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so we’re sitting on a much bigger pile of cultural exposure than Melville was, and we all draw from that.
I don't disgaree entirely, but I think we not only sit on a larger (perhaps more transient) cultural world, we sit in a different one. Take Wordsworth's Rainbow for instance
My heart leaps up when I behold
A Rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a Man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is Father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
That poem couldn't be written now, partly because of cultural implications of rainbows that just didn't exist when Wordsworth wrote it, but also because of the biblical and cultural use of phrases that he uses would've been startlingly familiar to it's readers then, but take deciphering now. Readers these days have different cultural touchstones, and aren't used to (excuse the snobbery) have to work at understand what they're reading or listening to. Shakespeare was popular partly because in the early 17thC it was fashionable to be seen to be clever, and you had to be, to get what Shakespeare was getting at. Not only that but Shakespeare uses made-up (like cryptic crosswords of their day) phrases to appeal to the clever folk, and then makes it plan in the second part of the line to folk in cheap seats...dead clever. Outside of Literature, that doesn't exist much at all anymore at books and play directed at "regular folk" who're reading the likes of well, the books mentioned in this thread. Dan Brown continues to be inexplicably popular...
Gormenghast- god that was turgid
The wasp factory- really hated it
The Demons (the dostoevsky novel, not the crap horror novel ) bookIII particularly drags
Like many above I really struggled with Gravity’s Rainbow - I finished it but, except for a few wonderful scenes, just found it hard work.
Surprised no-one has mentioned The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson. I bought it as I’ve normally enjoyed past winners of the Man Booker prize. It’s the only book I’ve put in the bin after I finished it. To be fair I may just not be intelligent enough.
I cannot stand Tolkien. Just meandering largely pointless drivel. I don’t get it. It just seems poorly written and edited
Cell by Stephen King is truely abysmal.
American Psycho wasn’t terrible, but it certain wasn’t good
Otherwise:
Lovecraft is difficult - the universe he created is very interesting, but the stories themselves can be disappointing.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists bogs down in places but it’s quite an interesting read
I need to try Catch 22 as I loved the humour of the series, and All Quiet on the Western Front as I want to watch the film
Lovecraft is difficult – the universe he created is very interesting, but the stories themselves can be disappointing.
I think the HPL is probably the worst of all the authors who write about the Cthulhu mythos, which is ironic as he invented it!
Can I include Watchmen?
Years of hearing people claim it to be a masterpiece, and having enjoyed the film, I eventually read it.
TOSH!
Simultaneously up its own jacksie, nonsensical and dull.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
Properly wtf
The Third Policeman
Is it about a bicycle?
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
Properly wtf
Zinn and the art of mountainbike maintenance however is a work of art
This thread is gold. So many people hating on books i love, and vice-versa.
Top 3 is impossible...
1. Ulysees. Kept trying it. But whenever i read several pages of a book and have no idea what i've just read i take that as a sign it's not for me.
2. Catcher in the Rye. As a teenager i remember thinking the protagonist was a bit of a dick.
3. Umberto Eco - Travels in hyperreality (See 1).
4. EM Forster - Passage to India. I mean seriously, i was cringing so much in the first chapter I couldn't go any further.
5. Tolkien - The Silmarillion. (See 1).
6. Paulo Coelho - the Alchemist. This just got so much hype from everyone, but i found it vacuous - maybe the translation didn't do it justice?
It doesn’t matter how many people tell how great it is, im really struggling - for the 3rd time - to get to grips with Stephen Coveys 7 Habits of highly successful people.
Let me know if there’s a secret to get on with it. Alternatively, perhaps the above tells me all I need to know about myself 😀
Like many above I really struggled with Gravity’s Rainbow – I finished it but, except for a few wonderful scenes, just found it hard work.
Think that must be standard for anyone who finishes it - a dazzling / frustrating / bewildering monster of a book.
I wonder in hindsight if books like this aren't better read in conjunction with a guide. I think in a perfect world you wouldn't do this, because it spoils it a little - like using a walkthrough in a computer game. You'd read it blind then read it a second time with a guide. But who reads Gravity's Rainbow twice?
Easy choice for anyone wanting to read Pynchon without the pain is The Crying of Lot 49 - 160 pages long and probably his masterpiece (although the man himself does not hold it in high regard iirc).
^ That has me interested immediately.
To summarize, you steal their eggs.
The title suggests something more elaborate, I can see why you'd post it on this thread.
For all the bread? The awful quacking? Enquiring minds would like to know more.
Let me know if there’s a secret to get on with it.
google the title and the word 'summary'
LMGTFY:
presto, a one web page list that'll take 5 minutes to scan through
I started reading the 7 habits book, but when he tried to pass off of the old "lighthouse vs navy ship" story as something that had actually happened to him I gave up. It didn't help that it did seem to be a lot of filler for not much content - @mrmonkfinger has the right idea, just google a summary and read that.
just google a summary and read that.
I did think of this, thanks. But I like reading, hence I persevere.
But I like reading, hence I persevere.
I like reading, too. But it's not a well-written book (nor does it claim to be), it's a self-help book. I'd spend my reading time on something better.