Five Books I Feel Guilty That I Haven’t Read
Friday, August 11, 2006
Gilead: I have heard nothing but astounding reviews of this book. Also, I work in publishing, and it seems I should have read (by now), the winner of both the NBCC and Pulitzer for fiction in 2005. But I haven’t. Something holds me back. I’m thinking it’s the fact that another novelist once said to me: “That fucking book. It won the Pulitzer, right? So I should read it, right? But that kind of writing? Puts me to sleep.”
The Tipping Point: Is it just me, or is this referenced in conversations all the time? Maybe it’s just that I have friends that read and loved the book, but I feel uneducated or something because I haven’t. To be honest, it just never quite appeals to me. I can’t say I’ve ever had a moment where I’ve thought, “Yes! A 280-page book on why and how ideas/trends/behaviors become massively popular!” So it just sits there, mocking me, telling me I’m not as up on things as everyone else, reminding me of how I’ll just have to smile, nod, and say, “Oh, absolutely!” when people reference it in conversation, and feel like a fraud. (And do NOT get me started on Blink.)
A Prayer for Owen Meany: I’m about to make a controversial statement, one that has caused people to literally stop speaking to me for hours at a time (well, that’s only happened once, and it was while I was traveling in Europe and my friend and I had been together for about two weeks straight, so I’m thinking it wasn’t just about this issue). I don’t like John Irving. I do not like his books, I do not like his plot lines, and I cannot stand the fact that there is a dancing bear in a tutu in the background of every third scene. I read The World According to Garp and nearly threw the book out after Garp’s wife bites off the guy’s penis. Come ON! Then I was strong-armed into trying A Widow for One Year, which a friend claimed had changed her life. I’m still trying to figure out how that was possible. A few years ago, yet another friend was shocked that I disliked Irving, and made me tell her what I’d read. She made me promise to read Owen Meany before deciding against Irving for good, and I agreed. Actually, I don’t know if I feel guilty about not reading it, or pissed off that I promised to do so.
All these classics (I’m putting them together b/c I think the reasons why are self-explanatory): 1984, Things Fall Apart, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Lolita, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. And I call myself an English major!
The Tipping Point: Is it just me, or is this referenced in conversations all the time? Maybe it’s just that I have friends that read and loved the book, but I feel uneducated or something because I haven’t. To be honest, it just never quite appeals to me. I can’t say I’ve ever had a moment where I’ve thought, “Yes! A 280-page book on why and how ideas/trends/behaviors become massively popular!” So it just sits there, mocking me, telling me I’m not as up on things as everyone else, reminding me of how I’ll just have to smile, nod, and say, “Oh, absolutely!” when people reference it in conversation, and feel like a fraud. (And do NOT get me started on Blink.)
A Prayer for Owen Meany: I’m about to make a controversial statement, one that has caused people to literally stop speaking to me for hours at a time (well, that’s only happened once, and it was while I was traveling in Europe and my friend and I had been together for about two weeks straight, so I’m thinking it wasn’t just about this issue). I don’t like John Irving. I do not like his books, I do not like his plot lines, and I cannot stand the fact that there is a dancing bear in a tutu in the background of every third scene. I read The World According to Garp and nearly threw the book out after Garp’s wife bites off the guy’s penis. Come ON! Then I was strong-armed into trying A Widow for One Year, which a friend claimed had changed her life. I’m still trying to figure out how that was possible. A few years ago, yet another friend was shocked that I disliked Irving, and made me tell her what I’d read. She made me promise to read Owen Meany before deciding against Irving for good, and I agreed. Actually, I don’t know if I feel guilty about not reading it, or pissed off that I promised to do so.
All these classics (I’m putting them together b/c I think the reasons why are self-explanatory): 1984, Things Fall Apart, Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Lolita, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. And I call myself an English major!
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on Friday, August 11, 2006 at 2:59 PM.
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