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Regarding Herman Melville: he wrote more than Moby Dick, of course. The novels "Typee" and "Omoo" (read in that order) concern his travels in the South Pacific (partly true, partly not). Much more accessible to younger readers (you do not have to be 77 or so to appreciate).
You know, in reading everyone's posts, it really makes me consider that I really should reread all the novels we read in High School, because it certainly rings true that most (but not all) didn't make a huge impression on me then. And I am certain that the failing was mine and not the authors!
That's a good idea and you will find that even if you did enjoy the novel back in HS, you will still get something completely different now. I found that with Jane Eyre--I thought she was such a fool back then and this time around I really admired her.
You all may want to try this suggestion for getting into a hard-to-read book: go read the cliffnotes or sparknotes summary first. It really helps you to slog thru a difficult book if you know where you're going first. You can find both of those free online and if one doesn't have it, the other probably will.
Well, my story is not successful. I cannot tackle Wuthering Heights. Oh my goodness...I have tried multiple times, at different ages, different seasons...you name it, I've tried it! I simply cannot find the will to finish it. I know a lot of people really enjoy this book, and I cannot seem to muster up the strength to persevere toward the end!
I cannot tackle Wuthering Heights...I have tried multiple times, at different ages, different seasons...you name it, I've tried it! I simply cannot find the will to finish it.
I felt the same way when I first read this book in high school, and it's now one of my favorites (I actually re-read it about once every 4-5 years). The first 30-40 pages are confusing. You have to really concentrate to understand what's happening; any outside distractions and your train of thought is interrupted and it's easy to lose interest. The narrator appears equally puzzled in his attempts to determine who the Catherine from the present is and what relationship she has to her past.
Absolutely one of the most brilliantly written books ever, IMO.
This just happened to me again. I've learned to abandon books if there's no particular reason to keep at them. But sometimes because of the book's reputation, I know I should make an extra effort.
The first time was with Gone With the Wind. I'd tried several times, but kept getting bogged down in a lengthy scenery description. Finally at some point I picked up my own cheap copy at a rummage sale, got past that and was off and running.
But now just had that again. My copy of Mark Helprin's Memoir from Antproof Case has been on my shelf for years, and I've tried at least two or three times, but it just struck my as awfully dull. But I knew it's considered great, and I thought I'd make one last try - and really glad I did.
I still haven't gotten through Gone With The Wind. I think because I've seen the movie several times and the book is so many pages long. Why bother reading it?
Yes the GULAG ARCHPELIGO BY ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN i have seen this book on our book shelf literally all my life first it was my fathers now i have it,i have tried to read it at least 6 times and every time given up it is THE most boring book i have ever [nearly] read ,i found/find it dull and uninspiring....ok it was a soviet prison camp so it was hardly going to be a laugh a minute,but i know he had a good story to tell but i expected more......i won't give up though one day i will read it
Well, my story is not successful. I cannot tackle Wuthering Heights. Oh my goodness...I have tried multiple times, at different ages, different seasons...you name it, I've tried it! I simply cannot find the will to finish it. I know a lot of people really enjoy this book, and I cannot seem to muster up the strength to persevere toward the end!
LOL on Wuthering Heights. See my one blog entry--it's about that book! I wasn't able to get into it until I gave up on the idea that it's a romance and then it was easy to get thru. Took me years to get to that point though.
Yes, the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I have tried repeatedly from grade school through my 40s, and it never holds my interest. It's totally my genre, and I loved the movie - I did FORCE myself after the movie and probably just skimmed a lot.
It's a classic - I can't figure out why I can never get into them.
I read them and it was a slog. I kept at it because I kept hearing how wonderful they were, "better than Harry Potter!" Well, they're very creative, even an invented language, great characters and concepts, but I zipped through the Harry Potter series and struggled through The Hobbit/LOTR books. It's not that I have a hard time understanding the books either. I've re-read the Harry Potter series a few times, but I'll probably never re-read any of these.
I still haven't gotten through Gone With The Wind. I think because I've seen the movie several times and the book is so many pages long. Why bother reading it?
It was my absolute favorite book for many years, but I had read it so many times I finally stopped. Then, out of the blue I picked it up again after at least 15 years, and found that a lot of the old racism in there was hard to take. I still love the book, but I have to constantly remind myself that it was written by an Atlanta lady at the height of the Jim Crow era.
I love the writing and characters, but not so much a fan of the opinions on slavery (they're childlike and need to be taken care of), or the idea that the KKK was a heroic group of men just protecting their women from those awful, misguided freed slaves. One could almost imagine Margaret Mitchell at a lynching, like that photograph that has stayed with me since the first time I laid eyes on it. All those men and women standing around watching while a black man was hanging from a tree. It looked like they were at a concert or something with the way the people were behaving. Very disturbing!
Here I find that I've trashed the novel I loved for so many years. I guess the older I get, the less willing I am to forgive the attitude just because it was common in her time period. I try not to judge people of earlier times for holding common beliefs of their times.
That being said, I did find it to be completely engaging within the first five pages, but then again I first read it before I'd ever seen the movie.
I tried to read the Left Behind series, but could not get through the second book. I kept thinking it would get better (concept is very interesting, though I'm not a huge believer). By the middle of the second book, I realized that the writing would never get better. Honestly, my 4th grader can write better than that.
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Wuthering Heights
