Two years... read eighty books and write one. That's the tag line of an MFA program, and here I am, on my last book. And... like McKayla, I'm not impressed.
When I first started the program, I had to come up with a reading list, and so I asked all of you. What great books are out there I must absolutely know about and read?
I asked my crit group, and the first book one person suggested was A Prayer for Owen Meany. I looked it up on Amazon and saw that the book ran 642 pages and wrote her back, "Are you trying to kill me??"
But I've had many people since then tell me to read it, rave about it, tell me it's their favorite book ever. And since I've read books like Cutting for Stone, Edgar Sawetelle, and the behemoth doorstop A Soldier of the Great War (weighing in at 727 pages), what's one more long book?
So I started it this week as my last book. And I have to say... I'm not feeling it yet.
Okay - I'm not that far into it. About 50 pages, which isn't that far in a book this size. But something my advisor and this program have tried to pound into me is starting in the action, keeping a story in the action, moving things along and not letting the story linger too long on things not imperative to the plot. And this book is just meandering right now, and full of details that don't at all seem important.
I take it it's a character driven story, and since Owen just killed Johnny's mom with a foul ball, I'm guessing things are about to amp up. But still... there's just not the language I love to stew in or the plot compelling me forward. I'm hoping it will get better. I'm expecting still to find some gem in it.
I wonder if all the ravings about it raised my expectations too high? I've found the books I come to with huge expectations of greatness nearly always let me down, and those I don't know or expect much of are the ones that blow me away.
I'll keep plodding on. Maybe by the end of today I'll have totally and completely fallen in love with it. Maybe it will be one of my favorites, too. I'm hoping.. because 652 pages is a lot to not like.
If you've read this book and loved it, what is it that impressed you?
And why does Owen Meany talk in all capitals??
Tell me, blogging friends, have you been disappointed in books that others have hyped up to you? Do you prefer to come to a book with high expectations or none at all?
***UPDATE: I finished Owen Meany and... I'm still not all that impressed. I admit the ending did make up for some of the earlier aspects I didn't love, and it was a more tightly-knit story than it appeared to be during the first 400 pages. But this is not a book I'll be thinking of years from now and want to pull out and read again, I don't think.
I adore this book. I think some of the Canada scenes could have been tightened, but I think you'll really like what it as to say about faith and purpose. Please tell me what you think when you finish!
ReplyDeleteI think part of what attracted it to me was the theme of faith and purpose, so I'm still hopeful. I'll let you know when I finish!
DeleteThat's my favorite tumblr (McKayla is not impressed). Did you see her and the other girls on Letterman. It was pretty funny. She said the other girls point out to her every time she does that face now.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I've been disappointed in overhyped books, but I'm drawing a blank on any examples. Hmm. Well, John Scalzi had a recent book called Redshirts that should've been right up my alley, but I couldn't get into it.
I don't mind either way, regarding the expectations of a book. Maybe I just need more people in my life who hype books to me? :)
Paul
I love that tumblr too. :) I love that she has such a good sense of humor about it.
DeleteI think the reason I've had so many hyped books is the program I'm in. I ask around a lot what I should read, so that invited the hype. And people in the program are passionate about books, and filling in other people's book lists. :)
I remember getting very antsy trying to get into Marilynne Robinson's Gilead, which starts excruciatingly slow, but did eventually really pull me in. I think the longer the book, the more pages it sometimes takes to get immersed.
ReplyDeleteThough the multi-prize winning Going Bovine--a literary YA novel--is one I'm now skimming because the minute I turn on my Kindle wireless it will disappear (library loan). I think the issue is mostly audience mismatch. If I were a 16 yo boy, I'd probably be loving every minute. Behind all the hip dialogue and Cervantes allusions and trippy social commentary is a character whose deep need for change is going so slowly I'm getting annoyed. It probably will go somewhere good, but I'm not enjoying the ride that much.
I think that you've about summed up my frustration with so many books. The ending makes them worthwhile, but I didn't so much enjoy the ride. And shouldn't a book be all about the ride?
DeleteI did adore A Prayer for Owen Meany, but must admit I read it many, many years ago. I also enjoyed the movie adaptation, although it did divert from the story line. I'd prefer someone not 'hype' about a book and instead just give the idea that it might be one I like, than I have less expectations! One that comes to mind is Eat, Pray, Love. Gosh, I DISLIKED that book!!
ReplyDeleteI never read that book, but I saw the movie and it seemed so self-indulgent!! I guess I just can't relate to someone who gets over heartache by traveling all over the world. Some of us just have to live out responsibilities and deal with life as it comes.
DeleteFor years I listened to my sister go on and on about one of her favorite books, A Prayer for Owen Meany. Tears would hover on her bottom lids at the mere recollection of this life altering tome. So it was with great excitement that I dove in to it a few years ago when it was one of our book club selections. Then I remembered that my sister and I are so different that it is baffling that we actually grew up in the same house. I was so bored that I could not finish it. I'm pretty sure that my sister thinks less of me, but I can live with that fact, because there is not a prayer of a chance that I'm ever going to finish reading Own Meany.
ReplyDeleteHa ha!! That is so how I felt! The end was the best part of the book, but I would never tell someone they have to muddle through all those pages for a payoff. Not when there are so many great books out there to love every page of.
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