# When the book bests me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282 "2006-03-21T15:00:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/41 "2006-03-23T06:42:17Z")
[QUOTE=Dervish Jones] A couple of years ago I tried to read\* Gormenghast\* and got bored. I recently gave up on _English Passengers_ but will probably try it again. It was starting to get interesting, but was a couple of weeks overdue. [/QUOTE] Gormenghast was a weird experience for me. I felt like I wanted to get fed up and disgusted with it, but I didn’t. I just kept going, even though nothing was happening. I wouldn’t read it again, but I’m glad I did. I’ve never had that kind of reaction to any other book. ---
**Author:** ![bluetrust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@bluetrust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluetrust)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/42 "2006-03-23T07:47:17Z")
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The focus of the books are certainly the trends through which a civilization might progress, specifically seeking to analyze how they might progress over time using history as a precedent. Although many science fiction novels such as Nineteen Eighty-Four or Fahrenheit 451 do this, they typically do so by how current trends in society might come to fruition, and act as a moral allegory on the modern world. The Foundation series, on the other hand, typically looks at the trends in a wider scope, not necessarily looking at what the societies change into, but how they change and adapt. Sound dry and lifeless? You’re right! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/43 "2006-03-23T11:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=ddgryphon] I can add: ``` aureate, balderdash, big-talking, bullshitting, declamatory, euphuistic, flowery, fustian, grandiloquent, grandiose, high-flown, highfalutin, histrionic, inflated, loudmouth, magniloquent, orotund, ostentatious, overblown, ranting, rhapsodic, rhetorical, sonorous, swollen, tumid, turgid, verbose, windbag, windy, wordy ``` [/QUOTE] You missed “prolix”. _And_ “bombastic”. “Purple” would probably go in there, too. Aw, hell: redundant, diffuse, repetitious, circumlocutory, pleonastic. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/44 "2006-03-23T11:43:44Z")
_Middlemarch._ I’ve tried I don’t know how many times to read it, but I just can’t get any further than Dorothea’s engagement to Casabamelon or whatever his name is. My Big-Ass Books by Dead White Men (aka Five Great Novels) professor said it was an original soap opera, which it is, but I don’t like soap operas. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/45 "2006-03-23T12:01:22Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] Couldn’t stand the first one, got through the second one alright, third was so-so. It really is a cheap LOTR knockoff in a lot of places, but it has its moments. I\* loved \*Tigana and A Song For Arbonne. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I happen to like the **Fionavar Tapestry** a lot, although I’ve never managed to get anyone else to (my wife, after reading it, refused to touch anything else by GGK for years; now he’s one of her favoritre writers). I love its kitchen-sink, take-no-prisoners attitude towards fantasy tropes and mythology (Norse myth? Celtic myth? Arthurian myth? Christian allegory? Tolkien? Sure, we’ve got it all!). It’s like Bullfinch on crystal meth. But I admit it’s not nearly as good as his subsequent stuff. As to the **Sarantine Mosaic** you have to understand that it is what it says it is: a mosaic, a collection of smaller interlocking stories with more of an emphasis on character than on plot. It’s not an epic like his earlier works, and that can throw people off. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/46 "2006-03-23T13:18:43Z")
Augh! I thought of another one! The Shelters of Stone (Earth’s Children, Book 5) by Jean M. Auel What horrific dreck! I see you can but it at Amazon for 43¢. That’s 43¢ more than it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/47 "2006-03-23T16:47:18Z")
[QUOTE=singular1] Augh! I thought of another one! The Shelters of Stone (Earth’s Children, Book 5) by Jean M. Auel What horrific dreck! I see you can but it at Amazon for 43¢. That’s 43¢ more than it’s worth. [/QUOTE] That is one of the great unintentional comedies ever written. (I was not aware that Wicca existed 10,000 years ago!) Although, I can understand where you would get frustrated. I started yelling the third time she stuck in the entire song of the Earth Mother “because Ayla loved it.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/48 "2006-03-23T17:02:25Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] I’ve pretty much given up on Robert Jordan. Although, okay, I admit it, if I ever wandered past the newest one in the library, I’d probably check it out. After eleven years and nine (?) books, I’ve put in a _lot_ of energy towards those goddamned books and I do still have the littlest bit of curiosity to see what happens next. [/QUOTE] There’s _eleven_ books now. Wait for 12, when it’s supposed to finally be over. 🙂 > [@](#): > > **Draelin** , _Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ is actually very good. I do remember the beginning as being awfully slow, but I recommend giving it another shot. I tried twice, and gave up both times. Then I gave the books away. Maybe someday I’ll have the energy to pick them up again, but MS&T is how I learned my “don’t buy the whole series until you’re sure you like it” lesson. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/49 "2006-03-23T17:23:39Z")
It is almost impossible to get me to quit reading a book, but last year while casting about the house for something I hadn’t read 40 times I came upon a copy of Wicked, the story about the Wicked Witch of the West. I understand that the musical is quite enjoyable, but that book bested me. It started off so-so, but then devolved into an author’s caprice-laden journey into nowhere. I stopped reading about 2/3 through, it was such a relief to realize that I didn’t _have_ to finish it! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/50 "2006-03-23T17:25:28Z")
