”Have you
read Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia?”
“I haven’t
finished it. Read about 120 pages.”
“But you’re
currently reading it?”
“Ehrm.
That’s a matter of definition. I still keep a bookmark in it.”
“And when
did you last move this bookmark?”
“Sometime
late 2009? December? Or February-ish 2010?”
“So you’re
not really reading it, currently?”
“You know,
it’s a quite long book. A lot of pages. Non-fiction pages. With a lot of
examples on them.”
“Sure. But
you knew this when you bought it, right?”
“I bought
it at Harvard!”
“Sorry?”
“Harvard! I
can verifiably say that I went to Harvard!”
“To the
Harvard bookstore, yes. But they don’t give you a Harvard degree just because
you visited the bookstore.”
“Duh. But I
don’t have to specify that.”
“Very well.
You went to Harvard. But back to Oliver Sacks. You like him, don’t you?”
“Very much.
Which is why I bought the book in the first place. At Harvard.”
“If you
like the author so much, why didn’t you finish the book?”
“It took me
about a decade to finish The Island of
the Colorblind, another of his books. I really liked that one.”
“So you’re
a pretty slow reader?”
“Not
really. I just read a whole lot of other stuff in between. There is a limit to
how much non-fiction I can be bothered to read.”
“Don’t you
have a history degree..?”
“I have.
Don’t see your point.”
“So are you
saying that you like Musicophilia,
but that it is a slow read?”
“It’s not a
page turner. But it’s very interesting. And funny. And occasionally slightly
repetitive. But definitely entertaining.”
“And you’re
definitely going to finish it?”
“I
definitely might do that.”
“Why write
a review about a book you haven’t finished anyway?”
“This is a
review?”
 |
| From better times |
14 comments:
*snort*
I have books like that....
Some books are so lovably putdownable, aren't they? Currently I am "getting through" Witz by Joshua Cohen by staring at it and writing this blog comment.
Enjoyed reading this, there are some books I hate to put down and others I start and hate to pick them up again.
Yvonne.
Ah, the telltale bookmark. I have some of those on my bookshelf. Must reach up there and continue reading. Soon.
I've been through a few like that. Have read about 20 books while reading it becuase I can't be bothered to read it through. LoL..I just read around it until I can get done.
I really like your blog, so I want to give you an award I am to pass on, the Versatile Blogger Award. You can either go here ( http://books-old-and-new.blogspot.com/2011/04/awards-are-cool.html ), or click on my name to go to my blog, to accept, if you choose to do so.
Brilliant!!! I love the 'I went to Harvard'
I have a few books with bookmarks in them for longer than I care to mention. They to fall into the, 'not a page turner' category. But I too 'definitely might' finish them.
I'm not much of a non-fiction reader either. I have a hard time getting through it.
Tara - I think it has to do with me never being able to read just one book at the time. With multiple books competing for my attention, I end up putting down the ones that aren't super-exciting, even if I do like them.
Mark - I find myself doing that a lot. Putdownable - definitely a word for the keep!
Yvonne - true, I have those too.
Stephanie - occasionally I pull myself together and finish putdownable books that have been on the shelf for too long, but often they stay up there forever...
April - you're a multiple books at the time reader too! And thank you so much for thinking of me with this award. I really appreciate it, but I decided a while ago that I would gracefully decline any awards in the future (you can read about it here: http://thegiraffabilityofdigressions.blogspot.com/2011/03/on-awkward-awards.html). I still really, really appreciate that you like my blog enough to give me one, though - big hugs for that! (Also - I'm afraid I cannot seem to access either your blog or your profile, Will try to email you to see if anything can be done)
Ann - I *almost* considered buying a Harvard tee of some kind just to "prove" that I in fact did go there. But then I realized that was taking things a little too far...
Marjorie - me too. It helps - heaps - if the writer (like Sacks) is witty and presents his material in an understandable fashion. But still. I'm a novel gal.
That was great, Cruella!
Yes, that kind of things happen from time to time. I just made my 2nd attempt on Ulysses. Now it's given up for good >:)
Cold As Heaven
My daughter has read lots of Oliver Sacks. Besides her BA in History, she also got a BA in Psychology and loved all the brain-based stuff. It's History, though, that she's doing for the MA. :)
I might have one or two books like that, ok fine, there are 3!
http://baygirl32.blogspot.com
I love "I definitely might do that!" - hilarious. :)
I have plenty of books that I'm reading (well and have been for years), so you're not alone.
This was good. Love the part about Harvard.
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