Books you didn't understand

Amadan

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I don't understand the appeal of Name of the Wind. I couldn't finish that book, but lots of people love it. I don't understand what other people see in it.


I liked it a lot - it was a thick, juicy epic fantasy that promised to turn a bunch of tropes on their head.

The sequel was disappointing, though.
 

nighttimer

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The entire career of Toni Morrison has remained a mystery to me, never to be solved.

I tried with Beloved and it defeated me. I accept the loss with grace. :Shrug:
 

Emermouse

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Don't feel bad: I've read Beloved, The Bluest Eye, Sula, an A Mercy. I recognize the skill involved but at the same time, it'd be nice if I could read one of her novels without feeling depressed afterwards.
 

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The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, the language was so thick I felt like I was trudging through mud. It's one I've heard mentioned as a candidate for the great American novel, so I had to buy it. I felt pretty stupid and illiterate that I wasn't able to get through it until I read in Norman Mailer's Spooky Art that he felt the same way. I figured if Mailer had trouble then I shouldn't feel so bad. Still might make another run at it...someday.
 

blacbird

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The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, the language was so thick I felt like I was trudging through mud. It's one I've heard mentioned as a candidate for the great American novel, so I had to buy it. I felt pretty stupid and illiterate that I wasn't able to get through it until I read in Norman Mailer's Spooky Art that he felt the same way. I figured if Mailer had trouble then I shouldn't feel so bad. Still might make another run at it...someday.

For what it's worth, I had the same trouble with Mr. Sammler's Planet, which i had to read for a class, long ago. Well, not exactly the same. I understood it, had no problem with that. It's just that, having understood it, I couldn't help wondering why it existed. Struck me as meaningless self-indulgent drivel.

Saul Bellow is often exalted as The Great American Jewish Writer. I guess mainly because he won the Nobel. Me, I'd nominate Bernard Malamud and Edward Lewis Wallant ahead of him in a New York (or Chicago) minute.

caw
 
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planetzorb

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I read Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse a few weeks back. The first half was fantastic. I was right there with him, understanding the philosophy, enjoying the eloquent prose. Then around the halfway mark it totally fell apart. I had no clue what was going on. I found myself exclaiming "he did what?" on a regular basis. Did he meet Mozart's ghost at the end? What on earth was he talking about? The last few pages felt like a fever dream. And I do not like fever dreams. (Thanks, Hesse.)

Maybe I didn't read it thoroughly enough. Either way, I'm not particularly inclined to give it another shot.
 

autumnleaf

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I got 100 pages into Infinite Jest, that's 10% of the book, before giving up in bewilderment.
 

autumnleaf

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I don't understand the appeal of Name of the Wind. I couldn't finish that book, but lots of people love it. I don't understand what other people see in it.

I gave up around the university chapters. I normally dislike the term "Mary Sue", but I can't think of any better way to describe Kvote. Which would be okay in a fluffy fun book, but the author seemed to want us to take him seriously. I may be the wrong demographic (too old and female).
 

warofthesparks

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I may be the wrong demographic (too old and female).

Being young and male, I can tell you that the book doesn't get any better over here. I, too, gave up after around the university chapters.
 

writergirl1994

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"This Census Taker" by China Mieville. I thought it was baffling and kind of a waste of time, at least it was short.
 

DanielSTJ

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To add:

Seize the Day by Thomas Pynchon.

Mr. Pynchon, have you had anything to drink tonight?
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Well, there's always Finnegan's Wake, if you want a really, really, really unintelligible book.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

For a class? If you did it on your own, I'm impressed!

Finnigan's Wake is fun to read a few brief sections at a time out loud as poetry, but the plot and the characters and the whatevers escape me...if they're there at all.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

AW Admin

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

For a class? If you did it on your own, I'm impressed!

Finnigan's Wake is fun to read a few brief sections at a time out loud as poetry, but the plot and the characters and the whatevers escape me...if they're there at all.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

I've read it too. It's a giant puzzle in some ways, and I don't understand it all, but I do understand why it's so very much admired.

In many ways, Ireland is the central character. And it helps hugely to know something of Ireland's history and mythology—and language.
 
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DanielSTJ

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Yes, I agree Lisa. I read it with multiple guides in order to try and understand it. Still, a lot of it escaped me. Like you, though, I do understand why it is admired.

I read it on my own Siri. I read voraciously. :greenie
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Well, I'm impressed. I tried on my own and flubbed it. But it doesn't surprise me so much that Lisa did it on her own.

As stated above, I do like it's poetry. But...

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Emermouse

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Re: the Voynich manuscript, I like the theory I've heard that it might have been something of a guide/textbook for midwives. It does have some of the motifs associated with fertility and childbearing, like mandrakes, which continually show up in the book. Maybe the strange language was something akin to Nushu, a written language that was used among Chinese women. With their version of Chinese characters, these women could slip messages and communicate with each other, without the men knowing what was going on. It's not too hard to think of reasons why having a private language to keep the menfolk out of the loop, might be seen as a plus.
 

Tazlima

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I had a problem reading "Focault's Pendulum." It's in first person, and it's a translation, but I don't know if either of those had anything to do with me not liking it.

LMAO! When I was learning Italian and finally felt ready to read full-length books, I started with translations from modern English-language authors because that way I at least knew I'd understand the idioms and whatnot, but finally I felt brave enough to try my hand at reading a real Italian novel by an Italian author, so I headed down to the local bookstore and browsed the shelves for whatever looked intriguing. I chose two, a slim volume called "Novecento" (actually a monologue - a nifty story about a fellow who lived his entire life, birth to death, on a ship, taught himself the piano, and became this incredibly brilliant musician that people came from all over the world to hear because the only place he would play was on that same ship), and for afterward...

... Yep. "Foucault's Pendulum." All I knew about it before I began reading was the blurb on the back, and when I'd finished it, I can't say I knew much more. It was so confusing, and I didn't know anybody else who had read it who might be able to help me understand. There was just me, the book, and my crappy little translation dictionary.

If I ever stumble across another copy in Italian, I definitely want to try reading it again. My language skills back then simply weren't sufficient for the task I'd set them. I did read through the entire thing because I could understand individual scenes, and I kept feeling like there was something good there, if only I could wrap my brain around it. It's a hard feeling to describe, understanding juuust enough of something to know it's WORTH understanding, yet being unable to quite make that next step to actually getting it.''

The funny thing is, until just now, it never occurred to me that maybe it was just a really difficult read. I've always assumed my inability to fully grasp it was simply due to my sub-par language comprehension.
 
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