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Home > ATLarts > Archives > 2008 > June > 09 > Entry
Size Matters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s summer beach book season, and I’m guessing that some of you out there have big plans. There’s a certain species of reader who loves to think about tackling a really long and/or really difficult book over the summer.
Maybe it’s at the beach. Maybe a house in the mountains. Maybe it’s while staying in a penthouse suite in Vegas. OK, not so likely on that one.
But I’m guessing that for many of us, the plan and the execution don’t always match up. We say we’re going to finally read “Madame Bovary” during that two weeks in the mountains, but when we come back, the only thing we’ve knocked off was a Ken Follett paperback and a couple of Land’s End catalogs.
But there’s something about the pull of the really big book. Joe Queenan wrote a column last weekend in the New York Times titled “Jumbo Lit” that took a slightly different tack, getting engrossed in a really long book as a way of avoiding other responsibilities. That struck me as more Queenan’s own peccadillo rather than a universal one, but who knows?
So with the beach beckoning, let’s talk big books. Do you have plans for some big reading project this summer? Or is there a book you’ve been telling yourself for years you are going to read, but it’s just too darn big? Your own personal Moby-Dick of literature, as it were?
Let us know.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment | Categories: Books
Comments
By Jeff
June 9, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this
Well, my plans are simply to keep up with my goal of reading at LEAST 53 books this year (I’m right around 25 or so, I think).
I’ve got one book lined up that will more than likely be completed within 48-72 hours of me getting it (Lee Child’s latest, Nothing to Lose), and there are several in my queue right now that I haven’t gotten to, so it looks like I should be pretty good!
By Sheila
June 9, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this
At the beginning of the year, I started keeping a list of books I’ve read. I’ve never taken a speed reading course, but do read fast. So far this year, I’ve read 73 books, most fiction, several non-fiction. I read by author mostly, having just read 3 books by Jody Piccoult and started on Diana Gabaldon’s last book in her Outlander Series. Sometimes, I just pick up a book based on what the cover says. I look forward to reading the second Ken Follett book. I go through phases….sometimes not reading at all, then like last weekend, I hit the library and check out 4 books, 3 of which I’ve finished. Obviously, I love to read and enjoy this column as a reference to new authors and books to read! Thanks, Phil and all the bloggers.
By Maria
June 9, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
I need to finish writing my book by the end of the summer. I’ve been working on it for nearly two years now, and it’s time to tie everything together and get it out on submission. Last summer was a good writing season for me, and I’m hoping this summer is the same.
I had thought about re-attempting Infinite Jest sometime soon, or picking up a Pynchon book, but I think I’ll save those for another time. My reading goal is to get acquainted with some of those “I can’t believe I’ve never read _!” authors — Edith Wharton, John Irving, Ursula K. LeGuin, Jane Austen. How can I be a self-respecting 28-year-old female book nerd without ever having read a Jane Austen novel?
By Tim
June 9, 2008 9:31 AM | Link to this
Thomas Pynchon’s Against The Day has been taunting me from my reading pile since I got it for Christmas two years ago. Maybe this summer…
By 30YearsIn
June 9, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this
Summer time is definitely reading time for me! I love to read but don’t have much free time for it during the school year. (There’s always papers to grade at night!) I purchased a stack of books from my favorite used book store a few days ago so I’m set for the beach and the rest of the summer!
By Me
June 9, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this
Both my teen-age kids will be away for most of the summer working on their grandparents farm, teaching them some some lessons in life. I plan on reading whinning, crybaby letters from them wanting to come home and sleep all day, stay up all night and eat everythig in sight and not lift a hand to help anyone. Then I plan on putting the letters in the recycle container and enjoy my days without them for a while longer. Ahhh life is good!
By OldSchool
June 9, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
I treated myself to “Gormenghast” when I started the industry certification process for my program. Now that we are certified, I’m setting aside time to read my treat straight through. I loved the BBC series and just know the book will be even better! After that, I’m rereading the Harry Potter series just for the fun of it.
By Kate
June 9, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this
I’m taking two classes this summer, so I’ll be reading torturous textbooks. Sigh.
I’m finishing up Snow by Orhan Pamuk. It’s a little slow, but the writing is excellent. The different ways he uses snow as a metaphor—of the political condition in Turkey and as a poetic muse—is interesting.
Maria—I’m not a big Jane Austen fan. But then again, the only book I read of hers is Emma. I didn’t think I’d ever get through it. However, I thought the movie version of it (Clueless) was awesome!
I would love to know what people like about Austen. She seems like a show-off to me Look at my fancy sentences :)
By Joyce
June 9, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
I’m the exact opposite. I love to curl up with the big, complex books in winter. In summer, it is all about emptying my light read basket before September. Summer is for paperbacks that can be carried anywhere.
By MrLiberty
June 9, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
The Revolution - A Manifesto
by Ron Paul.
If you can come away understanding what he says and how it impacts you then you will finally understand liberty, why this country was founded, what it will take to restore freedom in this country, and how far we have let our worthless elected officials take us from the greatness we once enjoyed. This is a book worth buying a dozen of to give to friends.
Face it, republican or democrat, neither is going to have a candidate worth voting for. With this bookl at least you will have the ammuniction to make the case for freedoml once sicialism and fascism have destroyed this country.
By erinanne
June 9, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this
I don’t get involved in long books as much as I get involved in a series of books. If I fall in love with a character, I want to read everything I can about them, and have been known to run to Barnes and Noble at 10:30 at night just to pick up the next book.
Kate, I too am not an Austen fan. I struggled through the first half of Pride and Prejudice, and then finally put it down. She couldn’t keep my attention nor get me to care for any of her characters.
By Kat
June 10, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
I have to do so much job-related reading that I’m using my spare time this summer to read what I want. On average I read 3-4 books per week. Much of the reading that I do for work is fiction, and a lot of it is very good. I definitely enjoy it, but the fact is, the books are not of my choosing. So I have a pile of light weight mysteries and “beach read” novels that I picked out myself, and they will be my priorities this summer. I want to turn off the part of my brain that analyzes plot devices, character development, pacing, etc. and just enjoy the stories for what they are. Of course, at some point I’m going to have to get back to the stacks of professional reading, but I’ll try not to think about that yet!
By Matt
June 11, 2008 6:00 AM | Link to this
I don’t really schedule longer books for any particular time of the year. Since I don’t have kids, seasons don’t really mean that much for me. So instead, I put books on my plate as I feel like reading them.
I’m in the same boat as erinanne, where I get engrossed in a series, instead of one particular book. The four main series I want to tackle next are:
1) Kevin J Anderson’s Saga of Seven Suns
2) Robin Hobb’s Soldier Son Trilogy
3) James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club series.
4) Steven Erikson’s Malazan Empire of the Fallen
I’m hitting a lot of standalone books currently, so maybe it’s time I start a series again. But I dont really have a schedule for when I’ll knock these back.