30 replies to this topic

[Treefrog]

Never fear, vagansmom, I have enjoyed nearly everything you have recommended.  In fact, just about every time I am close to finishing one book you start a thread here on a new one ... and I go to the bookstore and buy it.  I quite look forward to finding out what my next read should be!

[dirac]

dido, I know what you mean about taking it personally.  Sometimes, with books (or movies) that are close to our hearts, it's very difficult when a friend doesn't respond.  One of my favorite books is Saul Bellow's Seize the Day, and one day I brought it up with a well-read acquaintance, who said "Oh yes, that was something about some loser with father troubles."  I didn't say anything about how I felt about the book, but it was hard for me not to let that lower my friend in my estimation.

[dido]

I think it's very interesting: (remember I know kids books) "I didn't like "I, Juan de Paraeja" What? Are you on crack? I didn't like "Roller Skates" or "The Good Master" (or anything by Kate Seredy).

I want is so much more powerful than I will.

[BW]

vagansmom, I can't think what book you might be referring to! Hmm, besides The Corpse de Ballet!     :grinning:  

Edited by BW, 27 February 2004 - 02:06 PM.

[fendrock]

Several years ago, my daughter and I listened to a book on tape of "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" while commuting to ballet and I LOVED that book.

The question about walking out on a movie got me thinking.

While it may be true that if you stick with a book it will be worth it (I, too, was glued to Middlemarch at the end), I find that bad movies are bad all the way through.

[vagansmom]

BW, I'm still embarrassed to admit that I liked Corpse de Ballet. Let's just say it appealed to all my basest instincts. :shrug:

[BattementCloche]

WHAT? Dido, you don't like I, Juan de Paraeja?

[Treefrog]

I once had a very interesting experience with a movie (although I cannot now tell you the title -- something in the late 70's about cross-dressers, I think).  For the first third, I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever seen.    It was the only movie  I've ever considered walking out on.  But I didn't, and by the end I loved it.   :shrug:

[dirac]

Also referring back to TutuMaker's movies post, I agree the situation can be very similar.  I can usually find something sufficiently interesting in even the worst movie to make it watchable to the end, although there were a couple -- "Meet Joe Black" and "Disney's The Kid" spring to mind -- that I would have dumped if my companions hadn't wanted to stay.

We've talked about recommending books to a friend who didn't like it, but for me it can be even more awkward when your friend LOVED the book or movie and you  thought it was awful.  In the former case, you can often be discreet and not share your feelings, but in the latter case, you can be put in the position of actually having to lie your head off in order to be polite.

[carbro]

:offtopic: but somewhat analagous:  A friend of mine once went to see a friend of his in a Broadway show (which shall remain nameless but apparently is not "forever"), and wondered how to be supportive when, preemptively, the friend said to him, "Can you believe I'm doing this [bad word]?!!!"  But there, at least, the two were of the same opinion.

[carbro]

Reviving this thread and pulling it back on topic:

I recently picked up Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude, because I understood that it was a widely loved modern classic.  I haven't quite made it to page 80, and I am finding it impossible to keep the characters straight.  So I am here seeking advice.  Should I plow through and find it gets easier?  Should I start again and make a scorecard/cheat sheet?  Am I alone in having this problem?  Is it not worth the effort?

Thanks!

[Helene]

I agree with the T-shirt that reads, "So Many Books, So Little Time."  If it's tough going, and not required reading, I would suggest putting it aside, and picking it up in another 5-10 years.  There's plenty to read in the meantime.

[GWTW]

Some of the editions of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' come with a list of characters. Have you checked at the back of your book, carbro?  

[carbro]

Back of the book, GWTW?  Haven't gotten that far!   Actually, there is a family tree in the front, but it's not terribly helpful.

Thanks for the advice, HF!  Like BW's friend at the head of this thread, I really hate putting books aside once I've started, but like you, others have indicated that sometimes it's the best way.

[TutuMaker]

carbro,
I too struggled with this book at first, but I read it all the way through and liked it.  I would not say it is one of the best books I've read, but I did enjoy it.  Keeping the characters straight gets easier as you go through.  I will say I probably would have put it down, but I was on doctor's ordered bed rest for 8 weeks (in and out of the hospital, mostly in) and I had read all of my other reading material at hand.  I only continued because I HAVE to read.  In the end I am glad I finished the book, but I don't think I will read any more books by Marquez.