Monday, November 02, 2009

Incomplete

Books I have not finished lately:

Eldest: The sequel to Eragon is, I think, pretty highly regarded in the fantasy realm, at least by not-fantasy-obsessed people I know. But this book just annoyed me for some reason I can't quite pin down. It took forever for any action actually to develop, but that's not the only problem. I think that the conversations all got on my nerves too much. The characters would engage in what I suppose was meant to be witty banter, but it did not appeal to me.

God Created the Integers: This book, by Stephen Hawking, looked really interesting based on the cover's inside flap. Hawking, the famous physicist and perhaps longest-surviving person with ALS, presented a brief biography of a groundbreaking mathematician, and then explained each mathlete's work. The main problem for me was that the book was quite technical, and I was in search of something lighter. It is probably a good book, and perhaps I will pick it up again later.

The Highwayman: R. A. Salvatore wrote the books about Drizzt Do'Urden, a spectacularly skilled sword-fighting dark elf. The Drizzt books have been consistently excellent and action-packed, so I had high hopes for this one, although it takes place with different characters in a different world. Unfortunately, it also started out too slowly for me really to get into it.

I think the reason that I quit two of these books because they started slowly is that I don't spend as much time reading as I used to or would like. Since I go through books more slowly, there is much more time for me to lose interest before getting hooked, so a book has to start out quite well. I wonder if this is mostly because of my commuting hours, or if this will be a new equilibrium state for me. Since I have become so interested in so many blogs and internet reading, have books permanently become my second-favorite source for entertainment? I don't really think so, but I will say that I haven't brought a book on my overnight stays in KC in about 3 months, while I use my laptop for a couple of hours on each of these trips. Hrm.

4 comments:

Mom said...

Oh, no!
Although I have noticed lately that even I check out library books and have not been getting around to them. I am thinking it is because I can never catch up with reading the newspapers and magazines that keep coming, but you just made me realize that I also spend time on the computer which could have previously been spent reading. Luckily, I always have a house and a car book on tape going.
I feel bad about this. If you and I aren't reading as many books as we used to, what about the rest of the people, who aren't as passionate about books as we are?

Sarah said...

I think this is happening to me as well. As you know, these days it seems rare for me to actually finish a book because I go so long in between reading any of it that I lose interest. While that makes me sad for the sake of literature, I am thrilled to have the Internet and everything that it offers. Also, I do expect to get back to more frequent reading when my children are a little older.

Chick in the Czech said...

That stinks that you aren't finishing these. However, some day you will hopefully have more time to read!

Peter said...

I think the third book in the Eragon series is slower than Eldest overall. I really didn't have a problem with Eldest while reading it. Although, now I'm thinking about the book and I can't remember what happen during it. That's happened with each Eragon book. They seem to be very forgettable.