The New York Times has come up with its ten best books of 2005. On the fiction list: Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep, Ian McEwan’s Saturday, Mary Gaitskill’s Veronica, and Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore. On the non-fiction list, Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking made the cut.
[Via: Moorish girl]
Among the books mentioned in the article, Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is the only book that is already on my reading list. I will attack it soon. Unfortunately, I have been stuck with Reading Lolita in Tehran for over a month now. I just can’t seem to finish it and it is extremely frustrating.
I have to admit this highly-acclaimed memoir offers many intriguing bits, especially the parts comparing pre- and post-revolution Iran. Although some of the literary discussions are thought-provoking, the book somehow drags and I just can’t get myself to get completely immersed in it!
I’m one of those that loathes the idea of starting a book and not finishing it. It is a bit akin to my attempts at cooking; I’m not going to give it up until I make it happen. Anyway, the weekend is coming up. Maybe I will get enough discipline to sit down and finish this memoir once and for all. We’ll see.
Suhad,
Go back and re read my comment, you will see it is addressed to Darwish(misspelled to Darawsheh).
At any rate, its meant to be a little humorous . I am impressed of the ” heavy heavy readers” ; maybe I will need to get my PhD before coming here to write in “scribbles from across the Middle East’.
Jareer
I read your comment where you mentioned
“It runs in our genes not to read except our text books”
I was wondering who you are refering to?
I thought Natasha’s post would for heavy heavy readers who sometimes stuck in middle of one book every couple of months and looking for an advice to finish it 🙂 . I assure you Good Readers don’t give up easily on GOOD books :))
I didnt really like “Reading lolta in tehran” , but then again I cant really judge since its been a month or so since Ive been trying to finish it! As you mentioned I cant really get myself molded into it, the metaphores werent really to my liking and its being on top of the charts doesnt mean its a good book, at least thats what I think:p
I think it also has to do with promoting a certain image of Iran, and also a certain image of Islam that suits the west just fine and feeds them exactly what they want to hear…
Darawsheh;
It runs in our genes not to read except our text books (which we hate also.)
So, the advice from me not to worry; this is normal. We read blogs, newspapers, textbooks, and that is enough. None of us has any control over his/ her genes anyway. Bad advice !
Natasha…Good books will hook you easily probably from the first page or first chapter. I dont know what is wrong with me but I read little over 100 pages of “On Beauty” so far and still have no idea why it is on the top of the list!!!!
“Reading Lolita in Tehran”. Read it over 2 years ago, I dont think I want to read it again although I enjoyed the parts they discussed Gatsby.
Natasha …when i reach a point that I can’t indulge myself in a book I just remember Asia’s Mom (In The Eye of the Sun – By Ahdaf Souief) when she told her daughter Asia…[You dont have to finish it after all it is not an assignment :)]
Salam 🙂
simply , i hate reading , i have alot of books to read about diseases and stuff , but i guess that its a big mistake to not have a look on any other books …..maybe anyone could give me some advice regarding how to start and what to start with …..
I read “Reading Lolita..” a while ago, and it did drag, especially before you reach the fourth and last part!! It is quite interesting though, and I particularly liked the part about the Universities before and after the ‘revolution’, got me thinking!
Saturday was lovely–probably my favorite of his so far. It was also my favorite of the year, I’d say. Joan Didion’s was really good, as well. And I just loved Prep–it totally brought back the whole world of high school. Such a fun read.
On beauty is good but not as good as her earlier book white teeth, Saturday by Ian Mckewn is not that great very anti-climactic i was very dissapointed with Ian it was almost a justification for the Iraq war
Veronica nothing that great
that what i thought at least,
ASA:
I read this book a few months ago and found it a very good read. It drag in some places for sure and it took much longer than it normally does to me to finish a book. I usually take about 1 week or less depending on how good the book is to me. It took longer not only because of the drag but because I found that i wanted to read certain sections over and over again. They really had me thinking about things I’ve heard at “Islamic” lectures MSA’s here in america have.
Do try to struggle with it to the finish and tell me what you think when you’re done.
Take Care
Sherifah