Book Eight
I finished reading Book Eight today.
It was my least favourite book that I have read since I've been here. I really couldn't understand what all the fuss was about but I don't doubt for a second that I have missed something glaringly obvious.
It's only 118 pages long but it took me a week or so to get through it. I grabbed a few pages here and there as I got the ferry too and from work. In hindsight I should've tried to read it in one hit. Maybe I would've enjoyed it a bit more if I'd done that.
I think I read the book without really understanding what it was trying to get at. When H bought it the guy in the book shop said that the book "really sticks with you". I suppose it is very well written but I don't think I have been asking myself the questions I am supposed to. Why did you think it was so good Mike and Andy?
Anyway Book Nine is another one that finds itself in the 'Classics' section in bookshops the world over. I never thought I would ever pick it up, let alone read it, but I'm really looking forward to it. Details to follow in due course.
It was my least favourite book that I have read since I've been here. I really couldn't understand what all the fuss was about but I don't doubt for a second that I have missed something glaringly obvious.
It's only 118 pages long but it took me a week or so to get through it. I grabbed a few pages here and there as I got the ferry too and from work. In hindsight I should've tried to read it in one hit. Maybe I would've enjoyed it a bit more if I'd done that.
I think I read the book without really understanding what it was trying to get at. When H bought it the guy in the book shop said that the book "really sticks with you". I suppose it is very well written but I don't think I have been asking myself the questions I am supposed to. Why did you think it was so good Mike and Andy?
Anyway Book Nine is another one that finds itself in the 'Classics' section in bookshops the world over. I never thought I would ever pick it up, let alone read it, but I'm really looking forward to it. Details to follow in due course.
posted by Jonny @ 9:04 PM
7 Comments:
At 31/8/06 11:53 AM,
Andy said…
Fair enough mate. The reason I love that book is because it's written from the perspective of a guy who clearly has a slightly warped view of social norms and values. From the outset, "My mother died today. Actually it might have been yesterday" it's clear that this guy's reaction to the news is not normal, and he seems to resent the fact that he has a social obligation to attend her funeral.
The big question as the book develops, is whether his way of thinking is 'wrong', or just different. Ultimately of course, it costs him his life.
The other reason I love it is because when I read it as an 18 year-old, I had huge sympathy for him that he was essentially an 'outsider' because of his warped way of thinking, but really there was nothing wrong with him, and it was society that should be questioned. However when I re-read it as a 25 year-old, I came to the opposite conclusion that he was sociopathic, and deserved to be hanged.
Sorry, that response almost counts as book nine.
At 31/8/06 8:36 PM,
swisslet said…
just listen to "Killing an Arab" by the Cure. It's the same thing, only an awful lot shorter.
Oh Merseult.
ST
(I was forced to read this book in French class, sometimes out loud, so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask about it)
At 1/9/06 11:36 PM,
Jonny said…
Thanks for the review Andy, I like it. I can see exactly where you are coming from now. I'm just a bit crap sometimes. I think I got it into my head from quite early on that I didn't like the book and I just read it because I wanted to get it finished, without really giving it much thought.
And ST, erm, will do (sometime).
At 2/9/06 11:08 PM,
swisslet said…
the first step to happiness is accepting that not liking a so-called "classic" book is okay. Nobody likes them all. Just don't fall into the trap of thinking that all "classic" books are shit, because some of them are kick-arse.
*deep breath*
I'm going to make a recommendation. Stick with me, as it's a bit long, but I think you could do worse than have a go at "the three musketeers" by Alexander Dumas. Honestly, it's a scream. You know the films with Michael Yorke, Oliver Reed and Richard Chamberlain? The book is JUST like that, only better. It's written in short chapters and it's really, really funny.
Give it a shot. You might be surprised.... or you can of course just totally ignore me and go and read "Watchmen" or "V for Vendetta" by Alan Moore, or "The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller instead (comics rock!)
Or read nothing but the sports section of the paper (which is all I read most days, to be honest)
ST
At 2/9/06 11:15 PM,
Jonny said…
Thanks ST.
In read Capote's "In Cold Blood" which I thought was excellent, and found in the 'Classics' section.
I am now reading a book that is even more famous, and therefore maybe even more of a Classic than that, at the moment so I haven't written them off at all.
Thanks for the tips though. I'll add them to the list.
At 5/9/06 12:17 PM,
Me said…
Jonny - what with one of your hobbies in job interviews now being "reading", perhaps it's time to do what every other reader does. What's that, you're wondering? Well, if you get a few chapters or pages in and you don't like a book, stop reading it and read something else instead.
I actually think that doing that would be more of a challenge for you than taking up reading was in the first place...
At 6/9/06 10:40 AM,
Jonny said…
Yeah, but at 118 pages I thought I may as well give it a go. I'm glad I did though, even though I didn't really enjoy it. But thanks for the tip. I''ll try it sometime, but yeah, I reckon it will be hard to do.
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