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Books you can't finish reading
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Topic: Books you can't finish reading (Read 31227 times)
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KDS
Guest
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #25 on:
March 07, 2018, 06:22:30 AM »
My wife and I watched the show Black Sails on the STARZ channel.
On chance, I picked up a copy of a book of the history of pirates at the Dollar Tree called Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly.
I was expecting a fascinating history of piracy and separating some of the myths and realities, but the writing just didn't speak to me for some reason. It was very dense, and maybe a little too much time devoted to pirate fiction. I did eventually finish it, but not as fast as I usually get through a book. I read Mike Love's book, which was at least 100-150 pages longer, in less than half the time.
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Loaf
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Posts: 838
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #26 on:
March 25, 2018, 05:52:59 PM »
Quote from: JK on March 07, 2018, 04:14:26 AM
The most recent book I almost finished but didn't was Thomas Pynchon's
Vineland.
I'd read both
V
and
Gravity's Rainbow
twice (extraordinary books both) but
Vineland
didn't grab me the way its two predecessors did.
I have another fat Pynchon tome waiting in the wings. I bought
The Mason-Dixon Line
on a whim at a book launch where they had been serving white wine but I don't hold out much hope for it.
Pynchon is my favourite author, and I've read everything he has written.
Mason & Dixon
is such a beautiful book. Full of some of Pynchon's best prose and descriptions. Read the first few pages and
savour
it! If you like Gravity's Rainbow, it will hopefully resonate with you. Think of the description of the parabola of a thrown snowball as a great in-joke
My personal favourite Pynchon is
Against the Day
. A 1000-page monster of ideas, conscience, humour and changing styles. His magnum opus, imo. There is a great web resource for read-alongs,
http://chumpsofchoice.blogspot.co.uk/2006/12/now-single-up-all-lines.html
Vineland
, and it's cousins
Inherent Vice
and
Bleeding Edge
, are less satisfying to me, but still contain enough
Pynchon
to elevate them above most other authors' works.
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JK
Smiley Smile Associate
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Posts: 6053
Maybe I put too much faith in atmosphere
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #27 on:
March 26, 2018, 05:05:32 AM »
Quote from: Loaf on March 25, 2018, 05:52:59 PM
Quote from: JK on March 07, 2018, 04:14:26 AM
The most recent book I almost finished but didn't was Thomas Pynchon's
Vineland.
I'd read both
V
and
Gravity's Rainbow
twice (extraordinary books both) but
Vineland
didn't grab me the way its two predecessors did.
I have another fat Pynchon tome waiting in the wings. I bought
The Mason-Dixon Line
on a whim at a book launch where they had been serving white wine but I don't hold out much hope for it.
Pynchon is my favourite author, and I've read everything he has written.
Mason & Dixon
is such a beautiful book. Full of some of Pynchon's best prose and descriptions. Read the first few pages and
savour
it! If you like Gravity's Rainbow, it will hopefully resonate with you. Think of the description of the parabola of a thrown snowball as a great in-joke
My personal favourite Pynchon is
Against the Day
. A 1000-page monster of ideas, conscience, humour and changing styles. His magnum opus, imo. There is a great web resource for read-alongs,
http://chumpsofchoice.blogspot.co.uk/2006/12/now-single-up-all-lines.html
Vineland
, and it's cousins
Inherent Vice
and
Bleeding Edge
, are less satisfying to me, but still contain enough
Pynchon
to elevate them above most other authors' works.
Many thanks for the heads up, Loaf. I've had this "reader's block" for years now and hardly read anything of length anymore, including long posts! I'm hoping to break it with
The Great Gatsby,
after which, if successful, I shall give
Mason & Dixon
a go (sorry about getting the title wrong).
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"Ik bun moar een eenvoudige boerenlul en doar schoam ik mien niet veur" (Normaal, 1978)
You're Grass and I'm a Power Mower: A Beach Boys Orchestration Web Series
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RangeRoverA1
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Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #28 on:
March 26, 2018, 04:53:36 PM »
Plenty & don't plan to finish them, too boring.
«
Last Edit: March 29, 2018, 03:58:16 AM by RangeRoverA1
»
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JK
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Maybe I put too much faith in atmosphere
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #29 on:
April 02, 2018, 02:22:17 AM »
Quote from: JK on March 26, 2018, 05:05:32 AM
Quote from: Loaf on March 25, 2018, 05:52:59 PM
Pynchon is my favourite author, and I've read everything he has written.
Mason & Dixon
is such a beautiful book.
Many thanks for the heads up, Loaf. I've had this "reader's block" for years now and hardly read anything of length anymore, including long posts! I'm hoping to break it with
The Great Gatsby,
after which, if successful, I shall give
Mason & Dixon
a go (sorry about getting the title wrong).
And yes, I'm now a good fifty pages into
The Great Gatsby!
There's hope for me yet (with the occasional push)...
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"Ik bun moar een eenvoudige boerenlul en doar schoam ik mien niet veur" (Normaal, 1978)
You're Grass and I'm a Power Mower: A Beach Boys Orchestration Web Series
the Carbon Freeze | Eclectic Essays & Art
RangeRoverA1
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I drink expired tea. wanna sip or spit?
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #30 on:
November 03, 2018, 03:41:34 PM »
Bumping this thread by blah/ meh/dullard poster SCarolineZzzzz. Read 5th time "Lord Of The Rings" & didn't finish. It's impossible to do.
«
Last Edit: November 04, 2018, 03:01:58 PM by RangeRoverA1
»
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Short notice: the cat you see to the left is the best. Not counting your indoor cat who might have habit sitting at your left side when you post at SmileySmile.
Who is Lucille Ball & Vivian Vance Duet Fan Club CEO? Btw, such Club exists?
