I’m talking about that book you just can’t finish.
What It’s Like When You Can’t Finish a Great Book
You know you need to read it. You know it’s going to be good. But you just can’t get yourself over that slump to pick it up and get it read. Here’s why:
- Maybe it keeps eluding you.
- Maybe the language isn’t hitting you in the right emotional center.
- Maybe it’s just not what you want to be reading right now.
- Maybe you don’t have any friends dogging you to finish it so you can chat about it.
Whatever your reason, sometimes you just cannot finish a book you know you want to read.
That was me over the past 15 months attempting to read Dorothy Dunnett’s first book in the Lymond Chronicles, The Game of Kings. Please observe my live-updating on Goodreads that started in March of 2015, and finally ended this weekend: MAY 2016. I just kept looking at it on my nightstand and not picking it up. I took Lymond with me to Europe, but ended up re-reading Captive Prince instead. Something was very very wrong with me.
Everything about Lymond hit my favorite spots: fantasy; history; complicated, intelligent, witty, bisexual hero; Scotland; swash-buckling; and apparently the best historical fiction writing of all time. SO WHY COULDN’T I GET IT DONE ALREADY?
Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles was first recommended to me by my friend, Cathy, who told me one day when we’d had a long discussion about Outlander and big Russian novels, that I absolutely HAD to pick it up. She was sure that I would love it. Cathy is smart, well-educated, and whip-quick witty, so I really trust her judgement on good writing. I promised her I would read it. In fact, I ordered it shortly thereafter. But it sat on my shelf. Sat and sat and stared at me.
And of course once you know about an author, you tend to start seeing their name or their novels pop up every bookish place you already frequent on the internet. I started noticing that other authors I loved talked about her as an influence. She was on Book Lists that I was interested in. Then I came across this NPR piece entitled All the Writers You Love Probably Love Dorothy Dunnett, which turned out to be very true, especially because she held such a prominent place in many fantasy writers’ lists of influence. It seemed all of the sudden like all my favorite fantasy writers owed her a writing debt: CS Pacat, Diana Gabaldon, Lynn Flewelling, Scott Lynch. This solidified for me Dunnett’s shining place of pride on my bookshelf: IF ONLY I COULD GET IT READ.
How It Feels to Finish It
Well, reader, I finished The Game of Kings. Little by little, I devoured Lymond’s tale, and I finally turned the last page this weekend on our end-of-the-school year camping trip. I conquered myself. I skewered my white whale and it felt AMAZING. But along the way, it felt like other things. Here’s a summary.
When Some Random Friend on Goodreads Mentions How Long It’s Been on Your Currently Reading Shelf
Talking to Myself in the Mirror, Book in Hand
Sidenote: #HairGoals
When I’m Making My Bed and I Find It Under the Mattress
When I Pick Up a Regency M/M Romance Instead
When I Realize That Even Though I Can’t Finish This One, I’ve Still Read 50 Books More Than Everyone Else This Year
When Bed Beats Book
When Someone Asks Me How My Reading of It is Going
When I Turned the Last Page
When I Finally Update the Book on Goodreads as “READ”
When the Book is Just As Good As I Knew It was Going to Be
Everyone was right. The Game of Kings was fantastic. I’m so glad I read it. It took me longer than a year, but I have no regrets. And now it’s time for the rest of the Lymond Chronicles. BRING IT, DOROTHY.
featured image art by Kate Beaton
What book was your white whale? Did you finally conquer it? Was it everything you wanted it to be?
