I'm in a reading rut. Remember back when it was heart-breaking for me to even imagine not finishing a book? (Yes, Angle of Repose, I'm talking to you.) Well, now, good luck getting me to ever finish one!
In November I started reading A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. I love Lorrie Moore—I would read a collection of her shopping lists. However, I was reading this at a time when life was getting kind of out of control, and I knew I was going to have to miss the book group meeting at which it would be discussed, so I put it down at page 74. And then I never picked it up. I was liking (if not loving) it, but I can't seem to motivate myself to get back into it. I haven't put it back on the shelf, though, so maybe there's hope for this one.
The next book group assignment was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I'm not a fan of historical fiction in general, but I was game to try. It's the story of Oliver Cromwell, and I really enjoyed Mantel's depiction of him as a true renaissance man—shrewd and insightful and multi-faceted and warm-hearted. But, man oh man, I found it made for such tedious reading. For one thing, I found it very difficult to keep track of all the Henrys and Marys and Annes and Thomases—I had to keep flipping to the Cast of Characters at the beginning of the book (you know you're in trouble when a book begins with 5 pages listing the characters, and half of them share the same first name). For another thing, Mantel has this maddening gimmick where she always refers to Cromwell as "he" even if Cromwell wasn't the the first one mentioned in a sentence. Many, many times I had to go back and reread a sentence to figure out who was doing what. Some people said to assume that "he" always means Cromwell, but that doesn't work either. I just can't believe that this was deemed (by Mantel and by her editors) the best way to show that we are inside only Cromwell's head. I found that it really detracted from my potential enjoyment of the book. Anyhow, I stopped reading on page 207 and am unlikely to bother finishing it. I'm not one to shy away from "hard work" when I'm reading (I've read Moby Dick! and Infinite Jest! and even some poetry!), but the payoff in this one wasn't enough for me.
Next I picked up something that I thought would be a blast, John Irving's latest, Last Night in Twisted River. I love-love-love Irving, but I'm barely like-like-liking this one. It's supposed to be really funny, but I'm not finding it so. I'm used to his zany sense of humor and kooky characters, but this feels so forced to me. And boring. I couldn't care less about any of the characters or the plot. It's almost as if someone is trying to do an Irving knock-off and failing miserably. I'm on page 155, and that's going to be that.
Then I turned to something that I knew would be completely different: The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. OK, these pieces (some are a single paragraph, others a few pages) are indeed different—some of them are downright strange and unsettling. I've read only the first few and do intend to continue—there's something very compelling if unnerving about these "stories"—but I can already see that this is not something I'd want to read all in one sitting.
Next up for book group is Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, which I think ought to be interesting, although I don't usually do biographies.
So ... help! Please, someone, recommend a novel I will want to finish! Has anyone read Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris? That's next on my pile, but I will hold off if someone can suggest something guaranteed to please me.
I read Then We Came to the End. It's light fun and easily finishable! Do you like The Office and/or Office Space, or find them painful? If you like them, you'll like the book.
Posted by: Seth Lipkin | February 27, 2011 at 10:00 PM
I like them, so that's a good sign! Thanks!
Posted by: Karen | February 27, 2011 at 10:04 PM
I had the same experience with the Irving book. I love losing myself in one of Irving's books, but I stopped reading this one. It was boring!
Hope the next one you read is great!
Posted by: Sara | February 27, 2011 at 10:05 PM
Have you read Cutting for Stone? The Whistling Season? My Book club also enjoyed The Lost City of Z, Old Filth and if you like quirky, Couch.
Posted by: Margaret | February 27, 2011 at 10:30 PM
I finished "Wolf Hall" (and rather enjoyed it), but quit the Lydia Davis collection after two or three "stories." So: I hear ya.
Best fiction I've read lately: three crime novels by Laura Lippman, whom I've just recently discovered. She's an ex-journo who's married to David Simon, creator of "The Wire" and "Treme"; her characters are vivid, her writing's superb, and her plots are fascinating without being hopelessly convoluted (a problem with much crime fiction, IMO).
If you're up for nonfiction that reads like fiction, I highly recommend Daniel Okrent's "Last Call," a witty and riveting history of Prohibition; and Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which will blow your mind and break your heart.
