Sunday, July 6, 2008

My current inability to finish novels: updated!

Regarding the three novels I was working on before:

I finished the Hiassen, since (as my Dad wrote in his comments on the book) it is quite a quick, fun read, and exactly what I need right now. The Jodi Picoult will have to wait for now--I am not ready to read about a tragic pseudo-suicide pact, or whatever the shocking truth shall turn out to be. And The Illuminatus! Trilogy holds me for a few chapters, and then reaches a point of ridiculous nonsense that I can't really follow, and so I put it down. This is not necessarily a downside; since the book is so complicated and confusing (intentionally so, I believe), it doesn't really matter that I'm lost when I pick it back up again. I'm finding it more entertaining in the small exchanges of characters, and I've decided to not worry so much about finding a real thread running through it beyond that of conspiracy and confusion. Which, occasionally, is enough.

I also just finished Look At Me by Jennifer Egan. I picked this book up off the street almost literally when it was put out in a "free!" box of stuff when someone down the street was moving, so I grabbed it. In my opinion, any free novel is worth saving--you never know, it might be brilliant. This one is certainly dramatic; it begins with a model whose face is destroyed in a car accident and then, thanks to modern medicine, beautifully reconstructed. However, she will (of course) never be the same. From there, the novel tackles the grand themes of truth and beauty rather poignantly and from a unique angle. I recommend it.

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