This that and the other thing...

[shadowkat]

1. The New Avenger's Trailer - Endgame is finally out...

Avenger's Endgame Trailer and yes, every news organization on the planet has already analyzed it to death. It will air in April. I really want to see this one, Captain Marvel, and Dark Phoenix.

Also want to see the new flick "VICE" which is written by the guy who did the Big Short and Moneyball, and stars Christian Bale (Dick Cheney), Sam Rockwell (George W. Bush), Steven Carroll (Rumsfield), Amy Adams (Mrs. Cheney), and Tyler Perry (Colin Powell).

2. The joy of not finishing books that you don't like

Not enjoying that book you’re reading?

Quit. It’s okay. You’re allowed to do it.

Just quit.

I can already feel some readers seething with rage at this idea. Lucky for me, this group is now required by their own solemn values to read through the entirety of my argument. They can’t leave if they’re not enjoying it. This whole piece is now a hostage situation.

But there’s a reason to my madness.

There are a lot of books and we are but mortals. You simply will not read every book in your lifetime. As The Twilight Zone teaches, even if you are the final person on Earth with nothing but time to read, the powerful forces of dramatic irony will ensure your glasses fall to the floor and shatter. We have to accept that when we walk away from this life, we will each leave behind a number of books that, had we ever flicked through their pages, could have had a profound effect on our lives. That’s sad to imagine but it’s a fact of life. It also makes every second you spend wasting your time on a novel that doesn’t grab you entirely unconscionable.

I am not saying you shouldn’t persist with a book because it’s difficult at first. Sometimes overcoming that initial struggle is what makes a story beautiful. Slowly a world is unlocked to you as you move from decoding a story to coming along for the ride. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the moment we all know too well when you’re three hundred pages deep, you’ve tried time and time again to engage with the text and yet you still don’t care in the slightest about these people and their problems.

Wholeheartedly agree.

The number of books that I DNF (Did Not Finish) this year are legion, and Good Reads counts them towards the number I've read this year in total. I find that hilarious. It's counting books that I did not finish as read. Hee. So, in reality, I have not read 31 books this year, I've read 20, and didn't finish about eleven. I love the fact that Good Reads counts them anyhow.

Somewhere around my mid-thirties, I stopped finishing books that I did not like. It was so freeing. I just gave myself permission. There are a lot of literary books that I have not finished as a result of this decision.

If I'm not compelled by the characters in some way or aren't curious about what happens next, I won't finish the book or stick with it. I'm no longer in school, no longer an English Lit major, no one cares if I finish a book or not. I actually think that's why I gave up on Book Clubs, I got tired of forcing myself to read and finish books I did not like. Had to do that in school. Don't now.

3. Wait, The Good Place had another episode and isn't through for the Season? I honestly thought the one prior to Thanksgiving, when they fall into the Boundless Void with Janet (okay fall may be the wrong word, more like leaped) was the fall season finale.

I'm going to have to go watch that episode before the internet spoils me on it. It's trying. I'm ignoring it. I'm very good at avoiding spoilers on the internet, and finding spoilers on the internet, the result of years and years of practice.

4. In other more personally related news...


My Dad is on the mend, they took out the catheter and are moving towards just using it to empty the bladder. And they are determined to make his bladder work. They've also advised him to get up and move around as much as possible -- since this will help. My mother says this is the best news they've received in weeks. Fingers crossed that it continues to improve. Also I sent my father a tin of 120 bite sized Mrs. Fields Cookies for his birthday, he was quite happy about this. My mother has nicknamed my father - the cookie monster. He loves his cookies. Poor man can no longer drink alcohol or smoke, he has to have something. Also he's skinny. I thought I should get him something healthier like nuts, but decided, to go with the cookies. They are made fresh and specially wrapped in the tin.

They arrived today. Dad turns 83 on Sunday.

Comments

[shadowkat]

I admit it used to be tough for me to quit reading books that I had a good start on. There were, of course, books (usually from the library) that I'd read a page or two and decide: nope. But with books (mostly works of Literature with a capital L) I thought I was supposed to like, I'd keep churning on even though with my version of dyslexia it was less a matter of actual reading than occasionally turning pages with very little idea of what my eyes had passed over.

Felt much the same way. Although it took me far longer to figure out that I didn't have to finish books that weren't holding my attention.

I think part of it is the whole "these are the best books of the year, you should read all of them!" And I finally thought, "why should I read all of them? And best books of the year according to whom exactly? A bunch of people I've never heard of, don't know, or care to?"

It's almost as if people make reading a badge of honor -- and they quantify books...you've read this many, or you've read "these" books - so you get this many points. Takes away from the whole enjoyment of reading. And there's this assumption you can only enjoy or learn something from one type of book, etc. When that's not true -- enjoyment and learning is an individual and subjective thing. It's what the reader happens to be curious about or an issue that reader is struggling with.

I had the same problem with movies. It took a long time to realize it was all right to walk out, if it bored me to tears.

I have never walked out on a movie. Which is odd. But I've never felt compelled to. Although I admittedly came close during Speed 2 and Batman and Robin (the George Clooney, Arnold Schweznegger, and Chris O'Donnell flop). I also came very close to doing it during Moulin Rouge (because it was giving me a headache -- watching that film was akin to being stuck in an elevator with a mariachi band or possibly a circus.

Have fallen asleep during a couple on television. And I'm more willing to give up on something on TV than something I've paid for. If I pay for it, I feel inclined to watch it for some reason. I'm actually more willing to give up on a book I've paid for than a movie. I wonder if it's because I had to get up and walk and take a train and walk, and pay, and find a seat...that makes me feel the need to see the movie through? In the case of Speed 2 and Batman and Robin, it had more to do with the fact that it was 100 degrees outside, my apartment did not have air-conditioning at that time, and the movie theater did. (LOL!)

But I totally understand what you're stating, because I've done the same things.

And, yes it's boredom that will make me quit reading (or watching) quicker than just being outright bad. I finished the worst book I can remember reading.

I just finished a horrible romance novel that I complained about. And I read about ten urban fantasy novels which ended up becoming an outlandish television series on HBO that were among the worst written books that I've ever read, about ten years ago. While I still, to this day, cannot make it through Don Quixote. (I can't decide if its the translation (which was highly praised), the story, or the character? Possibly all three. (shrugs) Have had a similar issue with the highly praised Americanha and the biography of Alexander Hamilton.)

[cactuswatcher]

I wonder if I like Moulin Rouge more than some people do because I watched it at home and had control of the volume. I can see that it could give people headaches at full theater volume.

The first time I walked out on a movie was at college. (The university showed not-so-old movies on Sunday evenings for free in one of the big auditoriums.) It was a so-so rom-com and I was with a friend who got really antsy and finally insisted on leaving. It did bother me to leave. I didn't think it was that bad and would have stayed if I'd been by myself. As the evening went on I realized I hadn't missed much by not seeing any more. But yes, I've since then walked out on a couples movies I paid for. Can't remember the titles. I think one was an artsy pile of crap, and the other was a mainstream movie that just seemed like a waste of time.

[shadowkat]

Moulin Rouge works better on television, I think. I've seen it on tv, not quite as bad. Too busy for the movie theater -- and too loud.