Most recently, **Tropic of Cancer**. I got twenty pages in and decided that I wouldn’t get anything else out of by reading farther. It’s obscene–okie doke. Next book. ---
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Haniver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Jenny\_Haniver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Haniver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/51 "2006-03-23T18:30:57Z")
[QUOTE=August West] It is almost impossible to get me to quit reading a book, but last year while casting about the house for something I hadn’t read 40 times I came upon a copy of Wicked, the story about the Wicked Witch of the West. I understand that the musical is quite enjoyable, but that book bested me. It started off so-so, but then devolved into an author’s caprice-laden journey into nowhere. I stopped reading about 2/3 through, it was such a relief to realize that I didn’t _have_ to finish it! [/QUOTE] Good for you. I _did_ finish it, and it’s just painful. The best thing about the [musical](http://www.wickedthemusical.com/) is they took the book’s main idea, (which was indeed nifty) and then threw out the entire muddled, nonsensical plot. I only feel sorry for the poor schmoes who try to read the book after seeing the show. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/52 "2006-03-23T18:43:46Z")
**Jenny** , the whole reason I’ve never seen the show is because I didn’t think the story I read would make a good musical. Thanks for that! I’ve found that Gregory Maguire’s books are all the same–love the ideas. Hate the way he writes. ---
**Author:** ![Procyon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@Procyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procyon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/53 "2006-03-23T18:56:14Z")
My problem with _The Fionavar Tapestry_ is that Kay felt the need to have a scene in every single chapter that read like it was supposed to be the emotional climax of the entire series. In these scenes, every line of dialogue and accompanying facial expression is so laden with some combination of emotional, historical, spiritual, ancestral, and/or cosmic meaning that after the fifth or so becomes cliche. Another problem was the tortured logic by which the ultimate bad guy, who had been referred to at least a dozen times as totally immortal and _metaphysically unkillable_, is killed. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/54 "2006-03-23T19:13:58Z")
I also liked I Know This Much is True, but I must admit I listened to it as an audiobook. I don’t know how I’d have felt about actually reading it, since one of the things I enjoyed most about it was the fabulous talent of the reader, George Guidall. I finished Stranger in a Strange Land. Then I threw it away. I gave up on Cold Mountain. Like **elfkin477** , when I was younger, I would force myself through books, but now my reading time is too short and precious to waste. There are so many things I really want to read! The most recent book I gave up on was The Count of Monte Cristo. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/55 "2006-03-23T19:18:34Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] Yes, you bet. I used to be very poor and buying a book was a big deal, so I would always slog through one, even if it wasn’t good. Now I give it about 1/3 of the book and if I’m not liking it I toss it aside, but I still resent it. [/QUOTE] I tried to unite all the closet sloggers in this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=280890) from a while back. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/56 "2006-03-23T21:01:45Z")
[QUOTE=blondebear] Gravity’s Rainbow. Just too many 100-word sentences for me. [/QUOTE] Amen! I’ve taken three shots at that one and never got past the first 100 pages. I frankly think Pynchon has a mystique about him that isn’t entirely justified. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/57 "2006-03-23T21:09:17Z")
[QUOTE=SpazCat] I forced myself to finish _Look Homeward, Angel._ As soon as my eyes took in the last word, I tossed it across the room, then picked it up and stomped on it. It is now my goal to go to Asheville and kick Thomas Wolfe’s grave as hard as I possibly can. [/QUOTE] 😃 This would be the reason why I’ve never bothered to try that book, despite some folks who think it’s like my patriotic duty or something to read it and love it. I don’t know where his grave is, but there’s a girl downtown who stands on a box posing as the LHA Angel for tips; I’ll be happy to give her a glare for you if you’d like. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/58 "2006-03-23T21:18:34Z")
_Gormenghast_ got me, too–I’d forgotten about that one! I finished _Fionavar Tapestry_, but I’m not happy that I did: it was really disappointing compared to Kaye’s other work. I think I read _Atlas Shrugged_ when I was a teenager. Atlas and me both. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282/59 "2006-03-23T21:20:42Z")
[QUOTE=Marlitharn] _Middlemarch._ I’ve tried I don’t know how many times to read it, but I just can’t get any further than Dorothea’s engagement to Casabamelon or whatever his name is. My Big-Ass Books by Dead White Men (aka Five Great Novels) professor said it was an original soap opera, which it is, but I don’t like soap operas. [/QUOTE] Oh my God. I remember that from undergrad; it was a 19th century lit class that met once a week, so we normally had one week to read each book. But for Middlemarch, we got two. I remember being curled up ALL DAY with that thing and still getting nowhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-the-book-bests-me/349282.md?page=2)