Taking a break from the bi-weekly newsletter and trying out a community-building feature here on Substack - threads.
Every few months, I’ll post a question for us to chat about, share our opinions on, + overall be curious about.(Check out my answer to the question in the comments!) (and no, the questions won’t ALWAYS be about books - I promise)
I shouldn’t need to say this, but let’s all be kind … even if you don’t agree with someone’s response, don’t be rude or hurtful. 💀
The first book that comes to mind is "Little Women" - I know it has been much-hyped for decades, and the movie is still quite popular, but I could never get into it. I'm not sure if it's the time period it's set in or the way the characters are written, but I just couldn't bring myself to have a connection with them.
Extra: Anything by Hemingway. Never finished a book by him, despite my many attempts.
My high school English teacher once compared my writing to his, and when I went to read his work, I only got 10 pages in before my eyes glazed over (and I vowed to learn much more about writing because I never want that to be my style!)
Life is too short to read books that don't resonate with where I am in my life at that moment. I tried to read Gone with the Wind in high school. (Grew up in Georgia in the 90s and it seemed like the thing to do.) I haven't gotten through the book or the movie and it is unlikely that I will pick either back up again.
In college I majored in Japanese History and learned the language, so I tried to read (in Italian translation) many Japanese novels (the usual suspects: Mishima, Kawabata, Tanizaki) until I realized that 1) I found them mildly boring, and 2) I was reading them only because they were from Japan. If I remember well, I never finished both "The Golden Pavilion" and "Confessions of a Mask."
Another novel I couldn't finish (I actually stopped after a few pages) is Italo Svevo's "Zeno's Conscience." Ah, and Jean-Paul Sartre's "Nausea."
The first book that comes to mind is "Little Women" - I know it has been much-hyped for decades, and the movie is still quite popular, but I could never get into it. I'm not sure if it's the time period it's set in or the way the characters are written, but I just couldn't bring myself to have a connection with them.
Extra: Anything by Hemingway. Never finished a book by him, despite my many attempts.
My high school English teacher once compared my writing to his, and when I went to read his work, I only got 10 pages in before my eyes glazed over (and I vowed to learn much more about writing because I never want that to be my style!)
Life is too short to read books that don't resonate with where I am in my life at that moment. I tried to read Gone with the Wind in high school. (Grew up in Georgia in the 90s and it seemed like the thing to do.) I haven't gotten through the book or the movie and it is unlikely that I will pick either back up again.
In college I majored in Japanese History and learned the language, so I tried to read (in Italian translation) many Japanese novels (the usual suspects: Mishima, Kawabata, Tanizaki) until I realized that 1) I found them mildly boring, and 2) I was reading them only because they were from Japan. If I remember well, I never finished both "The Golden Pavilion" and "Confessions of a Mask."
Another novel I couldn't finish (I actually stopped after a few pages) is Italo Svevo's "Zeno's Conscience." Ah, and Jean-Paul Sartre's "Nausea."