quote: . . . a slight change has come on, namely that I now prefer true stories... There may well be various reasons for it but one reason is probably a diminishing willingness to go through so much agony again. After a certain number of novels, one does, after all, know roughly what is going to happen. ... The question then is: are you prepared to stand by this character, to got through with experiencing his catastrophe? . . . Of course this reluctance has something to do with whether you take to the particular character in the first place. But I think it also has something to do with simply having had enough of misfortunes – at least, of familiar kinds of misfortunes. Disasters tend to look more seductive and exciting in one's youth than they do later on. . . . there are some new novels, even alarming ones, that I still rush through eagerly.
Mary Midgley The Owl of Minerva, A Memoir
Probably as a function of age, I don't have patience with just any fiction anymore – even one with a good twist. There has to be a new perspective or fresh idea – from a person or people I'm willing to spend some time with. The stories then have the power to make my blood race – and afterwards – to return to mind at odd moments, making the day richer.
Cloud Atlas was probably the last novel I read that had that power; The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt certainly did. NonZero by Robert Wright and Animals in Translation are non-fiction examples. Though Ender's Game is one of my favorite stories, it's the ideas from Speaker for the Dead and the other two of that series that have stayed with me.
Has anyone (I'm probably talking to the older folks around here) had similar experiences with a very special book that brightens and sharpens your focus?
Posts: 237 | Registered: Feb 2001
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I read the Kite Runner last year and was floored by it. So much so, that I will probably not be able to read it again. I loved the book and read it very quickly. It really opened my eyes and it changed my thinking but I was emotionaly worn out by the end. Not sure I could put myself thru that to read it again.
Posts: 204 | Registered: Aug 2001
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