Man, do I like to read. I strive to mostly read good books, but sometimes it can’t be helped…bad books do cross my plate. Bad books bother me, they make me feel like I’ve wasted my time. To make matters worse, I can’t easily just put down a book I’ve started. It’s rare that i start a book and don’t finish (although it does happen, like with Undaunted Courage. It was just too long and I was too impatient and felt like I had better things to do. I know it’s supposed to be a good book and all, but really…) Most bad books I’ve read, though, I’ve read from front to back. I can’t stop even when I recognize the book stinks.
I read fast, some would say. I say I just read at “real time.” I read at the same speed I think or speak. When I’m following along with a conversation in a book, it moves apace pretty much at real time in my head. I can read faster, much faster, but it takes conscious effort to do so, and I fall out of the “zone”. When I’m in the “zone”, I’m not conscious of the act of actually reading. I’m not aware of words, of turning the pages, of re-reading sections…nothing. The words simply come to represent thought, and in my head I don’t “read”, per se, I just “think.”
People who know me occasionally ask what I’ve been reading. This, to me, is a bit of a loaded question. On one hand, I’m sometimes tempted to throw out some challenging, eclectic, fabulous title with which they may or may not be familiar. This, of course, means, in turn, that I am sometime tempted to actually buy and read such challenging, eclectic, fabulous titles just so as to be properly armed when the question comes along. This is a bad way to choose books.
On a second hand, books are intensely personal. What books I like may be worlds apart from books you like. What I find stimulating and meaningful and intense, you may find droll, stupid and worthless. To further compound this scenario, you may actually find ME droll, stupid and worthless based on the books I’m reading! I know that I have to fight against this tendency when someone tells me they’re 1) reading a Max Lucado book, and 2) they love it! How can I ever look at this person again with anything resembling respect!?! Seriously, I’ve learned over the years that there’s no accounting for reading taste. I’m usually hesitant to recommend, or buy, books for others because there is just no way to ever account for such a personal experience. I don’t mind talking about books I like, and why I like them, but I always have to remember that books I like may not be for my neighbor.
NOTE: This is why I despise the reaction to Oprah’s Book Club. I don’t mind the concept of Oprah recommending books, it’s the rabid, uncritical acceptance of these books that irks me. One of purest joys of being a book reader is the discovery process, of following either hints and clues or instinct to locate winners. The serendipity of a good book found beats the mundane nature of a great book recommended any day (in my - ahem - book.)
Here are some books I’ve read lately, and my opinions:
The Sleeper Awakes and The Time Machine - both by H.G. Wells. Both are “classics” (whatever that means.) Both are prophetic in ways (in The Sleeper Awakes, Wells describes aerial battles taking place in aeroplanes…several years before the Wright brothers and Kitty Hawk.) Both involve what I would call fantastic, wildly imaginative story lines. However, both fall a little flat. The Sleeper Awakes seems to end in mid-sentence, as if Wells grew suddenly tired (like the protagonist in the story), while The Time Machine hinted at much more than it delivered. All in all, though, great reads of a great author.
The Man Who Was Thursday - G.K. Chesterton. Very interesting book, with an odd, surreal feel to it. It being Chesterton, there is a lot of wit and insight into human nature. There is also a lot of Christian allegory here, as you might expect. The premise of the book involves an undercover policeman who infiltrates a group of anarchists. These anarchists have a “council” whereby they name themselves after the days of the week. The book quickly takes bizarre, almost absurd directions as more and more of the anarchist plot is revealed. Again, the ending left me a bit at a lost, but all in all a very worthwhile read.
Personal Finance for Dummies - Well, what can I say. It’s for dummies, it’s about personal finance, and it’s yellow. Some good stuff in there, some which didn’t apply to me. Par for the course with the Dummies series.
The Innocent Man - John Grisham. A sensational account of “justice gone bad” in small-town Oklahoma. I’m sure Grisham did his homework, and he does paint a compelling, tragic scene, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was 1) only getting a small part of the story, and 2) that Grisham was predisposed to lean heavily on the side of the law and lightly on the accused. A quick, somewhat interesting read which I will only vaguely recollect in 6 months.
The Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad. This book was brilliantly recast as the movie Apocalypse Now. To our 21st century eyes the book may not seem to hold the same psychological power as the movie, but we’d be wrong. It is a dark, compelling, creepy book. This book required my full power as a reader. There was so much going on beneath the surface that I had to read and re-read certain parts. But make no mistake, this is a great book written by an author who’s power was on full display. “The horror! The horror!”
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver. A positively acclaimed author. An “African” theme I might connect with. A pretty cover. How could I go wrong? Blech. This book was one of the “bad” books I wrote about above. I kept waiting, and waiting and waiting and waiting. For something, anything to come along and redeem the price of a hardcover book. No such luck. The story itself had some bright spots, but only in general terms. Nothing grand or even interesting was ever pulled off. This story came, stayed while, and left, all without making the slightest impression on me. The very epitome of why newer books scare me…they receive lots of undeserved attention.
