Those of you who read my blog when I was out in Sri Lanka might remember how overly excited I got when I started reading again. I vowed at the end of that post that when I got home I'd continue reading and I'd have more in my life than just politics day in day out, night after night :-)
So, I come back and there's a by election. And then there's another one. And another, and another. And how many books did I read in that time? Not one. Last week, however, I decided to get tough on myself. I had 5 minutes to wait for a train and being the patient soul that I am, I couldn't possibly just sit there willing it to arrive. Instead, I went to the nearest book shop and bought FIVE books.
I am currently reading 3 of them - Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope; The Gathering by Anne Enright and the one that's caused me to blog tonight ... ~The Reluctant Fundamentalist written by Mohsin Hamid. It's about a muslim man from Pakistan sitting in a cafe in Lahore telling an American about his years in the USA. I've got to chapter 11 and I'm at the stage where the other books are temporarily discarded and I completely resent anything that interrupts my reading. At the same time, I'm reluctant to read on.
As the story gathers pace I am torn between feelings of excitement and the kind of urges that children get when they cannot BEAR not to know the details of some secret - tell me, tell me I can hear myself think as my eyes trip over the words as fast as they can just DYING to know what's going to happen; torn between that and the feeling that I am almost certainly going to regret the knowing, the absolute inevitability that it's all going to fall apart, the acceptance that the pain will be sharp and raw and because you've been so drawn into the character and his life, you will feel it just as acutely as he does.
Oh I don't half get carried away with these books! Isn't it great to get lost in a story? Righty ho, I've put it off too long. The time has come. The truth must be told. I have a feeling that is precisely what the character is going to say in chapter 11 - well, maybe not the righty ho ... !
So, I come back and there's a by election. And then there's another one. And another, and another. And how many books did I read in that time? Not one. Last week, however, I decided to get tough on myself. I had 5 minutes to wait for a train and being the patient soul that I am, I couldn't possibly just sit there willing it to arrive. Instead, I went to the nearest book shop and bought FIVE books.
I am currently reading 3 of them - Barack Obama's Audacity of Hope; The Gathering by Anne Enright and the one that's caused me to blog tonight ... ~The Reluctant Fundamentalist written by Mohsin Hamid. It's about a muslim man from Pakistan sitting in a cafe in Lahore telling an American about his years in the USA. I've got to chapter 11 and I'm at the stage where the other books are temporarily discarded and I completely resent anything that interrupts my reading. At the same time, I'm reluctant to read on.
As the story gathers pace I am torn between feelings of excitement and the kind of urges that children get when they cannot BEAR not to know the details of some secret - tell me, tell me I can hear myself think as my eyes trip over the words as fast as they can just DYING to know what's going to happen; torn between that and the feeling that I am almost certainly going to regret the knowing, the absolute inevitability that it's all going to fall apart, the acceptance that the pain will be sharp and raw and because you've been so drawn into the character and his life, you will feel it just as acutely as he does.
Oh I don't half get carried away with these books! Isn't it great to get lost in a story? Righty ho, I've put it off too long. The time has come. The truth must be told. I have a feeling that is precisely what the character is going to say in chapter 11 - well, maybe not the righty ho ... !
2 comments:
That's a handy book review as it's on the top of my pile for holiday reading. I wouldn't bother about The Gathering - it's rubbish. I foisted it onto an old lady on a train just to get rid of it.....
Glad to help Louise - hope you enjoy it :-)
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