The Unfinished Bookers
I have officially decided to give up my Bookerworm quest. I still intend to at least try to read the majority of the books, but after truly disliking some of the Booker books, I have also decided not to bother pushing through ones that I begin to get 'funny' feelings about. This is also tied a bit to my faith; I want to grow in my sensitivity to the voice of God, and that does at times meaning walking away from worldly things.
I'm sure this will be an ongoing conversation I have with God, but for now, this plot is to acknowledge which books I have begun and subsequently have decided not to finish, along with a (much smaller, as I want to at least give books a chance to surprise me) number I have decided not to bother with in advance. I will also give brief reasons why these books have made this list, rather than my actual 'completed books' list.
Ironically, although I felt to give up on the books I'm going to list below, most of them weren't as bad as some of the ones I pushed through in my earlier Bookerworm days. That's more a sign of what I allowed myself to read then than anything else!!
The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
Published by Penguin Books: Middlesex, England, 1987 (1986).
Published by Penguin Books: Middlesex, England, 1987 (1986).
Out of my 'failed' book attempts, this is probably the one I got the furtherest through. Set in Wales, the main thing that this book has going for it is the look at a culture where - like modern New Zealand - the debate between English and a traditional language is raging. Within the time period of The Old Devils, Welsh is slowly creeping on to road signage, and various characters are embracing the Welsh-ness of their identity to a greater or lesser extent.
That part of the book I really enjoyed, and is what kept me reading for such a percentage of the book.
The bit that got me to eventually give it up is the morality. Our main characters are all pretty-much sleeping their way around the group, having affairs, betraying one another, and all without much passion or love involved.
Twas grimy and unneeded, but unfortunately was also quite a main focus of the text.
University of Queensland Press: Queensland Australia, 1997 (1988).
At the other end of the continuum, I only got a few chapters into Oscar and Lucinda. Once again, the tone of the book feels very grimy, and there is the added element of quite a few religious characters, also with that same 'grimy' feel.
I wanted to read on with this one, knowing that it was even made into a movie! However, it all felt quite gross, and very much a cynical take on the faith I hold dear as well.
A Vintage Book: London, 1992 (1991).
The Famished Road was quite interesting for quite a while. The genre of the book is described by some as 'magical realism', and it feels like reading mythology or fairy tales mixed into a somewhat modern setting. The main character is even a spirit!
I don't mind a bit of mythology. I don't mind a bit of fantasy. But once again, as the book progressed, and as it's realism gave way to a greater mythological sense, the book also became quite dark and more demonic (to put it bluntly) than I was happy continuing with. I'm sure some people who don't believe in a spirit-world could read this and quite enjoy it. For me, though, it began to unsettle me.
A Vintage Book: Random House Australia, 2014 (2013).
Another book where the setting gave me hope that I would enjoy the book, and where there were some elements that I did enjoy. I didn't get a long way into this book though.
One of the reasons I hoped to enjoy this one was it's setting. Last year I read Miracle on the River Kwai, about the building of a railway in Burma during WW2 by POWs, and this book also - in part - shares that setting. However, the other main aspect of the book was the affair the main character was having with his uncle's wife. This element, combined with the truly brutal descriptions of the warfare, was enough to put me off.
Oneworld Publications, London, UK, 2017 (2016).
Out of those attempted, this one was the quickest one I gave up on. This is because, like Vernon God Little before it, The Sellout is very bad-language heavy. I didn't actually get far enough into the book to learn its plot, which I hear is quite funny. But, I don't want to wade through all of that to find out.
That is my current list of unfinished Booker books. It may get added to over time.
Below are the few Booker books I have decided not to start for various reasons. This is due either to skimming through them and getting a sense of them, or simply realising that the focus of the novel was going to be largely things I know already isn't something I want to 'wade through.'
The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey.
The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey.
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst.
The Gathering by Anne Enright.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart.
Comments
Post a Comment