Posted by: Nancy | February 28, 2011 at 12:23 AM
I'm glad to hear (sadly) that I'm not the only one in a reading rut. The last several books I've downloaded to my Kindle sit unfinished. And I really haven't been in the mood to read anything lately. (It's very strange for me).
Posted by: Tonya Watkins | February 28, 2011 at 12:31 AM
My book club read Then We Came To An End and I only vaguely remember the book. I know I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away.
I agree with your assessment of Last Night In Twisted River. It very much felt like an attempt at writing like John Irving - "Oh gee, everything came full circle! Weird!"
Cliff and I both just read The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson and loved it! It sucked me in with 2 pages.
Posted by: Steve | February 28, 2011 at 10:55 AM
Can't believe I neglected to mention Lionel Shriver in my original comment. I know you enjoyed "The Post-Birthday World"; I thought "So Much for That" (a finalist for the National Book Award last year) was even better. And "We Have to Talk About Kevin" was brilliant and deeply disturbing--and unputdownable.
Posted by: Nancy | February 28, 2011 at 02:09 PM
Love, love? Here are a few
Bloodroot, Amy Greene
Making Toast, Roger Rosenblatt (go read this tonight)
Girl in Tranlation, Kwok
Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan (read this tonight too if you haven't already)
Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Lethem
PS I couldn't read three pages of the Post Birthday World.
Posted by: kate | February 28, 2011 at 05:07 PM
Golly! Do I ever hear you on this one! I LOVED Wolf Hall, however (although then I tried one of her earlier books and got bogged down). I have the 100-Page Rule, where I get to stop at page 100 if I am not enjoying myself. It has saved me such ladlesful of guilt for not finishing things; 26 more pages and you're there with Lorrie Moore!
I am working my way through DK Goodwin's Lincoln bio, rather slowly, but it's so worthwhile. The slow pace and long hiatuses, however, do mean that I have to go back to remember who the hell a lot of people are.
Posted by: Wendy | February 28, 2011 at 05:11 PM
I have also started and then abandoned a number of books lately. What gives? (I read Last Night at the Lobster, which was mentioned above, a while ago, and I enjoyed it.) I think the last book I actually finished was "Room," which I really liked.
Posted by: Elena | March 01, 2011 at 07:32 PM
You've probably already read this (it's several years old), but I recently LOVE-LOVE-LOVED the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. About halfway through I slowed down and consciously savored it, because it's way too short! This is definitely one of those books where you get to know the characters like friends, and want to hear more from them. If you haven't read it, I can mail you the paperback anytime. :-)
p.s. I also LOVED Ken Follett's new book, Fall of Giants, but since you're not a big historical fiction fan, you might find this one a bit too big to stick with. (Again, I can send it to you if you want to try!)
Posted by: Pat | March 02, 2011 at 09:28 AM
I have to second the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And another I just thought of is Latitudes of Melt, Joan Clark. Anything by Bill Bryson, but Notes From a Small Island is my favorite. It made me laugh out loud. Likewise, anything by Frederick Forsyth or Ken Follett, and Thomas Perry's Jane Whitefield series is excellent suspense. I recently finished Mistress of the Art of Death, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I tried The Historian, and just couldn't get past a hundred pages. First book I've abandoned in a long time.
Posted by: Tom Compton | March 02, 2011 at 02:41 PM
So sad to hear about John Irving's book. I love him. Loved Garp. Loved Owen. I did a paper on him in college. I'm sad.
Posted by: Susan | March 03, 2011 at 08:41 PM
I recently read "Family Album" by Penelope Lively and liked it very much. It's very well-written and nuanced, without being fancypants. Easy to read and hard to shake off afterward, for all the right reasons.
Posted by: Naomi | March 05, 2011 at 09:47 PM
Based on the above recommendations I just read Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan and I've started on The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Both are good.
Posted by: Marta | March 07, 2011 at 08:40 AM
Oh! I was going to chime in to recommend Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and see others beat me to it. It's that good!
The only other ones I've really loved recently are historical, though...Sally Gunning's three "Satucket" novels about pre-Revolutionary Boston and surrounding areas. They are The Widow's War, Bound, and The Rebellion of Jane Clarke.
Posted by: Erin | March 07, 2011 at 08:44 AM