The Bad Read

On the day the BBC announces the results of "The Big Read" poll for people's favourite books, here are some of my least favourite reads.

Hated the whole thing:
Headlong by Michael Frayn.It didn't take long for me to start to detest the arrogant, pig-headed 'hero' of the book and his bumbling attempts at investigating the origin of a painting while on sabbatical from his job as a university lecturer. ( Read more... )

Ruined by the ending:
The Magus by John Fowles. This story is filled with strange and interesting happenings, which could be either psychological mindgames or supernatural events. I was filled with rage and disappointment when I reached the end and realised that all the confusing events surrounding the protagonist were just ( massive spoiler )

A terrible start, but I was won round later:
The Forest of Hours by Kerstin Ekman. ( Read more... )

Hated short story:
The Argentine Ant in Adam, One Afternoon & Other Stories by Italo Calvino. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad story. ( Read more... )

Miscellany

1) The weather is overcast and gloomy, but at least it's better than yesterday, when it drizzled constantly all day. Thursday night/Friday morning was much too cloudy for me to have any chance of seeing the lunar eclipse.

2) On Thursday a BookCrossing parcel arrived from gerbie, containing two John Le Carre novels, "The Looking-Glass War" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". TLGW is a sequel to "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", and today I went round the local charity shops and managed to find a copy, so I can read them in the right order (I think that I've seen the film of TSWCIFTC, but all I remember is Richard Burton and an ice-covered lake surrounded by trees). So sometime soon I'll be on a George Smiley kick; probably not until next month at the earliest, as I'm in a norse saga phase at the moment.

3) I've just noticed that "The Matrix" is on tv next week, so I'll be able to watch it again before going to see the sequel.