Someday I'll Read That...
What novel did you put off reading for a long time? You wanted to read it, and maybe you started it once, twice, or more, but for whatever reason just couldn't get into it, maybe the length intimidated you, or the subject matter, and then finally you read it and was floored by how good it was and you wished you had read it way back when. What novel is that?
date
newest »
newest »
Funny you mention Peter Straub, Charlene. For me, it was Floating dragon by Straub. I started it twice back in the mid-80s when I was in high school, got intimidated by the style, and put it down for decades, always in the back of my mind thinking someday...someday.... I finally picked it up last year and read it and it's now one of my favorite novels.
Concerning Ghost Story for me, I read Straub's Shadowland in high school, was aware of Ghost Story and the rave reviews it got, told myself I should read it, and never picked it up until decades later when I finally read it about three years ago. I was sorry I had waited so long. What a marvelous read it was.
I absolutely LOVED Shadowland too. I'm a sucker for stories that feature magicians.
I need to re-read both Shadowland and Ghost Story, sometime soon. I'm afraid that my memories of them will be destroyed if I don't enjoy the books this time around. Which must sound strange to you, I know. :)
Know what? Doesn't sound strange at all. In fact, that may be a great subject for another blog post. I was talking the other day with a friend who enjoys the same books I do (King, McCammon, etc.) and we talked about this very thing--rereading books many years later, and not liking them as much. I forgot which book he mentioned, but for me it was King's The Stand which I read back in the early 80s when I was in junior high. It took me almost an entire school year to read that thing, lugging it around from class to class, stealing a read whenever I could. I reread it last year, and even though I still liked it, it wasn't exactly how I remembered it. Do we somehow embellish our memories of these books, making them to be more than they are/were? I don't know, it's funny. I think I'll make a blog post of that tomorrow.
LOL, it's good to know that some people do understand such a thing.I will be on the lookout for your post about it. :)
Third time was the charm. :)