Pundits from The New York Times Book Review swoon over a book proclaimed a bestseller, a must read, the best new voice, or the best of an "old" voice . . . and yet, it did nothing to you, bored you to death.
The Shipping News. As much as I appreciate Ms. Annie Proulx (yes, I read from cover to cover Accordion's Crimes and her other novels) I couldn't finish The Shipping News. I left it to sleep for a while, picked it up again -- nothing. I told myself it's well written, turned it into a movie, I persuaded myself that Ms. Proulx is a talented writer -- nada. Maybe because she uses too much local vocabulary, local dialect, obscure words, some characters talk and talk and talk, long speeches, maybe her sentences are choppy, sticking in my throat like fish bones. I don't know. Some images are splendid, some scenes are funny. I couldn't finish. Mind you, I got that novel through Interlibrary Loan, that much I wanted to read it. I apologize to you, Ms. Proulx, in case you read my post.
Have you gone through a similar experience? This includes classics as well as established contemporary authors.
Adagio
The Shipping News. As much as I appreciate Ms. Annie Proulx (yes, I read from cover to cover Accordion's Crimes and her other novels) I couldn't finish The Shipping News. I left it to sleep for a while, picked it up again -- nothing. I told myself it's well written, turned it into a movie, I persuaded myself that Ms. Proulx is a talented writer -- nada. Maybe because she uses too much local vocabulary, local dialect, obscure words, some characters talk and talk and talk, long speeches, maybe her sentences are choppy, sticking in my throat like fish bones. I don't know. Some images are splendid, some scenes are funny. I couldn't finish. Mind you, I got that novel through Interlibrary Loan, that much I wanted to read it. I apologize to you, Ms. Proulx, in case you read my post.
Have you gone through a similar experience? This includes classics as well as established contemporary authors.
Adagio
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