delemma

[motherhubbard]

I have a dilemma and need some advice. My semester just ended last Monday so I have the opportunity to read anything I want. I have this huge list, but time is short. I start again on the fifteenth. Also, I have four children so finding time to sit and read takes an act of congress. I read “The Old Man in the Sea” on Monday and enjoyed it very much. Now I’m reading “The Sun Also Rises” and I can’t stand it. I’ve been reading it since Tuesday and I just have to make myself. Now I’m halfway through the book and if I stop I’ll never finish it and never know what happens. The thing is I don’t want to waste my time reading books that I don’t love. I want to start “The Glass Bead Game” which I’ve been holding on to for about three months just waiting for school to be out. What should I do?

[kathycf]

... but time is short. I start again on the fifteenth. Also, I have four children so finding time to sit and read takes an act of congress...The thing is I don’t want to waste my time reading books that I don’t love.
Four children and school? In my opinion, time is too much at a premium for you to read books you don't like. Nothing is stopping you from putting aside The Sun Also Rises, you can always come back to it after time has passed. Maybe you will like it better after taking a break from it. Unless a book is required reading for a class, why waste your time? Read what you like, I say. :D

[barbara0207]

Second Kathy.
Personallly, I don't like Hesse much. If you want a German author, try Thomas Mann, especially Buddenbrooks (I don't know if it has a different title in the English translation) and Magic Mountain. Another suggestion is Arundhati Roy's "God of Small Things". It's a really thrilling, intelligent and deeply moving read. I could hardly lay down that book although I was supposed to be grading papers ... :D

[motherhubbard]

Thanks. I got out my Hesse book and I’m going to start it as soon as I get some curriculum for my kids to do this summer together.

[PeterL]

The thing is I don’t want to waste my time reading books that I don’t love.

What should I do?

Read books that you love. I'm not a Hemingway enthusiast, so I can understand you not liking that, but I have read [i}The Glass Bead Game[/i], and I considered the time taken to read that wasted.

[weepingforloman]

Try what I'm reading: John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion." I started in November: it's now May, and I've read 300 pages of the 1600 page two volume book. It's the most difficult thing I've ever read (but still good). The man was a genius: a very, very, very confusing genius. Got free time?