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January 09, 2008
What are the least/most gratifying books you've ever read?
I'll never forget the experience of reading Umberto Eco's finest work of fiction, Foucault's Pendulum, in the early 1990s. The translator, William Weaver, I knew from his work translating Italian opera, so I trusted that I was getting a good rendition of the text. At any rate, quite a few passages in the book are in languages other than English or Italian, so it doesn't matter. They stretched every linguistic fiber of my brain; but I digress.
After I read that book, twice over, I was hungry for more. I went to my favorite neighborhood independent bookstore chain bookstore in the mall to see if I could get a recommendation on something else to slake this new thirst. An employee there heard my description of the Eco book, and recommended two titles:
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth
So, I bought both and read them. The classic Rand novel was interesting, to say the least. It introduced me to that soulless philosophy for which she is so famous (or infamous). I absolutely hated the heroine, Dagny Taggart, with a vehement passion. But I liked the book.
The Ken Follett oeuvre was a miserable read. Maybe my expectations were set too high after Eco and Rand; but I just didn't get much out of it. The story dragged on for page after page without any seeming substance; and even though there was evidence aplenty of historical research, there wasn't enough of anything else.
Surprisingly enough, two other high and low points of my experiences in literature last decade are by the same author: popular novelist Stephen King. I adored The Stand, even though the end was a bit anti-climactic. I even made it through the TV miniseries (which, of course, didn't come close). The other extreme, for me, was It. What a joke that was — a long, long, cruel joke. But, hey; ya gotta pay the bills.
What are some of your greatest disappointments and/or most awesome finds?
Sunday Drive | By joe lance | 05:54 PM
Comments
The Stand ranks up there with my most satisfying books, along with Pride & Prejudice, A Story Like the Wind and A Far Off Place (a Laurens van der Post twofer), To Kill a Mockingbird, and I Robot (there's a story behind that selection -- ask me sometime IRL).
Low points include just about everything I was made to read in school (I can be such a contrarian! ;-) and whatever Stephen King book I read right after The Stand -- I don't even remember which one it was. Blah. What a disappointment.
Also, I read a romance novel (I'm pretty sure it was Danielle Steele) once when I was in college (my parents would have stroked out if they saw me reading something like that when I lived in their house) and thought it was awesome. I ran across it years later and tried to slink through it again, but it was the most awful thing ever! I don't know what I was thinking the first time around! That was a crushing disappointment. ;-)
Posted by: alice at January 9, 2008 06:36 PM
Sex and Sunsets by Tim Sandlin for the most enjoyable and fastest read of my life.
Least gratifying would have to be All You Need is Ears by George Martin. It had some great bits, but it left me very, very unfulfilled.
Posted by: davidm. at January 9, 2008 08:10 PM
If I knew I would be stranded on a desert island for 20 years with only one book, it would most definitely be The Stand -- specifically the full "uncut" edition King released in 1990 after he became rich enough to do whatever he damn well pleased.
The miniseries was surprisingly good for a made-for-TV movie, but of course nowhere near as good as the book. Actually, except for combining the Rita and Nadine characters, it was really good. I especially liked Gary Sinise as Stu Redman, Molly Ringwald as Frannie Goldsmith, and the guy from Law and Order (forget his name) who played Randall Flagg.
Posted by: Joe at January 9, 2008 09:03 PM
P.S. the worst book I was ever forced to read was "Green Mansions" in about the 8th grade....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_mansions
A close second was "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden
BOOOOOOOORRRRRRRIIIINNNGGGGG!
Posted by: Joe at January 9, 2008 09:07 PM
I was disappointed in the miniseries, but I've rarely not been disappointed when a well-loved book is brought to life somehow (one of the few exceptions, coincidentally enough, is King's Shawshank -- I loved the story before I loved the movie). I thought the best part of the miniseries, though, was the casting of Bill Fagerbakke as Tom Cullen. Perfect. He was just what I pictured when I was reading the books.
BTW, one of the trivial/cool things from the complete & uncut version of the book is that one of the added passages (from Frannie's diary as they were traveling west to the cornfield from Maine) has them passing just north of Batavia, NY -- my hometown (the mention comes on page 546 of the hardcover).
Posted by: alice at January 9, 2008 09:19 PM