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Slow goings

Robert said:
Some distractions are fine. Sometimes I'll sitting there reading something and I'll wonder about the accuracy of a history being protrayed or whether it ever really happened. I'm trying to read the book but what I'm really thinking about is what I know about the subject. I'm trying to apply the information to what I think I know or I'm trying to understand the apparent conflict. What can I learn from it? That's a good distraction. So what if it means taking two weeks to finish a 450 page novel? No hurry.
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Exactly, now what sort of pie shall we eat? ;)
 
abecedarian said:
Exactly, now what sort of pie shall we eat? ;)
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Your call. I don't have any pie (or cake for that matter) in the house so I'll have to go out and get some. I need to go out and get some refried beans so I can pick up a pie while I'm there. No excuse needed. :lol:
 
abecedarian said:
How do you decide whether to stick with the book or throw in the towel? I find it varies so much, there really isn't a formula..often just a feeling that it's time.
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Yes, I have to agree with that, Abc, I've put down A Frolic of His Own by Gaddis, not because it is difficult, more because I know too many of those crazy people, and listening to them in real life is enough, I don't need to listen to 500 pages of their dialog.
I know some have found it difficult on account of the lack of attribution, but that doesn't bother me, in fact I think it has helped me in being able to think more about reading plays, which I've pretty much stayed away from till now.
 
Ever since tackling Nabokov I've been converted to rereading, so now I find books much more understandable and enjoyable the second time around. In turn, that has enabled me to start tackling some of the more difficult books I know of, and sticking with them until I at least get them deciphered. It's a little like the rewards of mountain climbing, and slow. But at least I can say I did it, and I have come to see more of the amazing things that can be accomplished with the written word.
 
I've been experiencing that a lot lately, but I don't think it's due to my lack of interests in the reading material or the quality of it. I'm becoming more interesting in taking my time to read books. I have been participating in the 50 books challenge each year, so there is an imaginary race going on, but I always end up going into the 70s and 80's marks for books so I can afford to slow down and work through my TBR pile to savor what I have to read.

Some books I can imagine will be slow goings. I tried tackling Tolkien's The Silmarillion once before and was a bit overwhelmed. I received a copy for Christmas though and I am determined to get through it, but I feel it will be slow going since there's just so much in there.
 
I had a really, really hard time getting through Suite Francaise the first time I tried. I couldn't keep track of the characters or focused on their stories long enough to get emotionally involved. I eventually ended up giving up and returning it to the library without getting a third of the way through. But at the time, I was overloaded with too much school stress and taking the book on was overly ambitious. When I tried again, a few months after I finished everything up for good, I found it was a much smoother and better read than I'd remembered. It wasn't the book that was the problem, it was the stress in my life.
 
I seemed to have a kind of mental block with the 2nd in Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' Trilogy,'The Eye In The Door'. I loved the first one,and don't know if my expectations were too high,but I must've started the 2nd one several times and almost gave up. In the end,I just put it to one side,and read others books,and a few months later read 'The Eye In The Door' straight off!
 
This happened to me when I read Thoreau's Walden recently. It started well, he writes rather beautifully about nature and has some interesting ideas about living in autonomy. But for some reason I justy found the book dull and kept putting it off, reading very few pages each time I picked it up. In the end I just speed-read it and moved on to something better. Having regretted it.
 
Goodness. I am having the hardest time getting through "Shadow Country" by Peter Matthiessen. I read the first 200ish pages on an airplane, and only continued with it due to stubbornness and boredom. I'm now on the second of three parts, and though this section is an easier read than the first, I'm dragging. Amazon reviews talk about how this book is "captivating" for all 900 pages, but I am struggling. It's not that it's not an interesting story, but more than it's soooo long and full of detail. I'm stubborn as hell, though. I'll finish it one of these days ;-)
 
I try vey hard not to give up on a book but this is the second one I have put aside.I can't get into it.

The Storyteller: Mario Vargas Llosa
 
I'm going through Lolita pretty slow. I find it interesting but before it i read Night Watch and Day Watch quick. Now i just cant get into focusing to much on this book.
 
There's a fair amount of heavy nonfiction I read that way: I need the information in the book, but the writing doesn't grab me. I'll often be reading several works like that at the same time.

Poetry usually wants to be read in smaller slices than prose, so I'll often be reading a book of poetry slowly.

If I start reading prose fiction slowly, usually it's because I'm having a hard time getting into the book. If I'm reading strictly for fun, that usually means I'm going to end up putting the book down before I finish.
 
I'm going through a slow period right now. The book is good but it loses out to the Stanley Cup finals.
 
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