Sometimes you begin a book and know right from the first sentence that you're going to hate it.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was that book for me.
It had nothing to do with the idea of a man being turned into a bug, I knew that going in. I had read prior that the book premises was believed to be symbolic and largely interpreted to relate to the burden that families experience when caring for a loved one who it terminally ill. I generally like weird books and I like symbolism so I really thought that I would like this one. I knew instantly that that wouldn't be the case though. Its the way that the book is written, or at least its translation, that made it painful for me to read. I actually would have given up on it if it wasn't so short and if I hadn't, regrettably, spent money on it. But alas, I felt compelled to complete it, so I persevered and used it as a sleep aid, picking away at it a page or two at a time before falling alseep.
Here is a good example of why I hated the writing style so much. This is a sentence in the book - one single sentence mind you.
"Gregor found out clearly enough (for his father tended to repeat himself often in his explanations, partly because he had not personally concerned himself with these matters for a long time now, and partly also because his mother did not understand everything right away the first time) that, in spite all bad luck, a fortune, although a very small one, was available from the old times, which the interest (which had not been touched) had in the intervening time gradually allowed to increase a little."
...What in the goddam fuck man!
That is the longest and most boring way to write, "Gregor had inherited a small fortune" that I have ever read. There are seven commas and two sets of parentheses in that one sentence! These aren't beautiful prose by any means, these are run on sentences that say nothing. I got stuck on this page for so long because it was just so boring and terrible that my mind kept drifting and I kept forgetting what I was reading and then getting annoyed by it. I found the whole book to be like this to. So overall, I hated every minute of the book. I remember almost nothing about it, and I was thankful when it was over.
I gave it two stars, though I don't know why. One star for being short I guess and one for coming up with an original idea. I did like the cover art too, thats a plus I guess.
These next books are ones that I started and Did Not Finish (DNF) for various reasons.
The Case of Comrad Tulayev by Russian author Victor Serge.
Its about a high ranking official of the Soviet Union who gets assassinated by a regular person. The leader of the regime then proceeds to blame several political adversaries for the crime. These individuals are coerced into a confession, tried in show trials, and then ultimately put to death. Its a commentary on the regime under Joseph Stalin. I started out liking this one but by chapter two I got bored by it and started having a hard time following what was going on. I think I pushed myself to about 70 pages but I ultimately gave up on it.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirly Jackson.
The next unfinished book was written by the same author that wrote the short story posted in the New Yorker called The Lottery. I really enjoyed the short flir page article but not this book. *We have always lived in the castle" is described as a psychological horror. Its quite short and I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn't get into it. Its very character driven and by 40% of the way through I felt like nothing was happening and nothing about the characters grabbed me. I struggled to read 10 pages each sittin and then 5 and then I just gave up on it.
The last book that I DNF'd was
I am Legend by Richard Matheson.
This book is what the film by the same name, starring Will Smith, is based on. In the film the creatures were zombies but in the book they are vampires. I would have liked to finish this one but the version that I found on the internet died on me half way through so its currently sitting incomplete in the DNF category. It wasn't good enough for me to go buy a new copy but it was entertaining and short enough that I would have liked to finish reading it. Maybe I'll see if its available at the library one day. Until then it will remain unfinished.
I had a book called Whiskey Rebel that I almost didn't finish, but I ended up powering through. Like you said, it was just so short that I couldn't help but complete it. The only other book I can think of that I didn't finish is the Count of Monte Cristo, which is actually a great book I think, I just got busy and forgot where I was and I don't feel like starting all over again now.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a massive book isn't it? Its a classic. Sometimes those are challenging to read.
Yeah, it gets to be a bit of a slog in the middle, but not in a bad way, just in a you have to pay attention way.
I see. Maybe I'll look into it for next year. I would like to read one large "Epic" book each year, which I'm defining as anything 800-1000 pages (or more) or a series of at least 3 books. War and Peace is on my list for sometime though i know that it will be a challenge for me. I'm currently reading Lonesome Dove which fits the category. Its a great book so far though.
Oh yes, Lonesome Dove is definitely long! I remember the mini series when I was a kid with Rick Schroeder. I guess my epic book for this year if I ever get around to it will be the Wheel of Time series.
Oh well that is definitely epic lol. Thats a massive series. That might be 3 to 4 epics. Reading the entire series in one year is impressive. It took me 3 years I think and I listened to the last 3 books as audio books lol
How far are you so far?
I'm probably only going to read the first three books. I've heard it goes downhill after that and the rest of the books aren't that great.
Oh, sorry, haven't even started yet. I keep procrastinating.
@leaky20 La Metamorphosis es de esos libros que todos dicen que son una obra maestra pero que pocos realmente disfrutan. A mí me pasó lo mismo que a vos: la premisa es brillante pero la ejecución de Kafka es tan opresiva que terminás sintiéndote encerrado como Gregor.
¿Alguno de los DNFs que mencionás lo retomaste después o los descartaste definitivamente? A veces el timing influye más de lo que creemos.
Diseño: Banner realizado por @egonz
I didn't revisit any of the DNF'd books, no. I might go back to I am Legend at some point.
@leaky20, ni bien vi el título me llamó la atención. Ojalá cada vez seamos más los que le ponemos ganas a la plataforma.
Agreed 💯