Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Entertainment and Culture › Hard to read, the fiction.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Hard to read, the fiction. - Page 2

post #16 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:28pm
The Bible The last quarter/third of both Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy felt unbearable. Blake's Jerusalem is pretty tough, too. For sheer unreadability, I nominate the Davinci Code.
Reply
Reply

Featured Stories on Styleforum

Finamore at Pitti Uomo 83
Drake's London at Pitti Uomo 83
Join the discussions now - Join Styleforum
post #17 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Augusto86 View Post
The Bible
Fuck you. I was just about to post that.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:29pm
finnegans wake
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robin View Post
That too.

Are you a masochist or was it for a dissertation?

I was an idiot - I was firmly entreanched in the idea that I was going to be a philosopher, too.

I think that I said this once here - Rand should only be read by people old enough not to fall for her. she is very seductive to young people, and should be read carefully. I bought her hook line and sinker.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
Fuck you. I was just about to post that.

And some of the bible wasn't even original fiction, but ripped off from Sumerian and Babylonian mythology.
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:32pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Augusto86 View Post
The Bible
Damn! Me, too. Each time I get stuck on the bit where so and so begat so and so who begat what's his name who begat that guy who begat the other dude who begat this fella who swallowed a fly and so on.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baron View Post
Gravity's Rainbow ground to a halt in my brain about 50 pages in. I think I could read it if I just poured myself into it without stopping over a weekend. There's a tipping point that needs to be reached with books like that.
Yay! I read GR too. Strangely, I could not make it through Pynchon's V, which is much shorter, and supposedly more accessible. When I lose track of characters, and I have to keep backtracking, that is the death knell. EDIT: there is a Jonathan Franzen essay in How To Be Alone about difficult books; he compares reading them to mountain-climbing. I forgot the rest. He mentions Gravity's Rainbow and uh... uh... that other guy. Uh......
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GQgeek View Post
Dune is awesome and it is popular for a million different reasons, most of which are probably valid.
None of the reasons are for the writing though, correct?
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:46pm
Yeah, that is some terrible literary criticism

I have developed a bad habit of not finishing books. Not not getting through them, just putting them down and forgetting them and then returning them to the library when they're due and not renewing. This happened recently with "The Curious Incident ofthe Dog in the Nighttime"--a very readable book; and "A Wild Sheep Chase," which sort of bored me.

Any books you regret finishing? Jonathan Lethem--You Don't Love Me Yet. Hated it.
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robin View Post
I thought that was always more of a joke book - are you saying that people actually try to read it?

Uh... I don't think we are talking about the same thing.



But yes, its a work of fiction, by a pretty popular author, its just that my brain gets stuck in all the mathematical cryptology formulae and wankery. Its also a very dense book, for some reason. The copy I have has extremely small text. So that, coupled with the information overload, two overlapping storylines, and my general disinterest in math - I've never been able to finish it.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim View Post
Uh... I don't think we are talking about the same thing.
Oops, yep, I was thinking of another book. Edit: I was thinking of Necronomicon.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:57pm
I've been slogging through what should be an easy read: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I have started, stopped and re-started this blasted thing a half dozen times since last autumn and haven't made but a 100-page dent in it. The book lies dormant, silently mocking me, on my coffee table. The story is quite easy to follow, and the characters are wonderfully developed. Its just that Irving goes into such detail! He could simply say what time it is, but instead he delves into the whole concept of time, man's attempts to harness and conquer time, and the mechanics of a freakin' watch! (Okay, I'm exagerating, but still...I'm having a dickens of a time with this book.)
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 131
3/12/08 at 4:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota rube View Post
I've been slogging through what should be an easy read: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I have started, stopped and re-started this blasted thing a half dozen times since last autumn and haven't made but a 100-page dent in it. The book lies dormant, silently mocking me, on my coffee table.

The story is quite easy to follow, and the characters are wonderfully developed. Its just that Irving goes into such detail! He could simply say what time it is, but instead he delves into the whole concept of time, man's attempts to harness and conquer time, and the mechanics of a freakin' watch! (Okay, I'm exagerating, but still...I'm having a dickens of a time with this book.)

I love that book. keep trying.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 131
3/12/08 at 5:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota rube View Post
I've been slogging through what should be an easy read: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I have started, stopped and re-started this blasted thing a half dozen times since last autumn and haven't made but a 100-page dent in it. The book lies dormant, silently mocking me, on my coffee table.

The story is quite easy to follow, and the characters are wonderfully developed. Its just that Irving goes into such detail! He could simply say what time it is, but instead he delves into the whole concept of time, man's attempts to harness and conquer time, and the mechanics of a freakin' watch! (Okay, I'm exagerating, but still...I'm having a dickens of a time with this book.)

Quote:
Originally Posted by globetrotter View Post
I love that book. keep trying.

I hated that book and could not get through it. It almost broke up my relationship with my wife as it is her favorite book, and early on in our relationship, she begged me to read it. I just couldn't

Our dog is named Owen, after Owen Meany.
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 131
3/12/08 at 5:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robin View Post
Dune. I don't understand why it's such a popular science fiction piece when the writing is so horrible.


Quote:
Originally Posted by GQgeek View Post
Dune is awesome and it is popular for a million different reasons, most of which are probably valid.

I'm with the elf on this one.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Entertainment and Culture

Featured Stories on Styleforum

Finamore at Pitti Uomo 83
Drake's London at Pitti Uomo 83
Join the discussions now - Join Styleforum
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Entertainment and Culture › Hard to read, the fiction.