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Reading & Forward Momentum
Oct. 3rd, 2018 07:41 pmA couple of days ago I gave up on a book that I've tried to get into once or twice before, since it really is full of things that are usually catnip to me: Folklore and fairy tales! Creepiness! A romance with a maybe-evil, tall-dark-and-mysterious man! A complicated, sometimes-cold heroine! Food! And the thing is, objectively it is a good book, really beautifully and distinctively written with gorgeous descriptions and a wonderful sense of place. But it's just... so very, very slow.
I'm not talking in terms of the actual page count; things happen in every chapter, and it's not an especially long book. The things that happen are interesting, and again, the writing's gorgeous. The problem is, even though I do get a sense of the overarching plot, I'm not getting the sense that all the things that are happening are that important to said plot. Which is fine! I'm not a fan of books that put plot above everything else, and I usually love rambling, thick, atmospheric books... but I like having the sense that things are moving along, even if they're moving slowly. It will all come to a point eventually, and the detours will matter. I didn't get that from this book. Which doesn't mean it isn't there, but it does mean that, for whatever reason, it's not clicking with me this time around. I don't feel like I'm reading a story, I feel like I'm reading something that's just there. If that makes any sense. And a lot of my reaction also probably has to do with the fact that I'm in school right now, and burned out and exhausted with reading anyway, so when I'm reading for pleasure I really do want it to be for pleasure--Victorian Lit eats up most of my patience for slow-burning stories.
That being said, trying to read this one again and abandoning it again did make me realize why certain stories I've tried writing never grew beyond the first few pages. Even with fics, where the plot isn't usually my major focus, I need to have that movement, the sense that things are going somewhere, not just wandering around aimlessly. And it's funny, because I've started reading another book that feels a bit like the one I just gave up on--descriptive and atmospheric and slower-paced--while actually having a pretty good pace. It might not be brisk, but it is going somewhere. I guess at the end of the day I'm looking for books that will take me on a real journey--I don't like feeling like I'm just running in place.
I'm not talking in terms of the actual page count; things happen in every chapter, and it's not an especially long book. The things that happen are interesting, and again, the writing's gorgeous. The problem is, even though I do get a sense of the overarching plot, I'm not getting the sense that all the things that are happening are that important to said plot. Which is fine! I'm not a fan of books that put plot above everything else, and I usually love rambling, thick, atmospheric books... but I like having the sense that things are moving along, even if they're moving slowly. It will all come to a point eventually, and the detours will matter. I didn't get that from this book. Which doesn't mean it isn't there, but it does mean that, for whatever reason, it's not clicking with me this time around. I don't feel like I'm reading a story, I feel like I'm reading something that's just there. If that makes any sense. And a lot of my reaction also probably has to do with the fact that I'm in school right now, and burned out and exhausted with reading anyway, so when I'm reading for pleasure I really do want it to be for pleasure--Victorian Lit eats up most of my patience for slow-burning stories.
That being said, trying to read this one again and abandoning it again did make me realize why certain stories I've tried writing never grew beyond the first few pages. Even with fics, where the plot isn't usually my major focus, I need to have that movement, the sense that things are going somewhere, not just wandering around aimlessly. And it's funny, because I've started reading another book that feels a bit like the one I just gave up on--descriptive and atmospheric and slower-paced--while actually having a pretty good pace. It might not be brisk, but it is going somewhere. I guess at the end of the day I'm looking for books that will take me on a real journey--I don't like feeling like I'm just running in place.
