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Reader's Paradise

Love/Hate a book?

19 years ago

What book, if any, did you have a love/hate relationship with?

I am reading "The Golden Child" by Penelope Fitzgerald. I was on the verge of giving up because the British pomposity (I'm British so I can say this! LOL) and the long-winded boring plot was making me crazy, when out of the blue this one incident cracked me up and it keeps coming back to me and I laugh hysterically. That one paragraph was worth all the boredom in the world.

The book has redeemed itself and I shall continue.

Has anyone read this book?

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Comments (8)

karalk
Original Author
19 years ago
I am really enjoying this book now. I recommend it.
anyanka
19 years ago
I've had that kind of experience - going from hating a book to loving it - once, with Max Frisch's Homo Faber which we had to read in school. I loathed the book while reading it, threw it across the room when I'd finished - but thanks to a brilliant teacher changed my mind completely after discussion in class, and went on to read several more Frisch novels.
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karalk
Original Author
19 years ago
Makes me wonder how many great books I've missed out on because I gave up too early. I've seen so many people say how they loved Bel Canto that I might give it another try. Also, I will give Wild Swans another chance.
agnesd
19 years ago
I'm SORRY I didn't go with my gut instincts on Bel Canto adn stop reading. It wasn't worth it. You didn't miss anything. Should have put Water for Elephants down. It was boring. I just gave up on The Sea by John Banville. It's very poetic but I kept reading just a page or two. That's my cue to put it down. Loved The Girls.
angelini
19 years ago
Anyanka, I had the same experience with Moby Dick. I felt like I had been reading it forever and I wasn't getting any further in it. Then a fantastic lecturer showed me how amazing it truly is, and now I love it.
ccrdmrbks
19 years ago
>Then a fantastic lecturer showed me how amazing it truly is, and now I love it.THAT'S why DD wants to teach Lit-as a TA in college she had the opportunity to "open the door" for some of her "tutees" and watch them see how amazing lit can be-and Melville was the first author on which she tutored. My son, finally, senior year in high school, has a teacher that can do that-when he came home raving about Beowulf, I stood up and cheered!
crazydogs
19 years ago
I'm a little concerned. The next two books for my book club are Water For Elephants and Bel Canto. Oh nooooooo.

Agnes's comment on Bel Canto reminds me of my opinion of Kite Runner. I expected to love it but didn't. Does that count for a love/hate relationship?
cindydavid4
19 years ago
Try Bel Canto - make up your own mind! :)

I was lucky to have some excellent lit teachers starting in Jr HI. Their enthusiasm and encouragement got me through many books that I might not otherwise have read (tho I still say I hated Silas Marner. Can't remember why, jsut remember being very glad when it was finished)

Books I expected to love but didn't: The Historian, The Illuminator, Thirteenth Tale. Books that took me a few tries that I didn't expect to finish, that I ended up loving: Cloud Atlas, Possession, Atonement.

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