Zany zealous Zeddie eats broccoli at brunch break but doesn't do's & don't's due to duties.
RangeRoverA1
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Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #31 on:
November 05, 2018, 07:56:17 PM »
M. Sholokhov "Quiet Don". I shall admit - epic novel isn't sth. I'm patient about. But, now & then I give chance to it - it's challenge, if you will. Looks like it's not meant to be sth. I'd like. Then again, like I said in the other Reading thread, am nearly exclusively interested in lines, dialogs, monologs, polilogs, sometimes inner speeches by characters, what they think about. Bottom line - I prefer plays. Classic example - A. Chekhov "Cherry Garden". Back to QD, it's 0/5.
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Short notice: the cat you see to the left is the best. Not counting your indoor cat who might have habit sitting at your left side when you post at SmileySmile.
Who is Lucille Ball & Vivian Vance Duet Fan Club CEO? Btw, such Club exists?
Zany zealous Zeddie eats broccoli at brunch break but doesn't do's & don't's due to duties.
RangeRoverA1
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Posts: 4336
I drink expired tea. wanna sip or spit?
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #32 on:
November 10, 2018, 04:30:54 PM »
Bumping again SCaroLoonZzzzz's thread. This time, it's "Eugene Onegin". I detest poetry - symbolic/ abstract/ nature etc. & that which tells tale. Besides, I despised each character & didn't wish to read it till the end.
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Short notice: the cat you see to the left is the best. Not counting your indoor cat who might have habit sitting at your left side when you post at SmileySmile.
Who is Lucille Ball & Vivian Vance Duet Fan Club CEO? Btw, such Club exists?
Zany zealous Zeddie eats broccoli at brunch break but doesn't do's & don't's due to duties.
RangeRoverA1
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Posts: 4336
I drink expired tea. wanna sip or spit?
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #33 on:
December 01, 2018, 07:07:41 PM »
Bumping shcaLOLinezzzZz's thread - Alexander Ostrovsky's "Without A Dowry" (1878). I didn't like it to the degree to continue reading.
Edit: hmm. Weirdly, JK didn't mention celebrating the OP's birthday at PS that surflowery turns 43 today. Aka "Happy 43rd Birthday!" since it's in calendar too. Interesting fact omission...
«
Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 04:46:38 AM by RangeRoverA1
»
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Short notice: the cat you see to the left is the best. Not counting your indoor cat who might have habit sitting at your left side when you post at SmileySmile.
Who is Lucille Ball & Vivian Vance Duet Fan Club CEO? Btw, such Club exists?
Zany zealous Zeddie eats broccoli at brunch break but doesn't do's & don't's due to duties.
RangeRoverA1
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Posts: 4336
I drink expired tea. wanna sip or spit?
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #34 on:
December 05, 2018, 05:28:00 AM »
Bumping SCroonerlinezzzZ's thread - Ostrovsky's "Thunderstorm". It being short, yet difficult to read thru speaks.
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Short notice: the cat you see to the left is the best. Not counting your indoor cat who might have habit sitting at your left side when you post at SmileySmile.
Who is Lucille Ball & Vivian Vance Duet Fan Club CEO? Btw, such Club exists?
Zany zealous Zeddie eats broccoli at brunch break but doesn't do's & don't's due to duties.
Alex
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Posts: 2660
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #35 on:
December 07, 2018, 09:52:53 AM »
When I was 14 I read the first two chapters of thr first Harry Potter book. I absolutely hated it, don't really remember why, but I disliked it enough to swear off the rest of the books and all of the movies. I would probably dismiss it as a children's book if I tried going back to it now at age 33.
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Chocolate Shake Man
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Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #36 on:
December 07, 2018, 11:00:09 AM »
Quote from: Alex on December 07, 2018, 09:52:53 AM
When I was 14 I read the first two chapters of thr first Harry Potter book. I absolutely hated it, don't really remember why, but I disliked it enough to swear off the rest of the books and all of the movies. I would probably dismiss it as a children's book if I tried going back to it now at age 33.
I've just finished teaching a three month university course on the book series!
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JK
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Maybe I put too much faith in atmosphere
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #37 on:
January 23, 2019, 01:27:53 PM »
Quote from: Chocolate Shake Man on December 07, 2018, 11:00:09 AM
Quote from: Alex on December 07, 2018, 09:52:53 AM
When I was 14 I read the first two chapters of thr first Harry Potter book. I absolutely hated it, don't really remember why, but I disliked it enough to swear off the rest of the books and all of the movies. I would probably dismiss it as a children's book if I tried going back to it now at age 33.
I've just finished teaching a three month university course on the book series!
Wow, Choc.
I must confess to never having read a page of anything from the series.
I started
The Hobbit
years ago, but from what I remember of the experience, I got so pee'd off with the endless stream of visitors to Bilbo's (?) house that I gave up in despair.
Same with
Dune.
I guess I just don't like science fiction, although I do recall enjoying Robert Heinlein's
Stranger in a Strange Land.
..
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"Ik bun moar een eenvoudige boerenlul en doar schoam ik mien niet veur" (Normaal, 1978)
You're Grass and I'm a Power Mower: A Beach Boys Orchestration Web Series
the Carbon Freeze | Eclectic Essays & Art
JK
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Posts: 6053
Maybe I put too much faith in atmosphere
Re: Books you can't finish reading
«
Reply #38 on:
March 18, 2019, 07:25:55 AM »
Sorry, I'm in one of those moods today...
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"Ik bun moar een eenvoudige boerenlul en doar schoam ik mien niet veur" (Normaal, 1978)
You're Grass and I'm a Power Mower: A Beach Boys Orchestration Web Series
the Carbon Freeze | Eclectic Essays & Art
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