Book du jour
Book on every best seller list? Please don't try to shove it down Adele Hamilton's throat.
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"You MUST read Shantaram," said my friend Jess, her eyes shining with excitement.
"Ja," I replied. "I know."
In fact, Jess was the fifth person to recommend it to me in the space of a month. What I couldn't tell her was that her very enthusiasm and the passion of her description was a turn-off for me.
I get like this sometimes with books everyone loves. It took me three years to read Spud after everyone else had (good, wasn't it!), and The Kite Runner is still sitting there glaring at me from the bookshelf.
From time to time I give in and read the damn thing, and it's not often as thrilling an experience as the general buzz would make one hope. Life of Pi was great after I got past the first boring bits, but I really didn't think The Shadow of the Wind was THAT brilliant, although it was an enjoyable read.
I draw the line at The Secret, so perhaps it really would change my life... I will never know.
Sometimes I suspect people haven't really read the thing when they're waxing so lyrical about how brilliant it is (not you, Jess). I would much rather someone calmly gives me a less hyped book to read, because they honestly liked it and hope I might too.
Books are such a personal thing, I suppose that's what my resistance is all about. I don't want to feel pressure to read a book NOW just because everyone else is. Yes, it is an odd characteristic in someone who spends their time telling other people what I think of books and expecting them to listen. I see the irony.
My resolution this holiday is to give Shantaram a fair shake and not hold its over-hyped status against it. As for The Kite Runner.. not yet.
Are you usually the first to read the book du jour? Or do you wait for the hype to blow over before you start reading the book?
- Women24