[Misc] Books you gave up on

[DavidinSouthampton]

Dylan Thomas has a great reputation as a poet, but apparently has been criticised for the lack of a consistent voice in his fiction. I’ve read his collected short fiction, and it’s genuinely brilliant. So, ignore the scholars that sniff and give it a try. I think I had a Penguin “Modern Classics” edition before one of the small childlike forms dropped a glass of milk over it while it sat on the coffee table.

Under Milk Glass more like.

I have now by my bedside a book of his collected works. It’s wonderful stuff.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

'Under Milk Wood' was, I think, originally a radio play, written to be heard. I picked up the CD a few years back. Richard Burton challenging John Arlott for the title of greatest radio voice ever. It's one of the most beautiful things ever made. I hadn't a clue what any of it was about until about the third or fourth listen, but just drifted off, floating on a warm ocean of the sounds of language. Here's the 2003 revamp:

I’ve heard it on the radio and I seem to remember it was on the TV fairly recently too. His way with words astounds me!

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

I think it's a Victorian thing. They loved the sound of their own voices. A lot of Moby Dick is more whaling manual than plot and I remember, when reading Les Miserables, being enthralled by the daring escape from the authorities by diving into the sewer, then turning the page to a new chapter to find out what happened to Valjean and Marius and getting a full history of the Paris sewers, for an entire bloody chapter. Thanks Vic.

I've never met somebody who's enjoyed Moby Dick. And the people I know who've read it are big fans of 19th Century classics and/or the sort of people who read Cicero in Latin for fun.

Thinking about it, the books of "that sort of age" I've enjoyed have either been older (I was pleasantly surprised by how readable Pride and Prejudice is, although due to time constraints I haven't managed to get past the first couple of chapters, so maybe Austen does go off the deep end on Landscape Architecture for chapters at a time later on), or slightly later than Dickens. So maybe there was something in the water around the mid-19th Century that made people tend towards the prolix. Melville doesn't even have the excuse of being paid to pad out a magazine.

This also just reminded me of the reviews of Steve Bruce's novels, which are a delight. I gather that in the middle of the main character being kidnapped at gunpoint, he drifts off into several paragraphs on Victorian water infrastructure in the Penines.

The Much Needed Review Of The Sublime Steve Bruce Novel | Balls.ie

The amazing Steve Bruce novel that not enough people have heard about never mind read. Seamas O'Reilly reviews Steve Bruce's fist novel

www.balls.ie

 

[Hamilton]

Schrodinger's Jesus?

Now that’s a great title for a book!

 

[Stato]

I've never met somebody who's enjoyed Moby Dick. And the people I know who've read it are big fans of 19th Century classics and/or the sort of people who read Cicero in Latin for fun.

Thinking about it, the books of "that sort of age" I've enjoyed have either been older (I was pleasantly surprised by how readable Pride and Prejudice is, although due to time constraints I haven't managed to get past the first couple of chapters, so maybe Austen does go off the deep end on Landscape Architecture for chapters at a time later on), or slightly later than Dickens. So maybe there was something in the water around the mid-19th Century that made people towards the prolix. Melville doesn't even have the excuse of being paid to pad out a magazine.

This also just reminded me of the reviews of Steve Bruce's novels, which are a delight. I gather that in the middle of the main character being kidnapped at gunpoint, he drifts off into several paragraphs on Victorian water infrastructure in the Penines.

The Much Needed Review Of The Sublime Steve Bruce Novel | Balls.ie

The amazing Steve Bruce novel that not enough people have heard about never mind read. Seamas O'Reilly reviews Steve Bruce's fist novel

www.balls.ie

I really liked Moby Dick. Even the whaling history bits.

Jane Austen is very readable and has a lovely arch sense of humour.

 

[London Irish]

I’ve only ever given up on one book - Bleak House. It’s a petty hate for me doing stuff like that, I’ve never walked out of a film and I have no memory of ever leaving a game early even if we’re getting tonked. No Dickens hatred, I loved Hard Times but just agree with FR Leavis that it’s just so much better than his other work and BH just drained you like a vampire

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

I really liked Moby Dick. Even the whaling history bits.

Fair enough. I've never been tempted to try it, given how egregiously awful all the people I've met who've read it have described it as.

 

[FamilyGuy]

I felt guilty about giving up on 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee'. I started reading Rand's 'The Fountainhead' but gave up as it was obvious that she was going to be banging on with the same unpleasant and simplistic ideas for over 300 more pages.

+ many more to be honest. I tend to apply the 50-page rule and if a book hasn't grabbed me by then I move on.

I recently read "Wounded Knee" - it was eye opening. Try again.

 

[FamilyGuy]

Terry Pratchets first book, something about Elephants and Turtles i think

 

[Cordwainer]

I recently read "Wounded Knee" - it was eye opening. Try again.

Agree think it’s a fantastic but anger inducing harrowing read.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

Under Milk Wood is meant to be listened to. It’s for voices. I started reading it but it only came alive listening to that Richard Burton version. Who couldn’t love Morgan the Organ and his liking for Johann Sebastian Bach. Every time.