I used to make a point of always finishing a book I started, but then decided that life was too short. The bestselling acknowledged masterpiece that finally decided me that not finishing a book wasn’t an actual sin was One hundred years of solitude (I tried it in French I think) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Apparently, some people have the feel for (in my view weird) Latin American stuff. Clearly, I don’t.
Since then, I have merrily abandoned several books I just couldn’t get into: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, L’île du jour d’avant by Umberto Ecco, … And it’s good fun talking to others about what books they couldn’t get through. Sooner or later, someone will say “What? You didn’t like x? I adored it, it changed my life, best book ever.”I like to keep an open mind, though. I gave Macchiavelli’s The Prince several tries in an English translation and really couldn’t get into it. But I lapped up a French version of it. Possibly, the English translation was a bit dated, or perhaps I needed the French side of me to understand Macchiavelli properly (I don’t mean that by the way). I hated Marguerite Duras’s L’amant, but found La douleur , which I picked up following an enthusiastic recommendation very reluctantly after my first experience, much more to my liking. I hardly gave Mrs Dalloway a chance, I only read a few pages, so am willing to have a go at another Virginia Woolf novel. Any suggestions? Ditto James Joyce.
I have already been persuaded that I simply MUST do Proust. Mmmmm, time for another go, maybe?
Mostly about books 
HA! I usually finish most books I read. I too have tried reading One Hundred Years of Solitude and Mrs. Dalloway, but never finished them. There are a couple of ‘classic’ Canadian novels that I just could not get through either. I have given up on Woolf; she’s just not my thing. As for Joyce… I prefer his short stories. Have you given The Dubliners a try? You might like it more than his lengthy, epic novels.
Bonne journée.
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I adored The Dubliners! So, any tips on classic Canadian novels I could get through? Read (and loved if that’s the right word) The Handmaid’s Tale but I think I’m lacking in my knowledge of Canadian literature.
Bonne soirée.
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Seeing as you read English AND French, here are my top five Canadian books (In no particular order).
1) ‘Un homme et son péché’ par Claude-Henri Grignon (Ceci est une des histoires les plus célèbres du Québec. J’adore.)
2) Bonheur d’occasion, le roman urbain de Gabrielle Roy. (Tous ses livres sont excellents. Celui-ci est son meilleur).
3) The Outlander by Gil Adamson (A gorgeous story about a young woman on the run in the Canadian wilderness).
4) Surfacing by Margaret Atwood. A great coming-of-age story.
5) Away by Jane Urquhart. A historic novel that has fable-like elements.
I hope you have access to some of these books in your part of the world. They are all well worth the time.
Bonne lecture!
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Merci ! Je vais commencer par Bonheur d’occasion.
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Ahhh, bon choix!
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For some writers, I find I have to read their lives before I can read their works; others I have to come at through their contemporaries. I have also given up on Garcia Marquez, but will steel myself for another go at Ulysses some day.
Anyway, have you tried reading Woolf’s nonfiction? I loved A Room of One’s Own years before I read The Waves (my favorite of her books).
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No, I haven’t read any of Woolf’s nonfiction and I’ve always thought A Room of One’s Own sounded interesting, so I may give it a try.
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