It isn't often that I will start to read a book and make the decision not to complete it. Even if it's not great writing or the characters suck, I'm too stubborn to put it aside.
Except that I did just this three times in the past few months:
A Play of Piety, by Margaret Frazer
After reading the first few chapters of this book, I was just. so. bored. I wanted to like it. I tried to like it. I just couldn't get into it. Furthermore, I was not remotely invested in the characters and, looking ahead, I happened upon a scene where a dog is killed. It's a merciful death, but still sad. Pass.
Jacob Have I Loved, by Katherine Paterson
This book started off strong. Paterson's narration is both pleasing and easy to read. I enjoyed her exposition through the pathetic first person narrator about things from seasons to food to jealousy. However, about halfway through the book, one of the worst scenes I've encountered in literature presented itself. This scene is graphic, inhumane, and abhorrent. I found myself wishing I could strangle Paterson myself for putting these pictures in my head and now, without hesitation, I can say that I hate both her and her work. And her main character -the one with whom readers are meant to empathize- is a spineless, brainless, piece of excrement. No wonder everyone loves her sister and simply tolerates her. She sucks. HARD PASS.
Tales of King Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory,
Edited and abridged with an introduction by Michael Senior
I've read a number of Arthurian legends. I've known many of the stories for years and years but it wasn't until I was in a French literature class that I actually read my first original work. We read Le Chevalier au Lion (The Knight with the Lion) by Chretien de Troyes. On each two-page spread of the text were the old, original French (left page) and the updated, modern French (right page). With a sort of dual-language book like this, we could not only read the story, but compare and contrast the current words with the original. It was one of my first novels in French and that fact, coupled with the type of lyrical writing even of the modern translation, made reading the story of Sir Yvain as a knight errant rather cumbersome. Nevertheless, we carried on. I had also read -in both English and French- the story of Tristan et Yseut (Tristan and Isolde), along with numerous other adaptations of different stories of Arthur and his knights.
While I do love the adventures and the kickass stories themselves, after awhile, they start to drone on. Malory is very very wordy, and his characters are quite flat. For instance, Arthur is always perceived as a hero...even though he casts a ship full of babies out to sea, leaving them to die in case one of them is his repudiated son Mordred. Sorry, Art, but that's not a redeemable act. Merlin coerces a teenage girl into doing...things with him and, when the bill finally comes due (read: she enacts her own justice), she is the one painted as a villain while poor Merlin is victimized. Barf. Morgan le Fay is, as always, portrayed as a toxic malevolent when, let's get real, it was Arthur's birth father (Uther Pendragon) who killed her father, forced her mother to marry him, and then was a general asshole. Maybe Morgan is nasty, but she's got her reasons. All in all, the more I read of King Arthur, the more I tend to empathize/sympathize with the alleged bad guys. You might say that the writings are "of their time", but I am also of my time.
This edition of Sir Thomas Malory's accounts is a great start for readers new to the Arthurian legends. It's a challenging read, but simplified in order to appeal to a modern reader without having to do too much research or investigating. In fact, that is exactly what Michael Senior (editor) intended: to create a loyal rendition of Malory's work that is also pleasing to read. I would say he accomplished his mission; I just simply could not read the entire thing cover to cover without breaks to read other stuff.
Three books - each unfinished. I have to remind myself when I pick up a book that I am under no obligation to finish it. Sometimes, you just don't, and that's OK. I've moved on since then, even finishing a couple of other books in the meantime. Stay tuned for more reports on books that I have completed.
