![[Valid RSS]](/images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
« Exactly what is Obama changing? | Home | How stupid are voters? »
January 9, 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 | 5:54 PM
