Is it just me? Ali Bacon reveals her cheat’s stratagem for when a good read stops delivering
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| Reading - for pleasure, obvs! |
But then there’s the book that does appeal straight away and
has you hooked for quite a while. Until you start to lose interest. At first you blame yourself: lack of concentration,
lack of intelligence! You’re clearly just missing something. But as the evenings pass you’re still not seeing
it. It starts to feel like a slog. But surely you can’t stop now – the end is
practically in sight! The trouble is, you’re no longer sure that you care.
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| Great billing! |
Last week this happened to me with Priti Taneja’s We that Are Young. I have no guilt in
mentioning this as it’s already a prize-winning novel with many admirers. Anyway
it was on offer at a bargain price and despite its doorstopper dimensions (I’m
more a lover of the slim volume these days) I splashed out and happily dived
in. What’s more, I really enjoyed the opening chapters in the voice of
John/Jivan returning to his native India
But it wasn’t the easiest read. In particular there are passages of dialogue in Hindi which as far as I could see weren’t always explained by what followed. This led me to start skimming over some sections and once you start skimming it’s hard to focus back in. There were also occasional passages of violence which turned me off. When the character voice switched to Jeet I became a bit lost in his (geographical) world and his language. Picking this book up was feeling more like a duty than a pleasure. But by now I was at least 2/3 of the way through!
But it wasn’t the easiest read. In particular there are passages of dialogue in Hindi which as far as I could see weren’t always explained by what followed. This led me to start skimming over some sections and once you start skimming it’s hard to focus back in. There were also occasional passages of violence which turned me off. When the character voice switched to Jeet I became a bit lost in his (geographical) world and his language. Picking this book up was feeling more like a duty than a pleasure. But by now I was at least 2/3 of the way through!
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| How far can you go? |
Time to play the joker and look up the reviews. Not the broadsheet reviews which if they
existed were sure to be favourable and remind me of what a worthy book this is,
but those posted by the (generally) faceless masses of Amazon or Goodreads.
You mean I’m going to rely on other people’s judgement? Well actually yes! Not so much to see how many are for or against, but just to find out what, if anything, has turned people off. In other words, to find out if it’s just me.
I’ve done this before in moments of laziness or desperation and once again I found it really useful.
You mean I’m going to rely on other people’s judgement? Well actually yes! Not so much to see how many are for or against, but just to find out what, if anything, has turned people off. In other words, to find out if it’s just me.
I’ve done this before in moments of laziness or desperation and once again I found it really useful.
In this case I gleaned two things in particular: that the
Hindi dialogue was a minus for many readers. (This in itself wouldn’t have
stopped me reading but it was good to know I wasn’t the only numpty!)
More crucially,
I turned up the fact that the ending was going to be particularly violent. Without providing an actual spoiler this
flagged up for me that no feel-good factor – which I suppose I was
subconsciously looking for – was in sight and that sealed my decision.
Of course you could say that I was looking for an excuse,
but I have used this cheat’s stratagem before and if I’d found opinions of the
‘carry on you won’t be disappointed’ variety, I might have done so. (And I
remember this did happen with another book mentioned here.)
I dare say there will be those of you out there who happily
lay down a book at any point – or always persevere There is of course a final option
employed by a friend of mine who just skips to the end then decides if it’s
worth filling in the blanks. Well in
theory that’s fine. But somehow for me that really is cheating!
* An interesting exception to the giving up rule is with an
audio book. I’ve recently persevered with two books in the car I don’t think I
would have finished on paper. Was it worth it? In one case yes, in the other
not so sure. But if you’re stuck in a traffic jam what do you have to lose? Clearly
an audio book is a more passive read than turning the page.
Ali Bacon writes contemporary and historical fiction.
Her latest novel, In the Blink of an Eye appeared on the ASLS Best SCottish Boks of 2018
https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2018/12/best-scottish-books-of-2018/
Or check out https://alibacon.com
Comments
Incidentally, the first two sections very nearly made me give up on Cloud Atlas but I battled on and it suddenly became gripping. Very strange book though.