The book I can't seem to finish

visiondr said:
I'm currently mired in a book I am just not getting along with. It is a fine novel, with an excellent pedigree and a stellar reputation. But, try as I might, I can't seem to finish it. The book in question is "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie.

There have been other books that have tested my intellectual mettle: "Moby Dick " and "A Thousand Years of Solitude" come to mind. But I've always been able to muscle my way past the difficult parts and carry on. And in all cases, I've been richly rewarded with a very satisfying read. On the flip side, there's a strange "reader's guilt" that I suffer from whenever I can't finish. And that guilt is some crazy motivator!

So, the question is, dear reader, has this ever happened to you? Are there books you have picked up and never quite finished? Why?
Click to expand...


Being the Spannish language my mother one, South America my land of birth and growth, and having read "A Thousand Years of Solitude" - I cannot imagine how this book could have been translated without loosing much of its original humour and rythm, and then you need to have some South American background beyond the movies, to feel it to the end.

In the same way that with English originally written books I assume I am loosing a lot when reading them.

Something of the like happens with Photography in a different way since a picture is to be viewed but a book to be read: Yet most of the good photographers are good either in their aesthetics more than in the contents, and vice-versa. It is extra ordinary to find good photographers equally strong on both sides.

Gabriel Garcia Marques is one of those outstanding cases in which the style of writing, the words he uses, the asociative, is equally strong as the contents. Now, how the best of translators can possible deal with it ?

Nothing to do about it, it is natural. Perhaps time to pick up your camera.

Best,
Ruben
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Over the last few years, it's taken me longer than usual to get through several books, but it's less about the books than about me...too many things pulling me in different directions.

The book that's currently taking me forever to get through? Ironically, it's James Glieck's Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything. Which sort of explains my situation. 🙄


- Barrett
 
nico:


Thank you so much for your interesting information about Andrea Camilleri. I will enjoy his book now for knowing about him.

My favorite Michael Dibdin book is 'Cosi Fan Tutti'. He writes very well about Italian life and politics and police work. Any of his Inspector Zen books are well worth reading.

Off topic: Did you see today that Tenuta de Castelfalfi near you has been bought by a tourism comany? http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/may/25/italy
 
Hi,
I adore Umberto Eco, but his "Foucault's Pendulum" was the last book I didn't finish...
Click to expand...
@ Kent, out of curiosity, did you quit before pag. 100 or not? I read it some years ago and I remeber a friend of mine telling me "to resist for the first one hundred pages" ... without this advice i would have never finished that book!

@ Ruben, i agree with you, sometimes the real "character" of a book is lost in translation ... and the same - imho - happens here in Italy with movies: I saw "A night at the Opera" (Marx brothers 😀) in english with subtitles first and then translated in Italian. I'm glad I've seen the english one before otherwise I would never tought they were among the best comedians ever.

@ Jon, thanks for tips on Dibdin, i'll look for his books. About Castelfalfi it's better if I do not comment on ... italian politicians dumbness (going on this way Tuscany will become much more similar to Algarve than Alentejo ... :bang🙂

Ciao
 
Last edited:
Hi, nico!

I'm afraid, I did stop after about 30something pages. Maybe I should try again.
It is an interesting book, I just could not concentrate while reading... strange!

The other Eco books I have read are fantastic!

- The Name of the Rose
and in German
- Die Insel des vorherigen Tages
- Baudolino (Wow! One of the best books I have ever read!)
- Streichholzbriefchen
- Die Geschichte der Schönheit (He edited that)

 
Kent said:
Hi, nico!

I'm afraid, I did stop after about 30something pages. Maybe I should try again.
It is an interesting book, I just could not concentrate while reading... strange!

The other Eco books I have read are fantastic!

- The Name of the Rose
and in German
- Die Insel des vorherigen Tages
- Baudolino (Wow! One of the best books I have ever read!)
- Streichholzbriefchen
- Die Geschichte der Schönheit (He edited that)

Click to expand...


Hi Kent,
i remember a lot of pages, at the beginning of the book (I mean the Pendulum), about the missing computer password ... it seems the writer wrote them to discourage the reader!
I agree with you about Baudolino which is - strangely - so funny at the very beginning; with the Name of the Rose is my favourite from Umberto Eco.
Ciao
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom