I used to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the first day of Summer. I've probably read it 10 times. Now I read and re-read The Early Church by Henry Chadwick, and also the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius.
Wow, is it well known? All the reader reviews praise it lavishly: The Ultimate Swashbuckling Pirate Adventure Set in the Dutch East Indies in 1600s This book is so much better than it needs to be. The writing is gorgeous, the story is fast-paced, the locations are evocative and exotic, spanning various part of the Dutch East Indies, with descriptions so vivid you feel you're there. The action is intense, the characters full of passion, and there is also a complex overlay of colonial incursions by the Western powers into the native kingdoms and islands and their condescending attitude of White Man's Burden and cultural superiority.
It's awesome that you like a book well enough to keep rereading it. Do you find new things when you read them again? I've read short stories many times, but not too many novels. When I read novels a second time, it was mostly for academic reasons. I almost always have a slightly different take on them when I re-read. Question about Huck Finn--Which character do you see as a moral parental figure?
I guess I'd have to say Jim, though he was maybe more of an uncle or older sister than a parent. The character who haunts me most is a Col. Sherburn, whom the town threatens to lynch after he kills the town drunk. He stares them down, unafraid: The idea of you lynching anybody! It's amusing. The idea of you thinking you had pluck enough to lynch a man! Because you're brave enough to tar and feather poor friendless cast-out women that come along here, did that make you think you had grit enough to lay your hands on a man? Why, a man's safe in the hands of ten thousand of your kind—as long as it's daytime and you're not behind him. Am I a Col. Sherburn, or am I one of the lynch mob?
I don't think it's very widely known how excellent this book is. I was familiar with the author having read Radix, which was kinda in the same category as William Gibson's sci-fi stuff. I saw this book because of it's cover sitting in the bargain bin and when I saw it was non sci-fi by AAA and less than $10 bucks I bought it. I was a book junkie, buying books from the bargain bin that I only half expected I might actually read. I finally had some time and decided to give it a try and I couldn't do it. I made it to around page 30 and it sat on the shelf for weeks. Second attempt I made it maybe to 50, or 60, possibly page 75 and then back on the shelf for weeks. Finally I restarted and made it past about page 90 and then it became a pretty easy read. I recommended it to my sister and told her that the first 90 pages are tough and she agreed it was excellent and that the first 90 pages are surprisingly difficult. I think I've read it three times, maybe four, and have found that those first 90 pages are now my favorite part. I can't imagine anyone that enjoys reading fiction for entertainment not enjoying this book if they can breakthrough the first 90 pages. Buy a used hardcopy with the original cover art and it'll be worth it just for the cover art.
Interestingly I've never read Huck Finn, but I did read Tom Sawyer and only once I'm somewhat ashamed to say. Read it around 9 or 10 I think it was and desperately wanted to find some buried treasure and a sweet cave fort for weeks if not months after that. Have you read Roughing It?
GORKY Park series by Martin Cruz Smith. I get something new each time I read over and over. Ralph Cotton series showcasing Jeston Nash and Jessie James gang. Really fun books to read....over and over
I don't think I actually finished Roughing It. The story I remember best is the one about the cat. That was damn funny.
I've left Melville's Moby Dick uncompleted as well. Interesting obverse eh? What books have you left unfinished?
Most recently I've decided not to bother finishing A Visit From The Goon Squad. Won the 2011 Pulitzer for Fiction and it sucks. I usually put some stock in Pulitzers, but there are exceptions unfortunately. American Pastoral is a wicked good read as is Lonesome Dove. A Confederacy of Dunces sucks though Ha, interesting, Tales of the South Pacific is listed as the 1st Pulitzer in fiction, 1948. This wasn't a work of fiction, it was a fictionalized history, uh, wait, so was American Pastoral and Lonesome Dove. Interesting.
I re-read Call of the Wild. Mostly because it was the first novel I ever read and it was for a book report. I figured it might be better if it wasn't for a project. I was right
Ernest Hemingway said that Huckleberry Finn was the Great American Novel. The Meditations were the 19th century's goto manual for manhood. Every boy was given a copy and told to read it daily, usually just before retiring
The only book I can think of that I read twice is Lord of the Rings. I don't read much fiction though.
...and prolific. I've still not read all the Discworld books. I prefer Adams but he only wrote about 8 books. 5 in the Hitchhiker trilogy a couple of Dirk Gently's and The Meaning of Lif.
Curious, when did you suspect Halbrand was Sauron? That was exceedingly well done I think - I didn't see any of it coming, but I've never much been into predicting plots. I was mildly curiously contemplating how they would eventually tie what I knew about these events together. And then they did, crushing it. Had no clue that the Southlands were Mordor until the scene that revealed they were. Had no clue that Halbrand was Sauron until the scene with Galadriel by the river. Had no clue that smaller than a crown meant a ring. No clue that Mithril played a role and that lack of the light of the trees pressed the need for the rings. Effing Awesome, in spite of the liberties they seemingly must have taken with especially Gil-Galad and Galadriel's roles.
