During the first two weeks I was in South Africa I gleefully plowed through like five books, more than I'd read in a long, long time. Then I picked up The Brother Karamazov, a book that I'd been dying to read for a decade or two. Several people whom I admire greatly had recommended it highly as possibly the best fiction ever written.
A week or two ago I finally finished. Up until the very last page I was sure that the reason for their fascination would become clear. Nope. Didn't get it. I'm totally shallow. I read the entry on Wikipedia to see what I'd missed, thinking that maybe the 700 page book I read had been abridged down and stripped of the good part. Nope, that's what I read. And the really impactful parts were parts I'd read and thought were kinda good, but won't show up in any church talks anytime soon.
What's wrong with me? Someone tell me why this was such a gem? It's not that I hated it, but a book that takes me six months to get through is not worth writing home about (hmm, I guess I'm kinda writing home about it here...). It's not the pupu platter that A Catcher in the Rye was, but I won't be re-reading it either unless someone can convince me otherwise.
I need to go back to some pulse-racing pulp fiction or perhaps a nice warhater like Catch-22 or Slaughterhouse Five to restore my interest in reading I think. Everything else I've been reading is non-fiction which is generally a sure sign I'll be sleeping on the plane.
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4 comments:
This was my experience with Tale of Two Cities - I remember Tyler really liking it and have always looked up to him in that way (and other ways too of course) but it didn't do it for me, too wordy - I didn't even finish. Although, in my case I do believe it is the case that I am not "smart" enough for it - I am aparantly on a Jr. High schooler level. :)
I am gratified to know that I'm not the only philistine. I've never understood the fascination with Dostoevsky (though Annette has tried to convert me) and I don't have plans to make efforts to attain such an understanding.
Ty and I read a Tale of Two Cities together out loud driving to Chicago. I really liked that book and have fond memories of the drive.
I'm happy you are done with The Brothers because now we can dive into the good stuff together; a little Jane Austin anyone?? Pete-tell Annette we are finally reading the classics around here, she'll be so proud!
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