Thursday, October 27, 2011

1Q84


Haruki Murakami's magnum opus 1Q84 hits shelves this week. It is undoubtedly the literary event of the year, and clocking it at nearly 1,000 pages, one that I am sure will initially sell well, but not one people will actually read from cover to cover. It is a publishing rule of thumb that short stories and long books aren’t great cash cows. People seem like their books to be 300-500 pages, something that can be read in more than a day but less than a week. Investing in a long book can be a scary thing. Reading a novel is like taking in a roommate; you don’t want to just let anyone roam around your dirty closets and liqueur cabinet. A long novel takes time, takes effort, requires stamina, and if you have been burned once before (It, anyone?), not something you are eager to have in bed with you. I sat for hours reading Roberto Bolano’s 2666, determined to finish it, even in the face of a boredom so profound I thought of reading Dickens. I made it through the novel’s famously torturous fourth section, which reads like a police report. After each gruesome murder I became desensitized to the violence Bolano, and shifted into a restless mode, scanning each page for plot, skipping over the repetitive parts. Could I skip ahead and if I do can does that count as finishing the novel? Would I be missing something? Would anyone really care? As I asked myself these questions, I realized the end of my reading experience with Bolano was near. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I finished the section, put the book down, and started something else. So, I am interested: What long or “tough” books have you attempted but never finished? When do you realize it is time to give up?

6 comments:

  1. I actually read, finished and LOVED 2666. I'd encourage you to go back to it. After suffering through the 4th section, the rest of it felt like a walk in the park. Which was odd because I kept thinking... ok, this can't be it, I must be missing something, maybe I'm not being very attentive. I like it when authors put you to work that way!

    I am OCD about finishing books... until recently, I had never not finished a book. But I am training myself to chill the fuck out and not torture myself.

    One book that everyone loves and I just couldn't get into AT ALL: Colson Whitehead's Sag Harbor. Did you read it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Petya, I admire your fortitude with 2666. I really just felt I had given it enough of my time. I enjoyed what I read, but that 4th section was enough for me. I also am OCD about finishing a novel, especially one I have invested so much time into, but I just couldn't see myself going any further with that one. It really says something about my reaction to the novel in that I only had 150 so pages left and l quit. Perhaps I will pick it back up. After 1Q84!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Since you've put so much effort already, you definitively should finish it to understand why this book is such a relevant literary work of art. Part 5 is the key of the book and in my opinion, the best part!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok, I will finish the novel. Looking at this, I realize how silly it was not to keep going with the novel. Will let you know what I think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I tried and failed to finish Anna Karenina three times before I finally got through it. I couldn't stand any of the characters and I felt the writing drawn out. When I did finish it, I understood why it has stood the test of time but it is still not something I recommend. If people are interested in reading classics, there are so many others to start with before Anna.

    I am currently reading Orhan Pamuk's Museum of Innocence and it is excruciating but I am determined to labor through it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had a tough time with Anna too, but I must say I enjoyed it, even if I contemplated suicide during the excruciating harvesting scene, which felt like it lasted for hundreds of pages. I don't think I would recommend it either, if only because I am not certain most people would either actually read or enjoy it. I actually have read several of the "great" Russian works, such as Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, along with Anna. I contemplated War and Peace after I read Freedom, but was somewhat intimidated by it.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.