Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme discussing all things bookish.
Suggested by JM:
“Life is too short to read bad books.” I’d always heard that, but I still read books through until the end no matter how bad they were because I had this sense of obligation.
That is, until this week when I tried (really tried) to read a book that is utterly boring and unrealistic. I had to stop reading.
Do you read everything all the way through or do you feel life really is too short to read bad books?
I totally agree with the "life is to short to read bad books" saying. I have rarely read a book to the end if I didn't like it. As a future teacher I probably shouldn't admit to this but...I never finished Carrie by Stephen King and I never finished For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway because I hated both of them. I read enough that I could intelligently answer the questions. Actually by the time Carrie came around I had access to the interwebby and I had friends who pointed me in the right direction for good summaries. I just could not finish them. For me it has to do with the fact that I have so many things I want to do in my life that I don't give time to anything that isn't giving me anything. That goes for so many things in my life not just books.
I might find something difficult but worthwhile and that still gets my attention. I might know that it will give me something in the end although the hoops to get to the end are annoying but they need to be done (school right now comes to mind here). If a book is supposed to be funny but isn't making me laugh it goes (Don Quixote is an example of this). If it is supposed to make me think but leaves does not, it goes. You get the picture.
Life is indeed to short to read bad books
Posts
5 comments:
Good answer. Here is mine: http://thecrowdedleaf.wordpress.com/
Yes, I had the same reaction to For Whom the Bell Tolls - even though I usually like most of Hemingway's books. Life really is too short to try to struggle through that one.
I agree with you about Don Quixote. I had to finish that one because I moderate my book club and that was our selection about 1.5 years ago. Bleagh.
On the other hand, I LOVED For Whom the Bell Tolls. I love Hemingway in general.
I've actually been wondering if I should give For Whom the Bell Tolls a second chance. I was 17 (or possibly 18) when I read it and my view on a lot of things has changed since then. I just read Hills Like White Elephants with my seniors and I liked it a lot more now than I did as a student. hmmm...
Loved your answer. I usually finish a book unless it’s vulgar. Breaking Dawn, the 4th book in the Twilight series was a killer for me. The first 100 or so pages were great but the last 500 or so I just about died. There's been a few in book club I've had to force myself to read so that I could participate in the discussion.
Post a Comment