I want to hear about the books that take an investment of time and energy to get interested in OR where you recommend skipping a chapter, reading a series in a different order, etc.
Sometimes I give up on a book too soon and hear from people that I should have kept reading until 75 pages or whatever.
My examples:
*Read 50 pages of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell before deciding whether to give up — it takes time to settle in
*Skip the first chapter of Rebecca and don’t read it until finishing the rest of the novel
*Skip the foreword of Lonesome Dove since it has a plot spoiler
*Go with ebook/paper rather than audiobook for the first Scholomance book since the world-building is challenging to absorb at first
by Remarkable-Pop6916
9 Comments
_A Fire Upon the Deep_ is one of my all-time favorite books, but I think a major aspect of the world is completely incomprehensible until like, 60% of the way through the book, and I don’t think that’s an intentional choice. I always tell people to read the Wikipedia article on the setting before they start the book.
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski.
Malazan Book of the Fallen series plunks you into a very large history and just expects you to go with it. Very rewarding though.
The Watchmen graphic novel series. You’re only supposed to read one chapter a day. Extremely hard to do.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
The orphans masters son
All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr. Takes a minute to get into, but those last 200 ish pages are amazing.
Slog thru the beginning of Hyperion cantos (slow and filled with bad similes) because the writing gets better, the pace speeds up, and the overall experience is worth it.
Diaspora by Greg Egan
I adore The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard.
It took me a while to relax into it, because it is slow paced and detailed. And that’s part of what I love so much! I feel more relaxed softening into a read like this than with a fast paced page turner (though I love those too).