I'd Prefer Not To
Tom Bissell writes in Salon of books he'd prefer not to read.
I'd prefer not to
My list includes Toni Morrison, Henry James, Faulkner and Beckett. Why are there some great writers we just cannot read?
Whether one chooses to admit it or not, every reader has a secret list of writers one is, for whatever reason, incapable of reading. To get it over with, what follows is my own: Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Henry James, Jane Austen, Samuel Beckett ... already embarrassment keeps me from going on.
For a former book editor and fiction writer to make such an admission is, I do not doubt, enough to have me dragged before a literary tribunal and stoned.
I reluctantly join in his honesty and trust that I won't be condemned. It's true I haven't read any Beckett (oops I did read "Waiting For Godot"), and was only able to get through Toni Morrison's "Beloved" with great effort. I still have Tolstoy's "War and Peace" on my list to read soon, but wonder if its just there because its a must read. Do you have authors you just don't seem to like but think you should. This is a great article. Tom, as well as discussing what he doesn't like discusses some of his favorites. If you're a reader, serious or not, don't miss it.
Comments
I think David Foster Wallace's novel "Infinite Jest" was highly overrated and completely unreadable. I have always enjoyed his essays in Harpers and elsewhere, but this novel of his was a piece of crap. I wonder what the hell the critics who praised it were actually reading.
Posted by: Doubting Thomas | May 28, 2002 9:47 AM | Reply to this comment
I started "Infinite Jest" a couple of times myself, could never quite figure out what the big deal was. Never did finish it. There was a time I felt a moral obligation to finish any book I started. What a foolish notion.
Posted by: Norm | May 28, 2002 10:28 AM | Reply to this comment
I am glad I found someone with my views about Tony Morrison (I tried hard to finish "Beloved" which to one critics was "a novel without which I couldn't imagine english literature), and Faulkner (I am struggling with "Light in August" now). I have a suspicion that both these authors are so widely discussed because they talked about racism. No one dares to challenge them because of the fear that they might be labeled as racist. But to me, the classic novels are those that deal with human dignity while pleasing the readers. "Adventures of Huckleberry Fin" by Mark Twain showed the suffering of Jim (or how he was treated), yet it's not amusing, and hence was a classic. Well, that's enough I guess. Thanks. O' my three favorites are "Of human bondage", "great expectations" and "three comrades".
Posted by: Anonymous | September 2, 2002 2:33 PM | Reply to this comment
Sorry, I meant "amusing" not "not amusing" about Twain.
Posted by: riv | September 2, 2002 2:35 PM | Reply to this comment
I never read "Three Comrades" something new for my to read list. "Of Human Bondage" is on my list of all time favorites, the top five at least.
Posted by: Norm | September 2, 2002 4:00 PM | Reply to this comment
Let's be honest about Henry David Thoreau...the man should have not been permitted to print copies of his "book." I understand that he wanted to live in the woods to get away from society for a while, but don't tell me something and then go back and contradict yourself four chapters later. Not only was the book something great to help me fall asleep, but it made me feel like i was being lied to. I highly recomend that if you pick this "book" up, just put it back, its garbage.
Posted by: Jerk | November 13, 2003 6:14 AM | Reply to this comment