Novels We Should Like

Stephen King wrote in a recent post at stephenking.com,

"I couldn't vote for Moby Dick. Everyone says it's great and blah-blah-blah, but I drown in whale-oil every time I try it. My bad, people, I admit it."

I've not read,  nor been tempted to read, Moby Dick.  It did ge tme to thinking about some novels I should like -- that everyone loves -- but I just don't.  Some books  have their own version of "whale-oil" that we  drown in.

• Lord of the Rings.  I'm sorry. I sincerely, deeply apologize.  I know that for many of you, this is like saying you don't like Star Wars or something.  But I just have trouble with the whole fantasy genre.  I (gasp) think Lord of  the Rings is boring.  I KNOW, it's terrible of me to feel that way, I have great guilt about this and should probably see a doctor.  But I just can't get excited about three big novels about people walking around.  They walk and they walk and they walk and they walk -- they even walk with trees!

• Bleak House,  by Charles Dickens.  I've started it many times, but only read about three pages of the giant book.  But, chalk it up to Dickens and my difficult  relationship.  I love him -- I hate him -- but mostly love.

• Journey To The Center Of The Earth is a classic, but I couldn't get through it.  It just takes forever for them to get TO the journey.  Not only is there a lot of codes and maps and stuff, but then there are practice expeditions that suck up more space.  Yes, yes, once again -- very bad of me!  At some point I just wanted  Uncle Otto to get moving.  

• The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.  I've read the novel many times, but I'm not excited  or moved by it.  So why have I read and reread it?  Because I want to be moved!  I want to like it.  I think the radio and movie adaptations were far better than their source material.  But Wells was working with a fresh idea -- living creatures from another  planet actually landing and attacking with incredible machines.  What's neat is that it is written before cars -- so there are Machine's moving about London chasing horses and carriages.  

• Finally, The Talisman is a novel I have not been able to swallow yet.  It remains a book I've started so many times -- but have  yet to fall in love.  I'm not alone in this camp, George Beahm wrote in his original Stephen King Companion:

Try as I did on several occasions, I just couldn't get into the story.  Having read (and reread) virtually all the King novels  and a number of Straubs  novels, I find that The Talisman remains and oddity on my King bookshelf: The unread book.  (I might add that I felt the same way, initially about,about Tolkiens trilogy, Lord of the Rings.  On the third try, I got into the story and it swept me away.  When I finished, I was sorry that the story had ended.) 

I'll try again, of course, but what's interesting to me is that I'm not alone.  I've talked to other people  who read widely and deeply in and out of this field, people who have read all of King and all of Straub, and they either loved The Talisman or couldn't get into the story.

I wonder if he ever read it!  May I also point out that the novel's cover does nothing to make you want to read  the novel?!  Red and black swooshes with the author's names.  Rates right up there with Insomnia. Of course, Insomnia is a book I have not made it through -- I can't stay awake for it!

Novels that Surprised Me:

Here are some novels I did not plan to like -- but I was pleasantly surprised.

Both of George Orwell novels, Animal Farm and 1984, came as a surprise to me.  I find them delightful, and did not plan to.  1984 is dark, heavy and at times slow moving -- but as a teen I thought it was brilliant.  I think I liked Animal Farm just because the entire idea of animals throwing the farmer off his farm and running the place with delightful.

Of Mice and Men grabbed me from the get go and never let me go.  The story is short, well written (like anything by Steinbeck) and unforgettable.  Written like a play, each section is set up with narration, and then is carried primarily by dialogue.  It's an easy read.  And it's an emotional roller-coaster.  I read it out loud to my Grandmother.

Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Anne  Burns was a shock.  I bought it on audio as a teenager, not knowing what it was.  But back then, audio tapes were rare, so it meant I listened to things I might not otherwise choose.  The first time I read it was on audio, and abridged version. This was in the days when abridgments were only three hours!  I read it again in print, and then later on an unabridged  audio edition.  It's great!  Not  Pillars of the Earth great, but great.  It is where I learned the country phrase, "Boy Howdy!"

Finally, I was surprised by Paul Sheldon's novel, Misery's Return. In fact, I didn't like it at all when I first started.  I wanted the story to stay focused on Paul and his dealings with Annie.  But as the novel went  on, I was drawn in.  Having the girl buried alive might have helped!

What books  should you like. . . but don't?  And, what books surprised you?