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#91 |
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Have you ever read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke? I have been meaning to read this book for years--I even have an autographed copy--but I keep putting it off in part to the copious footnotes. It's a thick book, and some pages are almost entirely footnotes. Footnotes, mind you, not endnotes, so they can't be easily ignored. I like editions of classic books with footnotes that I can consult if needed, but in this case, I am given to understand that the footnotes are very important to following the plot.
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#92 | |
Bookmaker & Cat Slave
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I mostly enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but it's very odd. I read it some years back (wow, thinking about it...quite a few years back, now), and it's....well, it's a comedy of manners, missing the more obvious comedy elements. If you're familiar and comfortable with writers of the Dickensian age/style, you'll get the comedic elements; if not, it mayn't work for you. It's a book that is not easy to categorize. The historical fiction part was well-researched. I just felt that in places, there was a disconnect with the readers, or more likely, it's that (for me) so many plot elements were left hanging, as if a "volume II" were in the offing that, to the best of my knowledge, never appeared. It's NOT "Harry Potter" for grown-ups, nor LOTR. Neil Gaiman liked it immensely, which is what moved me to pick it up, but...I'd have to know the prospective reader better to be able to recommend it or not. It most certainly isn't a fast-moving "page-turner" in that modern sense of the word. No big cliff-hanger endings, etc. I will say, without a doubt, this was a book written by an author who wrote for her own delight, without a real nod toward the mass market. That's always interesting to me, so I'm definitely glad I read it. I remember that I liked it well enough to gift one to a close friend of mine--so I must have liked it at the time quite a bit better than I recollect now. :-) Hitch |
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#93 |
eBook Enthusiast
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I thoroughly enjoyed "Jonathan Strange". Not an easy read, but very rewarding.
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#94 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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#95 |
Zealot
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"Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace. I take a run at it every so often but never finish it. EDIT: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a slog for the first 100 pages but it gets better after that. That's one book where I'm glad I stuck it out.
Last edited by mikemc2; 03-04-2014 at 07:24 PM. |
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#96 |
doofus
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I got through about 80 pages of Infinite Jest. Couldn't handle it.
But, DFW's essays are fantastic. Also, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. |
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#97 |
Wizard
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A Daughter of the Snows, by Jack London. The racism sticks in my craw, e.g.,
"We are a race of doers and fighters, of globe-encirclers and zone-conquerors... All that the other races are not, the Anglo-Saxon, or Teuton if you please, is." - [swiped the quotation from Wikipedia: A Daughter of the Snows] Last edited by Froide; 03-04-2014 at 10:14 PM. |
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#98 | |||
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. The narrator's judgments of his fellow travellers were very off-putting to me. It was too long ago for me to give specifics but I don't think I made it even 50 pages into the book. Last edited by LovesMacs; 03-04-2014 at 11:45 PM. Reason: were, not was |
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#99 | |
Star Gawker
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My time is too valuable to waste it on books I don't like. I am in charge of what I consume. |
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#100 |
Wizard
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#101 |
Wizard
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Don't get me wrong, but this would rather be a plus point for me than a reason to abandon a book. Not that I'm sharing these opinions, but reading them helps me to better understand past times.
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#102 |
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That is the very reason why I started to read Mein Kampf. I have been struggling through it for several months.
Last edited by LovesMacs; 03-05-2014 at 11:14 AM. Reason: + the |
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#103 |
Groupie
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I think I got about 100 pages into The Crimson Petal and the White before giving up. I just hated that book so much that I couldn't read on. Everything about it just felt obnoxious and pretentious.
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#104 | |
Addict
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That was many years ago. Maybe as an adult it'll go better? |
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#105 | |
Witcher
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I "read" it as an audio book. Narration was wonderfully done by Simon Prebble, footnotes included. It's unabridged version. Even though you have autographed copy I recommend that you consider audiobook. You can have a listen at the sample: here. Footnotes are important here, but with an audiobook, you won't even think about them as you do now. |
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