Cloudy.
Drizzley.
Chilly.
So what do we do on such a day indoors? I am baked and cooked out, don’t feel like starting a project and certainly do not want to watch any more TV.
I have been reading “Dragonfly in Amber” by Diana Gabaldan, and while I really enjoyed the first book “Outlander”, this one is becoming a bit of a slog for some reason. The story is getting too convoluted. This is the pitfall of some authors. Is it a contest posted somewhere to see how many threads you can slap in the story and expect people to keep following them around? So I have laid it down in disgust. For the moment, I may pick it up again later and try some more.
I don’t mind doing some work while reading, but really, I’m reading novels for pleasure, not to do mental gymnastics. For that, I’ll read James Joyce.
SNORT! (Like THAT is going to happen!)
I tried to read Ulysses once. I picked it up at the library because I had read that it was considered a great bit of literature. I decided I would have a go at it myself.
I had it on my work table when a friend came over. He was very excited to see it, said it was his favorite book and opened it to read a passage aloud to me. Now this man was in his 50’s and a big gruff kind of guy. Pretty soon, he was in tears and had to stop reading he was so moved by reading James Joyce. Well, after his poignant recommendation I really decided to give the book my best effort. I got about 50 or maybe 75 pages into the thing and decided that either my friend was demented or I was a heartless literary dunce.
To this day, I do not see what he saw in that book. And the only tears I shed were those of frustration and trying to figure out WHAT old Jimbo was trying to write about. Ah, I just found a link that makes me feel A LOT better. Check it out here:
Why it's possible I am not a literary dunce after all
I will acknowledge that there are all kinds of tastes in reading and what floats my boat may sink yours. But it seems lately, I am finding it more and more difficult to get “swept away” in a novel like I used to. There was a time when I read stacks and stacks of novels. I loved the feeling of going into the story, becoming very much a part of it. Of late, the only thing I have read that comes close is Harry Potter. Whatever you may think of the H P phenomenon, Rowling is really a “wizard” at creating a very interesting and at times hilarious alternate reality. I cannot help but admire her for it.
But I don’t want to give up on novels. Non-fiction is great, but I need a reward every now and then for my, oh so responsible reading. So here’s my humble request.
Would you my dear readers please suggest to me 3 of your all time favorite novels? Then perhaps during my next foray into the library, I would be armed with a list of possible good reads. *
*(To the Mountain Man, you KNOW who you are. . . do NOT suggest Atlas Shrugged AGAIN, thank you very much…. )
And just to kick things off in good faith, here are 3 of my own plus a bonus.
The C.S. Lewis space trilogy. I am counting them as one.
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength
(The first book is the weakest, don’t judge the others by it. It sets the stage for the last two, which are fantastic)
Anything by Jane Austen
Anything by Georgette Heyer
(although “The Grand Sophie” stands out in my mind)
And the bonus,
Gone With The Wind
By Margaret Mitchell
This book was so good, that when I got near the end, I would only read two chapters at a sitting because I didn’t want it to be over.
I can hardly wait to hear your suggestions !