The dirty dozen

I've been dithering all day over whether to name and shame the twelve books I mentioned yesterday as ones I wish I'd given up on.  On balance I've decided to do it, but with the clear disclaimer that in some cases it was a mismatch between the reader and the book.  However, in a few cases it was definitely the book. 

Arthur and George by Julian Barnes.  Before I re-read my original post my only memory of the book was that it was boring and I didn't quite see the point of it.  Re-reading that January post I think that 'boring' was what I was politely trying to say there too.  However, I do have to admit to a Julian Barnes blind spot.  I religiously read Flaubert's Parrot and A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters when they came out to universal critical acclaim and didn't see what the fuss was about so far as they were concerned either.  So you can put this one down to one of my reading blindspots. But I wish I'd gone with my first instinct.

The Sea by John Banville.  Yes, I was all fired up with excitement over last year's Booker short list and here is the controversial winner.  I felt I had to read it in order to be qualified to express an opinion.  Again, when I posted on it here I was desperate to say I didn't like it; but that Booker label round its neck was making me worry that you'd all think me a cultural primate dragging my knuckles along the ground by the 3 for 2 tables if I said so.  But I'm saying it now.  Nothing happened and it didn't happen in very pretentious language.

Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon.  What was I thinking of?  Really.  Slaps self round the face and writes in best legible handwriting in notebook: 'No more detective stories peopled by paper thin stereotypes, even if they are set in the Eighteenth Century, and particularly if they involves bizarre cross dressing.'  This was really a bit too polite.

On Writing by Stephen King.  Why did I read this?  I actually I have no idea.  What do I remember about it?  Nothing apart from what I've just gathered from this.  Moral: if you're not prepared to read the man's novels then what do you expect to get from his views on writing them?

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore.  I think we can safely say that I do not understand what the fuss is about when it comes to comic books.  This is a classic/landmark/epic work.  Everyone says so.  I'm clearly the only one who found the story somewhat thin.  Perhaps I should have looked at the pictures instead.  I politely spared you any postings about my utter bemusement on this one.

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem.  A book with which I had nothing in common and found bizarre in its combination of deadpan realism coupled with the occasional bit of comic book superhero powers being conferred on the protagonists.  Original verdict here.

Twisted by Jonathan Kellerman.  If I have to read that Miro rubs his hands across his face as if washing without water one more time, I am liable to turn into a serial killer myself.  Probably of unoriginal genre authors called Jonathan.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell.  I include this one on the list with real sorrow.  You all know the the story: Cloud Atlas was fabulous, this was a crashing disappointment.  An underwhelming story about a mopey boy.  As I said at the time: no more mopey boys.

The Hungry Years by William Leith.  Man eats a lot of food and gets a bit fat.  And the point is what, exactly?  Now foisted upon some unsuspecting Bookmoocher.

Newton by Peter Ackroyd.  Yes, Ackroyd acolyte that I am, I deserve to be burned at the stake for including this.  But, as I said at the time, it added nothing to Michael White's book, apart from three uses of the word 'suggestive' on every page. (Ackroyd's computer must now be set up to insert this trade mark word automatically.)

Seven Lies by James Lasdun.  Another one added more in sorrow than in anger.  The Horned Man was really excellent.  This was slightly less than so-so.  I couldn't think of anything nice to say about it at the time; so I didn't post on it.

Strangeland by Tracey Emin. At least I only wasted one evening on this.

So all is revealed.  Not in a spirit of snark but in a spirit of I tried, they tried, we just weren't destined for true love and living happily ever after together.

Anyone else looking for a spot of hand-wringing and crying of 'why-oh-why did I bother' , leave a comment or a link.

Comments

[Matthew Tiffany]

A friend raved about "V for Vendetta" and sent me a copy of the book; I was underwhelmed, like you. (Chris Ware's "Jimmy Corrigan" - much better.) I also viewed the movie, and felt like it was something that would have done it for me in my early twenties, but now it just feels sort of old hat.

I also loved "Cloud Atlas" and am waiting for the paperback of "Black Swan Green" - I wonder how many others felt the same as you; Ed Champion noted at his site today that it got lots of rave reviews early on, but appears on very few "best of the year" lists. Maybe the good reviews were from people still starry-eyed over CA.

