Unfinished Books

Despite my love of the written word I sometimes have trouble finishing books. We've all had that book which we've heard great things about, we long for it, and by the time we finally get our paws on a copy it has either been over hyped by critics/friends, or else our own anticipation kills it. You get one chapter in and it gets discarded and whenever you see it on your shelf it actually causes a sharp pinch in your chest. I have found this with a plethora of books recently. This upsets me greatly. 

The books in question are as follows:

• The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundra
• The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
• Nights At The Circus - Angela Carter
• Alice In Wonderland/Alice Through The Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
• The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen/Seth Grahame-Smith

When I think about it rationally; a few reasons why I disliked a few of the books upon first try were rather silly; Lewis Carroll's use of parenthesis really got on my nerves, it caused me actual pain every time I saw something in those damned brackets, so I discarded it. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies seems like a fantastic idea (I am a huge lover of Zombies) but I cannot say that I have ever really enjoyed any of Jane Austen's works, so why I purchased it is a bit of a mystery to me. However, as an avid Angela Carter lover, it is really bothering me that I can't seem to warm to the character of Fevvers at all, of course she is portrayed in a slightly detestable way, but I still can't seem to will myself to learn more about her. I am determined to get through this book though as I have heard so many amazing things about it. 

Now, since starting this little list (I say little; to me it looks quite large, but I guess that depends on your outlook on life) I have managed to plough through two of the books and I can say that I am happier for finishing them. 

Alice In Wonderland & Alice Through The Looking Glass are absolutely fantastic stories and I can't believe I ever doubted them. I was a fool. Perhaps my favourite part in the stories has to be when she meets the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and Doormouse and finds out that the reason they are constantly having a tea party is because of a feud they had with Time, who made it forever six o'clock. How beautifully whimsical. I am in love. (I even found myself chattering about the Alice stories only three days ago in the toilets, at a gig, with a girl who had a tattoo of Alice hugging a deer on her forearm.)

The second book I finished wasn't quite so well received. Perhaps it is because I started it in my first year of university, and, upon realising I had a rather vast reading list, discarded it until now. John Connolly's 'The Book of Lost Things' has its positive points in the way he rewrites all of the different children's fairy tales, making them dark and twisted; when the Crooked Man/Rumpelstiltskin started to die, it was down right gruesome! But the way he ends his book really displeased me. In fact as soon as I read the line; '...but he became a writer and he wrote a book. He called it The Book of Lost Things, and the book that you are holding is the book that he wrote.' I just had to shut the book and put it back onto my shelf. Terrible.

I am hoping that by the time I get around to finishing the rest of these books I will see that I was wrong for not having read them sooner.