A couple of weeks ago (yes I am very behind), the BBC published the results of a survey they conducted, on those books people commonly begin but never manage to finish.
The books?
1 Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre
2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
3 Ulysses, James Joyce
4 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis De Bernieres
5 Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
6 The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
7 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
8 War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
9 The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
10 Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
I’m embarrassed to say that of the whole list, I’ve only read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And in terms of books I’ve started but not begun, only the last three books in the list fit the bill: War and Peace, The God of Small Things, and Crime and Punishment.
I don’t really know why I didn’t manage The God of Small Things, because I found it very readable both times I tried to read it, but for some reason I didn’t manage to sustain the interest. As for War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, both fall into the I-should-read-this category, which tends to have a demotivating effect on me.
Of the other books in the list, I can’t say I’ve wanted to read them, or even tried. We used to play a game with Ulysses, of opening that mighty tome up on any page, reading the first (or last) sentence on the page, and trying to interpret any deeper meaning to it. I’m not sure that’s classified as reading, though.
I’m interested in reading Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, but The Satanic Verses has never appealed. Controversy, notoriety, or popularity doesn’t necessarily appeal to me. Thinking about it, I can’t really say what appeals to me, although I can say what doesn’t – as a rule, “chick lit”, romances, and anything that falls in the category of fanfic.
As for non-fiction, I’m hopeless when it comes to finishing these. If I finished even a tenth of the non-fiction books I pick up, I’m sure I’d be a better, if not better informed, person!
8 Comments
I can’t remember the last time I’ve failed to finish a book, although I had to re-start The da Vinci code several times.
Ulysses is brilliant, honest. So is Crime and Punishment and, by the way, Midnight’s Children.
The best bit of lit crit ever is Father Ted on C&P: “the crime was alright, but the punishment dragged on a bit.”
I’ve read The Satanic Verses; i really enjoyed it but found i had to really focus on what i was reading. Midnight’s Children was excellent, too, i thought.
I haven’t read the other books on the list, but they haven’t really appealed. I think i’m the same as you in regard to the ‘must read’ notion; that simply brings out the contrarian in me who then filters out the titles on the shelf.
Ummm… well, ahem – Harry Potter etc got read and Captain Correlli’s Mandolin as well… I want to read Ulysses, War and Peace, and a couple of others there – and finally I might have my chance. I have a hour long bus trip each way for three days a week – on my way to work. YAY!!!
Reading time is now mine to enjoy!
Cheers 😉
Belongum, I wish I could read on my commute. I do have a trip to England on my own coming up, and I’m pondering whether to give W&P a go. The problem is that if I hate it, I’ll be stuck with it all the way to Heathrow…
Tom, you’ve read Ulysses? *bows before the Great One in awe*
And jl, I think Midnight’s Children has to go on The List now, too…
Belongum I wish I could read on my commute too.
Tom, d’you reckon you’d hate W&P?
Yeah – pretty spoiled I know – but a 15 month old son won’t let me do it at home… it interrupts his ‘reading’ (read ‘playing’) time!
The bus I catch dawdles along to the east of the city, where I work on those days. It’s a nice leisurely pace, and as I get first dibs on a seat, I’m relatively ‘pest’ free!
Looks like I lucked out… of course this will change when the train line gets up and running down our way… bugger!
😉
I couldn’t read The God of Small Things either, I found the writing too self-conscious and the story just too sad, though I think I would have made it if any of the characters had appealed to me enough to wonder what happened to them. Also I tried The Satanic verses, but I couldn’t work out in the first couple of pages what was happening – the author seemed to be teasing the reader hovering between what was real and what wasn’t, and it was too much work. Ulysses and Midnight’s Children are on my list of things I should read but haven’t got around to yet. The best way to make myself read things is to have an exam coming up on a not very interesting subject – suddenly the most unreadable books seem fascinating!
Sheena, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who couldn’t read that book (GoSMT). I wonder what I should read this Easter break…