My two biggest disappointments were Auster's "Brooklyn Follies" and his forthcoming "Travels in the Scriptorium" - Brooklyn Follies, too orchestrated, Travels, too woe-is-me. Wrote more about it at the link below.

http://condalmo.typepad.com/condalmo/2006/11/what_i_read_in_.html

[Richard]

Unless the author has had the decency to have shuffled off this mortal moil at least ten years ago, I try not to bother at all. I did pick up Banville's The Book of Evidence, as it seemed to be based on an interesting premise, but did end up concluding that I would not want to read any more Banville novels ever again.

[Carl V.]

I'm not a huge Stephen King fan...haven't read a novel of his in decades, but I really enjoyed On Writing. I hadn't really heard much about his accident other than general knowledge of it so I was interested in that aspect and actually liked reading about his early years as a writer.

Haven't read V for Vendetta but I have read other Alan Moore comics...the best being the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series (which bears no resemblance to the awful film supposedly based on the comics). Comics most certainly are not for everyone, I guess, but there are some really great things out there:

Fables is fantastic, if you're interested in fairy tales, mythology, fantasy

Hellboy is based on mythology and folklore from various countries and is very interesting.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman series was excellent.

I didn't really have any big disappointments this year but, compared to you and other book bloggers, I read so much less than you do that the odds are more in your favor that you would likely get some duds in your reading. Grayson was probably my least favorite read but it was quick and I still got some joy out of the story.

[jenclair]

Couldn't finish Arthur and George, was not really taken with The Sea (I agree that nothing happened to negligible people), but I did love Black Swan Green. :P

[Ellis Sharp]

I'm always impressed by how many books you get through!

I liked Flaubert's Parrot but apart from that have no enthusiasm for Barnes.

I liked the movie of V for Vendetta but I stopped reading comics when I was a teenager and don't plan to go back to them.

I agree absolutely with you regarding Banville's The Sea. And said so, more or less, here: http://ellissharp.blogspot.com/2006/10/sea.html

[Sheri]

Your comment about the Kellerman book is funny. Those books all seem the same after a while.

I gave up very early on Black Swan Green. I agree, it was disapointing.

I was a little bummed to see that you didn't like The Sea. I have been wanting to read it for while. I think I still will, and let you know what I think.

[Emily Barton]

Thank you for such a list. It's always wonderful to be able to reply to those who look at me aghast, saying such things as, "You haven't read The Sea yet??!!" "No. I got it from a very good source that it's actually quite pretentious. So, tell me, what was it you enjoyed about it?"

The book I regret having read in the same fashion as you seem to regret Lord John and the Private Matter is Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin.

[Corey Vilhauer]

I thought Black Swan Green was fabulous, but I was in the same mopey boy class growing up. So I had a connection to it. It brought up so many dead one memories -- most of them horrible -- that I couldn't help but marvel at his skill in bringing my horrible middle school childhood to life. That bastard.

I hate to say it, but the books I was most dissapointed with this past year were an indie darling (Mark Swartz's H2O) and a literary classic (The Great Gatsby).

[Sandra]

You all make me feel so much better about owning up, thank you!

[iliana]

Thank you for sharing your list. I haven't read any of those although I am curious about The Sea and Black Swan Green. I guess I'll keep them on my list.

[Litlove]

I'm very fond of Barnes, but I did think Arthur and George lacked playfulness and drive (ie, I can't quite bring myself to say it was boring, but I'm not exactly disagreeing with you either). I'm rather delighted you didn't much like the Banville. I gave up about 40 pages before the end, because I just couldn't go on any more.

[Danielle]

Thanks for sharing your list! I had a hard time getting through the Banville as well. Though I could appreciate that the writing was good, I found the characters to be completely unlikable and in some cases annoyingly pretentious. I am still sort of curious about Arthur and George, but I will try and mooch a copy or find it used.

[callie]

Sooooo pleased to see someone boldy saying what I've not yet said but will undoubtedly say in print (blog print? on screen?) before the year is out: The Sea was not all it could have been. As Banville is one of my favorite writers, the sting was perhaps greater. I, too, hesitated because of that damn Booker sticker. Thank you for reminding me that I'm not completely out of my mind at every turn! :-)

[Peggy]

Hello! Thanks for this list. I just picked up a copy of the Banville book but have not read it yet. I do hope to like it despite what many commenters have said (and yourself) because it's the first book by this author I picked up (plus I bought it and yes, the sticker on the book proclaiming its worthiness did sway me) so I'll read and come back to see how I agree or disagree...

[Jamie]

Loving this list. The disappointments of books one wishes hadn't been read. I would put J.M Coetzee's Elizabeth Costello at the top of my list this year. When I finished the book, I was so angry because it had such a strong start and dribbled away into a pitiful death at the end. Ugh.