Generally, as a reader, I finish what I start. However, there are some books that I have found difficult to complete for various reasons. Some books are just badly written or make no sense or don’t seem very original. I quit these types of books with pleasure. With books that are more serious literature, I try to carry on because I want to know what I’m missing in the story or characterizations. If they have survived on the “must read” lists, they must have something special to say, right? There is only one book on multiple “must read” lists that I abandoned: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Many people LOVE this book, but not me.
Other books that I powered through were The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Both of these books were challenging for me because they are very stylized and have language and slang that I found tiresome. Also, I’m not sure I was ever their prime audience but I didn’t read these books until I was middle-aged, so some of what might have resonated better when I was younger – i.e., closer in age to the main characters – felt off to me. Still, I did finish both books and agree with other readers that they brought something unique to the table and I was ultimately glad that I read them.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: I read through the first third of the book and just did not enjoy it, so I skimmed through to see whether I become more engaged. Nope. The story was unpleasant and was propagated by misogynistic and tyrannical characters. To be honest, I had a similar reaction when I saw the movie on TV many, many years ago. I understand that mental health institutions have a checkered history and were the site of horrible abuses of power. I hoped that I would like the book better, but really, not so much. So, I gave up. Maybe I’ll try again if I finish everything else on my list … FYI, there are thousands of books on my list, so I’m guessing this is it!
Not only were the characters pretty unlikable, my bigger problem is that these characters seemed one-dimensional and predictable, i.e., I got bored with them. I don’t need to “like” characters and I have read many books, e.g., In Cold Blood, mysteries/thrillers, Lolita, and others that featured nasty characters. The narrator, who was not really the most reliable source of information, gave me a sense that I was being “told” who to root for. Finally add in the brutality, which is not my favorite stuff to read, and I just had no reason or desire to finish. I didn’t care about these characters or their storylines. All of these irritants individually push my buttons, so having them together was too offputting for me.
A Clockwork Orange: A strange book that is frightening in its ability to reflect a possible scenario of life. The violence is intense but the story brings out the creative but sometimes brutal ways in which people communicate and move forward to meet their needs. The characters are frightening because they are believable – they exist in one form or another already. The story also asks what would we as individuals and as a society be willing to do – where is the line between freedom and control? What is acceptable to curb violence and what is cruel and unusual punishment?
But on the downside, I felt like I had to really work to get through the language. I’m a serious reader, but it felt exhausting (and not in a good, robust way) and a bit pretentious. I wish there had been a better way to convey the needed information so I could appreciate the story more.
The Catcher in the Rye: The first third of the book and the last few chapters were engaging, but the middle of the book lost me a bit, which is when I contemplated quitting. I understand that the book is about a disaffected guy who is bright but has fallen into a bit of a trap in thinking that everyone else is a phony and that he is the only one who sees through it all. This is a manifestation of the arrogance of youth trope and teenagers thinking they are wise beyond their years, which is both cliche and real. This element of the book was at first interesting and then somewhat predictable, which I think is what seemed a bit stale in the middle of the story. I felt like I had read some of that middle section before – in The Great Gatsby, in Brideshead Revisited and elsewhere, including in the first third of the book. But in the last chapters, I was re-engaged as this young man (but also part child) started to spiral downward with seemingly no one to catch him. I have relatively few maternal instincts, but they were singing out by the end of the book! Fortunately, Holden reached out to his sister, who was not really aware of what was going on, but who reeled him in enough so that he could pull himself back from the edge. It was apparent that he needed help in processing many things, including his brother’s death. I was glad to see that he realized he had gone too far.
I understand the desire to run away and start over, and the notion that everyone else is wrong/fake/dense and just doesn’t understand the “truth”. The problem with that view is that one person’s truth may be another person’s excuse or fantasy or outright falsehood. Hopefully, Holden will learn that everyone can be considered a phony sometimes. We play little mind games with ourselves as a coping mechanism. Whether it’s about justifying something we know we shouldn’t do or making ourselves fit in better or soothing a damaged ego, sometimes the only kind words we get are internally spoken. I was reminded of a quote,”It requires less character to discover the faults of others, than to tolerate them” (Jean Antoine Petit-Senn). Holden has to learn that most people are just doing the best they can … and so is he.
