It's not like sci-fi. It's impossible things happening as if it were just normal for such things to happen, but without any kind of scientific explanation, and usually with some kind of allegorical/symbolic aspect to it.
bought it and gave up tbh
I know Kundera wasn't at first, but he kind of flirted with it eventually (which made him famous, as did that horrible film version of 'The Unbearable Lightness...') And yes, the sexual encounters seem just that bit too easy to come by.*
^^ this, I bought it in solidarity but didn't read it in solidarity. Might actually be a first edition I must check
That seems to be the story of Satanic Verses: most of those either condemning it or defending it never having actually read it.^^ this, I bought it in solidarity but didn't read it in solidarity. Might actually be a first edition I must check
Don't think I ever defended it, because I never read it
I got about halfway through, and can remember little.Don't think I ever defended it, because I never read it
There is an important difference. I didn't finish it (although I read enough to see how it was going), but I would defend it and him whatever the words inside it had said, however offensive it might have been to certain religious types.
Agree completely.
When it comes to authors being stabbed in the neck, I think it's reasonable to be for or against without having read the book in question.
So do I. In fact the stabbers can fuck off.
Unlike The Magus by Fowles for me. Started it as I recall one evening, went to bed but was thinking about it so much I had to get up and read it through the night, and possibly the next day a good 650 pages it was. Stunning book.
Mrs RD recommends it. It's been on our shelves for years. Might give it a go.
Yes, I find I'm less receptive to literature the older I get.set aside two days
of course this was 30+ years ago and it might not grab you like it did me
As I said earlier, the internet is fucking with us.yes I've not read a novel for a while now
Me too. I could devour Dosteyevsky in a few days once upon a time. Nowadays I baulk at the idea of anything over 200 pages.
I used to plough through novels, especially on holiday, whether a beach-type one or travelling on trains/ coaches. Now I just mess about on my phone like everybody else, and bring a novel home about half-read at best, usually with a view to finishing it 'sometime.'
I'd say read it again, but I know I won't be. It's a fantastic book. As are Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov. But they're all lengthy tomes. It's partly a function of the time they were written. You do get pages and pages of seemingly unnecessary descriptions of stuff in between the action. That's what photos/videos are for nowadays - novels can afford to be pared back.I read the Idiot when I was about 16 another 650+ page . Am reassured that I had no idea what it was about though, and remember less
Mrs RD still reads for an hour or so at the end of the day. One of the lucky ones who regards her smartphone as a pain in the arse that you have to occasionally pay attention to. It means I can text her in the morning and she comes home from work 6-7 hours later completely ignorant of what I was trying to tell her.
I'm currently flicking between this thread and a film I'm not that bothered about.
I'm currently flicking between this thread and a film I'm not that bothered about.
I struggle to maintain enough attention to watch a film.
