. Guess I didn’t learn my lesson.
I started Women in Love after that on my own and was bored. Guess I didn’t learn my lesson.
interning for macadam/cage i read a bunch of shitty manuscripts from the slush pile. like three a week. i decided to focus on writing rather than editing.
interning for macadam/cage i read a bunch of shitty manuscripts from the slush pile. like three a week. i decided to focus on writing rather than editing.
i taught this book that won the FC2 prize a few years back. i thought it would be fun to teach a book i hadn’t read. it’s unpleasant to have to read a book one does not like. i found i resented students who liked it. because they liked it. (i edit & read a lot of mss. i have high expectations for published stuff. you know.)
i taught this book that won the FC2 prize a few years back. i thought it would be fun to teach a book i hadn’t read. it’s unpleasant to have to read a book one does not like. i found i resented students who liked it. because they liked it. (i edit & read a lot of mss. i have high expectations for published stuff. you know.)
About ten years ago I found myself in Michigan, outside of Detroit staying with my gf at the time’s old friend. Someone she had not seen in a few years. Needless to say, they had a lot of “catching up” to do. I somehow ended up grabbing a biography, fuck, autobiography at that, of Marlyn Manson off of this person’s bookshelf. I want to say it was the only book they had. I feel like they had a bunch of movies on their bookshelf in the place of books.
So, yea. So i read the whole book that night. It didn’t suck I guess. it was like watching mtv when you are drunk and its 3 in the morning. (mid 1990s mtv)
About ten years ago I found myself in Michigan, outside of Detroit staying with my gf at the time’s old friend. Someone she had not seen in a few years. Needless to say, they had a lot of “catching up” to do. I somehow ended up grabbing a biography, fuck, autobiography at that, of Marlyn Manson off of this person’s bookshelf. I want to say it was the only book they had. I feel like they had a bunch of movies on their bookshelf in the place of books.
So, yea. So i read the whole book that night. It didn’t suck I guess. it was like watching mtv when you are drunk and its 3 in the morning. (mid 1990s mtv)
I read “Stoner” that my husband recommended because I didn’t have anything else to read over xmas break and I really enjoyed it…maybe I should listen to him more. He also has told me to read “We did Porn”
I read “Stoner” that my husband recommended because I didn’t have anything else to read over xmas break and I really enjoyed it…maybe I should listen to him more. He also has told me to read “We did Porn”
I agreed to review a book a few months ago, and now I have two weeks left to turn in the review. Every time I try reading this book, I can’t do it. It’s not bad. I just don’t want to read it. I’m doing another review for the same magazine, but that one will be easy — I’ve already read that book three times and dislike it.
I agreed to review a book a few months ago, and now I have two weeks left to turn in the review. Every time I try reading this book, I can’t do it. It’s not bad. I just don’t want to read it. I’m doing another review for the same magazine, but that one will be easy — I’ve already read that book three times and dislike it.
if you write a review of a forthcoming book
if you write a review of a forthcoming book