Originally Posted by
Larry Alexander
I know I'm going against the grain here and that my thoughts on this are not so fashionable, but I think there's a lot to be said for persevering with a book even though you might not be 'enjoying' it. Of course in our current era of instant gratification the immediate feelings of pleasure one gets from a real page-turner of a book always predominate, but I would say that anyone who is really passionate about books quickly learns that the best books are not always those that you 'get' at the start. So if you persevere, you might find that it all makes sense by the end. Or not. But if it doesn't, was it really such a waste of time? At least, having read it, you are in a position to make a critical judgement to yourself and to anyone else, on this kind of forum or in person. If you finish Don Quixote, you are able to engage with someone else about the book, maybe someone who thinks it's the greatest book ever, and discuss why you disagree. It's hard to defend your opinion if you stopped halfway - like judging a football match when you switch off at half-time. Maybe your team played much better in the second half!
When I was a kid, I was a very lazy reader. I used to leave a lot of books unfinished, and they weren't heavy classics either! Now I know that f I leave a book unfinished, maybe even for a good reason, that makes it easier for me to leave the next book unfinished too. And then maybe the next. And so on. It means that every time I get to a difficult section of a book I will probably quit, because I've set a precedent. It's true that there are too many good books to read, which is why some people say don't bother with books you aren't enjoying. But the way I think is that I will never read all the books I want to in my lifetime, so I'm not going to stress about that. I'd rather read 50 books completely, even if among those there are a few that I really didn't like, than get halfway through 100 books. Plus there are plenty of books I've read that I've enjoyed, but afterwards realised that I'd completely wasted my time by reading them! I don't need to name names, I'm sure we can all think of books we've read like that...
It always amazes me that people will set themselves harsh physical challenges like running a marathon or climbing a mountain, and they will push themselves hard to achieve them, even if it means enduring pain and conquering the urge to quit, but when it comes to intellectual stimuli, they are more likely to accept the arguments for quitting. Which raises the question, what do we mean by 'enjoy' or 'pleasure'? Surely the pain felt by a runner or climber can't be called pleasure? And yet the feeling of beating our own personal best or reaching the summit overrides those considerations, and most people who do those things say they'd do them again, too. I would say some books are like that too. And to take the analogy further, reading those types of books gets easier with experience, just like physically demanding sports. That's why reading can be an education too.
Personally I believe we read books for many different reasons. I have friends who say that they don't ever read books because we have film and TV now, which has superseded them. Just think about that for a minute. Those people have a point right? But only if it's true that we always do the freetime activity which gives us the most instant gratification. In a world like that, I don't think there would be any books, because it will always be easier to stick the film of Harry Potter on than read the book: in the film the work of imagination is done for us, so it's got to be better, right? And yet people do read the books, even if they've seen the films first. Why? Because reading is about more than instant gratification.
Of course if you disagree with this, then that's OK. It's nice to do things that are in our comfort zone, whether it's watch our favourite film for the umpteenth time or read another crime or fantasy novel by our favourite writer. But if you believe that reading books can be a rewarding way to step out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves to brain up or just feel we achieved something, then I think you'll sometimes want to persevere with a book that may not be an easy read. In the case of classics, there are so many references to classic stories and characters in culture (both popular and non) that I don't think it's ever a waste of time to read one. I read Don Quixote because one of my favourite twentieth century writers used the character as a recurring symbol in his work and I wanted to find out more about why he was inspired to do that.
Having said that, I believe the choice of translation in a foreign novel is important, and maybe in this case the one you're reading is the problem. Incidentally, I agree with Tyrion Cheddar about Brave New World. When I got round to reading it I was quite shocked at how badly written and dated it was! Still glad I read it though as at least I can talk about it from a point of view of knowledge, which can never be a bad thing, I think.
Of course, this is only my opinion, and I know that it's a deeply unfashionable one, so feel free to disagree completely. Being 'cool' has never been on my bucket list so I'm quite happy to plough my own deeply unfashionable furrow. Good luck with whatever you choose to read!
On Finishing Classics
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