Meet Me at Mike’s has made a list of classics to invest in (I contributed Dorian Gray, Tess of the D’Urbevilles and one of the Brontes, possibly Wuthering Heights) which got me thinking about my sizeable pile of books, specifically those I had wantonly abandoned.
I think everyone has a pile of these; books that they got halfway through before that assignment deadline started getting uncomfortably close. Or they had to go on a weekend long bender. Or the new Harry Potter came out and was a bit more exciting than poor old Dickens.
Admit it. That bookmark is sticking out of that neglected book on your desk, as if it flopped out after the poor thing keeled over and died.
I usually have about three books going at the one time, and one of these is invariably a HP (sure, sure. Scoff. I’ll be the one laughing when I get accepted as a mature age student at Hogwarts and you have to hang out in the muggle world!). Unfortunately, when you read in this fashion, some books will fall to the wayside and may never be finished. After all, there’s still two Harry Potter movies to come out…
They look so sad... like puppies at the RSPCA. Who have diseases.
Here’s my list:
1. Love in the Time of Cholera
I started reading this one when I went into hospital expecting a 12 hour wait for my surgery, but it was only about 1. It started so nicely, with such evocative imagery that I started sweating in the hot Caribbean summer, despite it actually being chilly Melbourne winter.
2. Through the Looking Glass
Unfortunately I never did find out why a raven is like a writing desk.
3. Frankenstein
It was shaping up to be pretty creepy and not as comical as I imaged. Mary Shelley’s monster was a bit more Leatherface and not the retarded Hulk of the movie version.
4. The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy
They lost me at the “I pass the scissors crossed” bit.
5. The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl
Highly recommend the first third as it’s full of super creepy stories you should be glad your parents didn’t tell you. It includes one about Franz Liszt being reincarnated as a cat.
Oh yeah, perfect opportunity for Keyboard Cat to make an appearance.
Unfortunately the book then stumbles into war story territory and I was out of there. See ya later, Franz!
Also I have a pile of classics I bought on sale which I haven’t even started, including big, bulky literature such as Anna Karenina and War & Peace.
There it is, the big blue one in the middle!
I think everyone has that copy of War & Peace that they swear they’ll read one of these days. Have a look in your bookshelf. Go on, do it. There’s a copy there, isn’t there? Of course there is!
I know I should put Harry down and pick up one of these, and maybe I will one day. But probably not TOday.
What books are in your “I’ll get to these one day” pile? Any of the same?
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