It is superbly written, but scary and depressing as all hell: The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth. And I don’t want scary and depressing. I want either light, witty and entertaining; or illuminating and awe-inspiring, or brain-teasing. So on the one hand I keep going back to The Plot and reading another page or two; on the other hand I’m constantly on the lookout for something light and entertaining to serve as a counter measure. At this rate, it’ll either take me forever to finish The Plot, or else it’ll join the list of books I started reading but never finished.
Some compulsive readers can’t bear to do that. They’ll grin and
bear it, wade through the book for better and for worse, the less-compulsive
skipping a bit here & there or peeking at the last page/s to see how it all
turns out. I know a young woman who will not read a book if she finds out her
fave character gets offed by the author. A man I know has no compunctions about
skipping whole chapters to find out whether it’s worth pursuing to the bitter(?) end. And I? I give up, put the troublesome book back on the shelf, and add
it to my list.
The list, I’m afraid, is too long to include here. Might scare you
off or bore you to tears. It includes both classics and books that were
bestsellers in their heyday, not always justifiably. Below is a partial list,
with a short note of my first impressions at the time, often including the
reason for dropping the book:
Virginia Woolf: To the Lighthouse
Requires quiet and concentration... like “good literature” I
studied at university.
Having started reading Virginia Woolf's biography by Hermione Lee I
thought I might find Lighthouse more interesting in terms of identifying
elements taken from her own life. Not that it makes any difference to the novel
itself or my enjoyment of it; but as a would-be writer, it's helpful to see the
extent to which good writers draw on their own lives.
BTW – never finished reading the biography either. All those trivial
details drove me crazy. Reached p.81/755 (ignoring the Index & Notes). I
adore Virginia Woolf. Wouldn’t I be better off just reading her writings
instead of the writings about her?...
Daniel Goleman: Emotional Intelligence
Extremely annoying. Too much repetition, too much stating of the
obvious. Remember: Always count to 10 (or 20, or more) before doing or saying anything stupid. Got it? You're good to go.
Wally Lamb: She’s Come Undone
Yes, I know a protagonist doesn’t have to be charming in order for
a novel to be good. But the protagonist is so off-putting that I can’t force
myself to continue reading. I heard it has a happy end. Jolly good.
Carolyn Heilbrun: The Last Gift of Time
Heilbrun’s (a.k.a. Amanda Cross) novels all have an agenda, they’re very “academic”. Unlike the mysteries, this
one’s non-fiction. I lost patience with it because I couldn’t identify with its
premises. The writer doesn’t succeed in making her insights about women
relevant to a wide range of women. Virginia Woolf talked about “a room” of
one’s own, which, in practical terms, is difficult enough; Heilbrun talks about
a house of her own… (Poor woman committed suicide in Oct 2003).
Peter Hoeg: The Borderliners. I liked Smilla’s Sense of Snow
despite its flaws, so I thought I might like this one, too. But there was
something creepy about it. Reminds me of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.
Rebecca Wells: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Couldn't finish. The characters were not "rounded"
enough, it was difficult to distinguish between them and remember who's who.
Also, the writer tries too hard and ends up tripping over excessive verbs and
superfluous, pointless descriptions of actions.
Graham Greene: The End of the Affair
Despite my adoration of Graham Greene, I didn't finish this one; it
was beautiful and touching and engaging, until I learnt that the woman gives up
her love because of a promise made to God. Lost interest. After seeing the
movie, I tried getting back to the book. However, I was still annoyed that God
punishes her by death(!) for her transgression. What's her main transgression,
going back on her word to Him, or committing adultery? Will reading the book
provide an answer?
Other GGs I didn’t finish: Stamboul Train (early novel, not very
good); Monsignor Quixote (too much politics and religion); A Burnt Out Case – Reached page 189 out of 208, and couldn't continue. I saw where the plot was
headed, and it breaks my heart. Of course, I could be mistaken – Graham Greene
has been known to fool and surprise me with a twist of the plot… But I can see
Querry falling into the trap, being ensnared by malicious gossip…; TheComedians – Started in English, got confused with the time line, so switched to
the Hebrew – old translation by Amatzia Porat – which annoys me no end. Even allowing for conventions in translation during the 1960s (not to mention
earlier), it is still bad, contains inexcusable inaccuracies and high register
which make the clear GG text nearly unintelligible.
Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin
Complex. Too early to tell. But already a few shrewd observations.
Never went back to it. What do you say, folks, is it worth it?
Lynne Truss: Talk to the Hand
Truss makes some very important points, only she’s so in love with
words that her words sometimes cloud the very issue she’s trying to make. But
that is probably considered her unique style; take that away from her, and her
observations seem a bit bare. I’d hoped to continue, but never did; she made
her point: people are rude. So?
* * *
Enough for one day, eh?
2 comments:
What needs to be understood about The End of the Affair-- I think even the recent movie version didn't quite understand it-- is that the woman is a saint. Literally. If I recall the legend correctly, people would say to Graham Greene, "Okay, you believe that God exists, that's crazy enough, but how can you believe that saints exist?" and he sat down to write a novel with a believable saint. She performs a miracle during her lifetime (praying a dead man back to life... although it's not entirely clear she knows she did that) and then two more miracles after her death.
Gosh, I had no idea. Good to know. But since that doesn't make the novel any better as far as I'm concerned, I ain't goin' back there :-)
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