I’ll stop here for now. I have a lot of other books to write about, I’ll try to get around to some of them later on. I’ll also try to put together a list of some of my all-time faves. If you are one of the 4 people in the world who read this, leave me a list of some of your favorite books, maybe I’ll give them a go.
Dave,
I also struggle with “bad book but can’t stop reading” disorder. Recently through I’ve gotten better. Quit reading and check wikipedia in 3 minutes I know how it ended.
Recommend
A thousand splendid suns
Good scary book is The Ruins by Scott Smith.
Don’t recommend Next by Michael Criton
Bet you didn’t think I was one of the 4 people.
Hey Dave,
I am one of those 4 as well! Great article. The horror of it all! Criticising Max Lucado! Why I never. Guess I will stick with Barnes and Nobles gift cards from now on.
I love anything Roger Angell has written. He is known mostly as an essay writer for the New Yorker and for his great baseball books. Most of these are collections for essays.
You will hate for this, but we had this English teacher, Ms. Stuckey, who inspired a love of reading Willa Cather books. I have read all of them! I know, it is crazy but I think “My Antonia”, which we had to read in high school, and “O Pioneers!” are two of her best though it is all good, to me.
Last, Michael Lewis writes great books that you learn stuff from. “The Blind Side”, “Money Ball”, and “Liars Poker” are all exceptional books.
Look forward to other stuff you recommend. Remember, that ‘out of area’ call you get might be me. Take care.
Bro., Trey
Ringing in at person #3, Daver. When it comes to bad books, I have a hard time just getting through it. It hasn’t happened often, but the worst offender was the book that’s a sequel to Blade Runner - I literally could not get past the first few chapters, the writing was just so bad.
Which is strange because my favorite book of all time is “Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep?” which is the book that Blade Runner is based off of. It really has a conversation type feel to it - it’s a great read and really made me appreciate Phillip Dick. Another good book is Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. While it’s a war story, it’s one of the few well written futuristic war stories.
And just like you, I have no idea how a book gets classified as a “classic”. Really wish someone would explain that to me. Keep up the interesting reads!
Dave - I read The Poisonwood Bible and, like you, did not like it. I did not get all of the hype surrounding it - the story really went nowhere.
Come to think of it, most of Oprah’s book club choices have not been that great.
I’ll refrain from listing my favorite books since I think our tastes in books are a little different…but I loved reading about what you are reading!
A book you may like (I certainly did…what does it say about me?) is “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova, published 2005. Definitely “historical” science fiction, or is it horror, with lots of history and geography. The only two books on your list I’ve read are “The Time Machine” and “The Man Who was Thursday”, both good reads that might fit into the classic category. The Conrad book, “The Heart of Darkness”, I’ve put on my “to read” list.
I was surprised there was no mention of Stephen King in your list…you’ve read them all, I think.
And while I’m thinking about what I read, I’d like to tout my three “exciting adventures” favorite authors; again at the risk of revealing too much of my personality. For a good “action,” hard to put down, epic, I’d recommend Nelson Demille: Plum Island, Cathedral, and Night Fall (a fictional account of the TWA Flight 800 episode and another, I’ll not reveal the shocking ending)are my favorities. For science fiction (that is almost believable) there is none better than Jack McDevitt; “Infinity Beach,” “Eternity Road,” and “Deep Six” I especially recommend, although I’ve read all of his books (12 or so). And Robert Harris may be my favority “historical fiction” writer; the very best is “Pompeii,” but “Enigma” and “Ghost Writer” are excellent (for me). “Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome,” which I’m reading now, is a bit of a hard read. And of course, as you know, any non-fiction account about mountain climbing, I can’t resist. Keep reporting what you are reading…
Dave, I’m happy to say we are friends #7 and #8. Brad and I both love to read, but our tastes are very different from each other. We both just read “Same Kind of Different as Me” by Hall and Moore and both really liked it.
I read “The Poisonwood Bible” when I lived at camp…I think Julie might have recommended it. I didn’t finish it; maybe because it was May and the beginning of camp, maybe because I didn’t like it. I thought the concept of the 4 different voices was good, but it wasn’t worth finishing.
Anyway, Karin and I would love to extend an invitation for you to join the tsg2000 Summer Book Club for 2008. We read and discussed a new book about every two weeks or so last summer…it was great! Believe me, an invitation to join tsg2000 in any capacity is not extended lightly…
Ana
To pin these as my all-time favorites is a tall order, but these came to mind first so that must count for something: “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn, a thinker about role reversal of a man and a caged ape on who the true caged animal is. “Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis, amazing writing about the trials of those who try to bring us down. “The Killer Angels” by Michael Shaara, historical fiction of the battle of Gettysburg from the point of view of the men who fought it. “Huck Finn” by Twain.