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Wednesday reading experience #41

Read THAT book.

You know the one I mean: the one every one of your friends has read, or the one you promised someone you would read, or the one that you want to have read but don’t particularly want to read, or the one that you have desperately wanted to read just about for ever but haven’t because it daunts you because of its size or its reputation.

THAT book can be just about any book ranging from Twilight to War and Peace, so I would love to hear what you would choose and for which of the above reasons.

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When I have finished my current reading challenges I am planning to tackle a tome that is the embodiment of THAT book for many people: James Joyce's Ulysses. I want to do this to challenge my prejudices about Joyce, whose short stories were apt to put me to sleep when I was studying him in modern literature at college. It is also one of those books that any literary snob worth her salt wants to have read, and I dearly want to be able, when said snobs start talking about Ulysses, to be able to tell if they have really read it or if they are pretending. Evil of me, maybe, but just think of the possibilities for pulling one over on a lit snob. The particular snobs I have in mind find my taste in detective novels and romances deplorable, and I would love to challenge their prejudices about romance and mystery readers.

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It has occurred to me that I shouldn't be calling this feature reading experiences, but rather reading prompts, but I guess it's too late to change it now. If I decide to continue it next year I'll probably rename it.
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Geetali said…
Ha-ha, you just reminded me that I'd promised friends to read Kiran Desai's "Inheritance Of Loss". As with your prejudice of Joyce, I have one against Indian writing in English: it's silly, pretentious and just downright mediocre at times. This prejudice has stopped me from looking at what might be some good writing!
October 15, 2009 5:19 am
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