Ever struggled through a book wondering why you continue to read such garbage? Ever read the first page or maybe two and figure you just can’t stomach to read anymore? That’s how I felt about Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain. But It was all the rage. The must read. I silently stared at my writer friends while they rambled on and on and on about the sheer beauty of this book. Had they lost their minds? I managed to get through the first two pages then decided no matter how great this book supposedly was, it just wasn’t for me.
I felt so embarrassed. So ashamed. I called myself a writer, yet couldn’t stomach the first two pages of the National Book Award Winner. I never told my writer friends how I truly felt. I was ashamed I didn’t ‘get it’. Maybe I should revert back to picture books. Certainly I could ‘get’ those.
So Cold Mountain got shoved to the back of the bookshelf. The very back. And then the movie came out and I watched mainly because Jude Law is like oh my gosh good-looking. The scenery was beautiful too. And the story – it wasn’t bad. Yeah, I cried.
Then a funny thing happened. Several years later, I was cleaning off the bookshelves and found the well-hidden copy of Cold Mountain. I held it my hands for a long time, wondering if I should give it another try. I was between books so in need of something to read. So I stuffed it in my purse to take to work with me the next day. I’d try the first page again and if it didn’t click, I’d spend the rest of my lunch hour browsing the newspaper left in the break room.
But it clicked. Oh how it clicked! I finally ‘got it’. And I got it within the first paragraph, not just the page. I absolutely, totally, undeniably fell in love with the language Frazier used. The words worked together like an old married couple completing one another’s sentences. The words, the placement of punctuation, the sparse dialogue. The beauty of the way everything worked together sent chills up my spine.
If I hadn’t given Cold Mountain a second chance, I’d have gone through life appreciating the beauty of Jude Law, not the language used to tell the story.
Have you ever given a book a second chance?
My third year of college, it took me FOUR tries to get through Tolkien’s The Hobbit. I felt like such a slug during those first three tries. All my friends praised The Hobbit and especially “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, but I was unable to get past the first chapter of The Hobbit. The fourth time, I forced myself to continue past the first chapter. It was really tedious going with all those boring dwarfs until I got to chapter 5, “Riddles in the Dark.” There I met the complex, devious, and pathetic character Gollum — one of only two characters in Tolkien’s work that I found relateable — and finally became interested in Middle Earth. (The other relateable character IMO is Boromir.)
I’ve had this experience with a number of books and writers. I loved Cold Mountain on the first try, though. Same for The Shipping News. Unfortunately, some writers I used to adore don’t appeal to me now. Anne Tyler, for example. I’ve read several of her books more than once. Her writing hasn’t changed. I’m sure she’s as good as she ever was. But that simply isn’t the kind of thing I want to read now. Maybe I wouldn’t enjoy Cold Mountain or The Shipping News anymore either if I tried them now. (I won’t, though. Too many new things to read.)
I have gone back to a book I didn’t like at first and loved it later. Not Cold Mountain. It still remains a mystery to me what anyone saw in it.
You kill me, Joyce! I won’t try to persuade you what a masterpiece you’re missing because it’s clear you’ve gone over to the dark side 🙂
I agree with Patty. Sometimes I just know I’m not in the mood for a particular style of book (need a cozy, not a thriller or vice versa) so I put it away and come back later. I’ve also done it with mainstream fiction–could not get into Annie Proux’s SHIPPING NEWS, Six months later I fell into it with sheer delight. The only book I won’t give a second chance to is one that I can see right away is poorly written or poorly edited.
Terry, I agree 100% with SHIPPING NEWS. Left me spellbound.
I find that sometimes a book has to suit my mood. Or my place in life. As a mom of a four year old, I can’t focus for long periods of time. I’m constantly interrupted. I can’t get into deep writing right now because I can’t read a full sentence without glancing up!
I feel your pain. I have grandkids that require/demand right much attention 🙂