For the summer reading program I was going to read The Once and Future King for my adult classic selection. It read just like Disney's Sword in the Stone, which I liked okay for an animated film. I gave up after 50 pages. Last summer I read Bradley's Mists of Avalon and The Once and Future King was fluff compared to it. Next time I feel like more King Arthur, I'm going to try The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart.
The second book I gave up on was The Harmony Silk Factory. It may have turned out okay, but I just couldn't get into it and wasn't sure I wanted to read about all the father's sins in his pursuit of riches and 'the good life'. Also, I had just finished The History of Love and I think anything might have fallen flat on it's heels. I decided to pick up a cozy mystery that I didn't expect much from and found that I enjoyed it much more than the first 60 pages of The Silk Factory.
10 comments:
booklogged, I don't blame you, I couldn't read Tash Aw's 'The Harmony Silk Factory' either...I gave up after the first 100 pages and sent it on to a friend of mine. I haven't had any feedback from her. When I heard you were reading the book, I was very keen to know what you would think of it.
Lotus, when I quit reading 'Silk Factory' I was afraid I was missing out on a good book, but since you didn't care for it either, I feel better about it.
I read The Crystal Cave many years ago and enjoyed it. Okay, I was in 9th grade and can barely remember the book. I remember liking it, but was it because it's a good book or because I was in 9th grade and didn't know better? If/when you read it, let me know if it's worth a reread.
BTW, Mom told me you're coming to Cedar! I'm so excited! It's always a pleasure to see you and it will be a good time to be in Cedar - with everyone down for Shakespear. I can't wait!
Oh Booklogged, as opposed to the Harmony Silk Factory, I hope you'll like mine someday when it finally sees the light of day.
I can't guarantee how my story will hold but I promise you passion with a capital P, in this literary read...
Susan, I anxiously await your story. I've sure enjoyed what I have read of yours.
I tried to read the Once and Future King as well but like you I felt it was exactly like the Sword in the Stone and wasn't reading anything I didn't already know about the story. I own Mists of Avalon as well but haven't read it yet. Loved the movie. I need to pick it up one of these days.
Julie and Cassie, look forward to seeing you in Cedar City. Dinner Sunday night, right?
Cassie, I appreciate knowing that you didn't care for Once and Future King either.
So cathartic to do a post about books that fail to keep attention. I'm going to fopllow this idea and use it as a way to clean up a few shelves in the process.
Don't misunderstand me though, theres books I havent had time to finish and ones I don't really want to. I shall add this a s a future post to my blog !
rashbre
Hi, You really have a nice blog setup here. I hope mine will be as good. Book Store
I'm not going to lie. I really like The Once and Future King. It's one of my favourite books and the ending always makes me cry. The final three books have a very different feel from the first one. I have also read Mary Stewart's Arthur books, and while I liked them, I found them more of the 'high fantasy' genre than TH White's mixed bag of anachronisms, satire, fairy tale and natural history.
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