A friend and I recently had a conversation about the fact that not finishing a book is a learned skill. We slog through unenjoyable novels as though they were homework and we are expected to turn in a book report upon completion. This was absolutely something I had to learn, the idea that nobody would be mad if I put down a half-finished book never to return to it. And then I had to learn not to be mad at myself, ha. And is it just me or do books of short stories lend themselves particularly well to this lesson? After all, if one story doesn't grab you, skip ahead to the next. There were a few moments of Not The End of the World worth commending, but for the most part, Atkinson's desire to weave apocalyptic visions into the mundane just makes for a lot of vaguely interesting stories that end suddenly and oddly. So I put them down and am on to the next.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Not Finishing, Not The End of the World. Or, Not Finishing Not The End of the World.
A friend and I recently had a conversation about the fact that not finishing a book is a learned skill. We slog through unenjoyable novels as though they were homework and we are expected to turn in a book report upon completion. This was absolutely something I had to learn, the idea that nobody would be mad if I put down a half-finished book never to return to it. And then I had to learn not to be mad at myself, ha. And is it just me or do books of short stories lend themselves particularly well to this lesson? After all, if one story doesn't grab you, skip ahead to the next. There were a few moments of Not The End of the World worth commending, but for the most part, Atkinson's desire to weave apocalyptic visions into the mundane just makes for a lot of vaguely interesting stories that end suddenly and oddly. So I put them down and am on to the next.
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