What books that you don’t finish can teach you
Whether you read the whole book or just a part of it, you learn a lot, sometimes more about yourself than about the actual book
I have finished a couple of dozen books this year so far. Not a big number, not a small number, just a number. What is more curious to me is that this year I have already given up on four books. Now that is an interesting number that got me thinking — what is the reason behind not finishing the book? Before coming to any wide conclusions, I decided to look at each case separately, or rather at three of these four cases, and dive into the reasons why I would give up on a book, at what point, and if it was a wise decision.
The most recent book I put back on the shelf after reading a bit more than a half is Pulitzer long-lister “Sleeping on Jupiter” by critically claimed Anuradha Roy. This is a book about India and various people brought together under very strange circumstances. It is a beautifully written book with a colorful atmosphere, complicated characters, and a bit of problematic history of a mysterious country. About half the way, however, I realized that I just don’t care about any of it. Every time I picked up a book, I made an effort and a deal with myself: “Just read 30 pages” or “Just read for 20 minutes.” So, at last, I gave up. It was a pick of my book club, and even though I hadn’t finished it, I still went to the meeting. I vocally consented to being exposed to spoilers and asked what happened in the second half of the book. To my surprise, almost everyone said “nothing.” Nothing happened.
About a month before that, I tried to reread “Hobbit” because I kind of felt that I had come to the point in my life where I could associate myself with Bilbo (don’t ask, it is complicated, but I’m sure you understand the idea behind it). No matter how much I admire Bilbo, I was falling asleep after a couple of minutes of reading. I felt guilty because, you know, it is classic, it is important, it has defined world culture. But I just couldn’t help myself, so I gave up. On Bilbo, on “Hobbit,” on rereading.
And there was another one, somewhere around February, a book called “Assistant to the Villain” by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, a romantic fantasy. And it was all of these: there was fantasy in the form of magic, wizards, and other classic stuff, and there was romance — you guessed it — between the villain and his assistant. I knew it all before I read it. I knew the heroine would be forced to serve the villain because of some harsh life situation (old father, dependable sibling). I knew she would hate the villain at first, but with every new chapter, she would find some attractive features in his appearance first and then in his personality. I knew they would end up together, in love, against all the odds and social norms. So, I just put it back on the shelf.
Now, there are some conclusions to be drawn from this:
- First and foremost, it is totally okay not to finish the book. Even if it is classic, even if it is important, even if it is a recommendation. Sometimes click just doesn’t happen. It doesn’t mean anything more than that.
- Second, it really saves time, which you can use for another book. What is the point of spending days and days on a book that is just not for you?
- Lastly, books are brought into this world to give pleasure — be it emotional or intellectual — and sometimes the pleasure is in putting some books back on the shelf and picking up another one instead.
