Sometimes, and it's entirely my own fault, I lose track of a central requirement for reading a book. That it should be fun. Not necessarily funny, no, no, no. But fun. Not worthy. Not dutiful. Fun.
Time was that once I had started a book, I gamely soldiered on to the end. Thankfully Big Engine cured me of that one. I don't discard a book readily, but discarding is an option. Sometimes the old compulsion to finish it returns and I must once again master it.
I only did this once last year. The author of one of the first three Torchwood novels (Another Life, Border Princes, Slow Decay), gave me a set of all three. I could manage two of them - in fact, they were quite fun and I'm glad to say my colleague's was one of them - but I simply couldn't get into the third. I wasn't interested. The main plot was just about keeping me going, but then a secondary one opened up beneath me and my attention collapsed.
This created an archival conumdrum. While I was reading it, it was on the Reading or Read list. Had I finished it, it would have stayed there as having been read. But if I am no longer reading a book, and have not read a book, there is no accurate way to record the fact.
So I am starting a new list on the left: "Life's too short to read ..." I don't expect it to have many takers. The first and hopefully last 2008 addition to this is The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart.
This is rather a shame, not just because on principle no book should be too dull to read, but I had heard good things of it. Very 70s, very counter-cultural, doubtless deeply significant ... nah. The guy's a git and that's it. From Oxfam it came, to Oxfam it shall return.
The biggest downside of this is that I must now turn to the next book on the list, which is - because I promised the Boy, oh gawd ... Russell Brand's My Booky Wook. I'm going in. Wish me luck.
I have high hopes for My Booky Wook actually, Mr. Brand is an eloquent man and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's lived an interesting life. Even if it makes it onto the "life's too short to read..." list, I'd love to hear a brief review!
ReplyDeleteI like Russell Brand, and he makes a very interesting interviewee: insightful, self-aware, candid. I saw him interviewed on a BBC4 thing where Dawn French talked to male comedians about their acts and their lives. His answers were consistently more illuminating than the pedestrian line of questioning deserved.
ReplyDeleteBut I also read the lengthy extract of My Booky Wook reproduced in the Guardian and it was a lot of boring navel-gazing about drug use. It may have been unrepresentative, but any interest in exploring further ceased there and then.
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ReplyDeleteI like Mr Brand and received his book for Christmas. I think his exuberant Victorian Gothic style and unpredictable use of language is carefully measured to teeter on the edge of irritating, but (for me) remaining on the watchable side.
ReplyDeleteI also rather enjoyed the Dice Man. I agree with your 'Git hypothesis', but still found the book to be interesting. I then donated it to Oxfam in the hope that someone else might like it. Sorry.
I'll keep my books to myself next time in order to save you from my dubious taste.
I read a snippet of "My Booky Wook" in Waterstones. I think I found one of the irritating sections. I'd like to know what you think overall. He is a weird, irritating and fascinating character.
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