When you weren't ready to read it...

wilde · Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:43 am

Yeah, "Grapes of Wrath" is a bit overly descriptive for me, but I still like it. I'm not a big fan of "Of Mice and Men" though.

And I feel that way about Dickens right now. It's a bit dry for me, but I'm sure I'll like it in a few years. :lol:

hmrush · Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:46 am

If you are struggling with Dickens you should try Bleak House, I would be so bold as to say it is his best novel. It's a big one, but I think as far as character dynamics and the story itself it is definitely the one I may actually read again.

caseyjo · Wed Mar 10, 2010 1:39 pm


	rainbells wrote: Now that I am thinking about it, The Diary of Anne Frank was the same for me. Age 10 I tried it out, and was clueless about what was happening. Once I studied WWII, in high school, I tried it again, and it broke my heart.

This happened to me too! The first time I read The Diary of Anne Frank (I was 9), I thought it would be so cool to be able to live in a secret annex and have everyone read your diary. I knew that she died, but it didn't really register that she was an actual person who never got a chance to really live. When I was 13, a holocaust survivor came to my school and talk to us about her experiences. I read it again shortly after, and I couldn't stop crying. It was like it had gained a completely different tone.

Murasaki · Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:48 am

I have quite a few books on this list that I want to read but haven't managed to get in to. I am still trying hard to read Tristram Shandy and The Mysteries of the Udolpho. It took me years to find Udolpho and I always wanted to read it after seeing it mentioned in so many other Victorian books. I just can't manage to get into it! I also really want to read Ulysses and one day I will succeed.

nova · Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:31 am


	rainbells wrote: Then again I am finally figuring out what they were singing about in songs I have been listening to for 35 years.

lol, then can you tell me what that line from "You're So Vain" that goes, "I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee" means? I have been wondering about that since 1973.[/quote]

I actually have wasted brainpower on this and came up with the backstory.

Carly is sitting outside of a little cafe in Paris. She is watching the people go by and wondering what went wrong. It's a sunny day and she looks down at her espresso and sees the reflection of the clouds. She giggles because she is also stoned and repeats "there are clouds in my coffee" six times. Later, back in her room, she realizes that it is a really great line. Still stoned she realizes it sums up her failed relationship perfectly.

missyannlala · Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:43 pm

happened to me when I tried to read any Austen book in high school, now that I'm a few years older, I understand the language and I value the deeper story in the novels I've read.

rainbells · Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:02 pm

I just thought of another book I tried to read before I was ready. It was called "The Real Diary of a Real Boy" by Henry Shute. I wonder if anyone here has ever heard of this old book? It was first published around 1902, and it's written by a barely literate boy about 12 years old. I don't know if it was a real diary, or if the author just made it up, but it was a very funny book. I tried to read it when I was about 7, and I was way too young. I think I finally read it when I was 10 or 11, and I read it over, and over and over. I still have my old torn up, beat up copy that I read so many years ago.

Kevin · Sun Mar 14, 2010 4:04 pm

Vonnegut.

I've read Slaughterhouse-5 and started a few other novels... Cat's Cradle and Player Piano are two I can recall... and I just don't get the infatuation. Perhaps someday I will, when I'm ready for it.

3amd5.Royo · Tue Mar 16, 2010 1:45 am

I tried reading Clockwork Orange a couple years ago and got discouraged by the odd use of language, which this particular book is famous for. I was really curious though, so I rented the movie and watched it first. The movie was really strange, but intriguing, so a couple months ago I picked up the book and powered through it. I think it helped watching the movie first, because I grasped the overall feel of the book, so when I tried to read it again I just sort of focused on the mood, and the language became familiar by the end of the chapter.

I'm experiencing the sensation again with Don Quixote. I've been excited to read it for awhile, but the initial impression when I start to read it is disheartening, lol.

bleachededen · Tue Mar 16, 2010 2:07 am


	3amd5.Royo wrote: I tried reading Clockwork Orange a couple years ago and got discouraged by the odd use of language, which this particular book is famous for. I was really curious though, so I rented the movie and watched it first. The movie was really strange, but intriguing, so a couple months ago I picked up the book and powered through it. I think it helped watching the movie first, because I grasped the overall feel of the book, so when I tried to read it again I just sort of focused on the mood, and the language became familiar by the end of the chapter. I'm experiencing the sensation again with Don Quixote. I've been excited to read it for awhile, but the initial impression when I start to read it is disheartening, lol.

I have the same trouble with Don Quixote. There's a newer translation that I've heard is far easier to read and is next on my "books to buy list." It's a version from 2005, I think, translated by Edith Grossman. Might be a way to ease into Don Quixote. I'll let you know if I get to it first.

3amd5.Royo · Tue Mar 16, 2010 3:13 am

I actually bought that exact translation for Christmas! Maybe I'll start that after The Left Hand of Darkness...

froglipz · Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:09 pm

I am giving the Odyssey another go for English Comp, This time around it is a fascinating story. Three decades ago in 10th grade English it was a grind, boring, obtuse.

A book that I get a different perspective in from time to time is A Separate Peace by John Knowles, which I have been reading since High School also....

The Real Diary of a Real Boy is available at the Gutenberg project for free download...

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