Status Updates From The Tidewater Tales

It was one of the very few books in my life I didn’t finish. It stuck with it for 100 pages which was about 20%. The tedious and rambling tale just never took off.

Looks like I’m not finishing this one in April.

I’m ready for this to end, but I’m also really loving the final few sections.

Home stretch! Somehow this one is taking me about 3 times as long as Ulysses did a few months ago.

This was faltering a bit at the midpoint, but it has picked up again and I’m still really enjoying it. Can’t believe how slowly I’m moving through it, it just doesn’t lend itself to many pages at a time.

Loved the CIA stuff in today’s chapter. It’s like Barth is giving samples of all these other novels he never wrote.

We’re in full effect now.

I was not looking forward to this section (it’s an extended sequel to Homer’s Odyssey), but it’s actually one of the more interesting stories in the book so far. This one is just getting better and better as it goes.

Still moving slow with this one, but slow feels like an appropriate pace for the story it tells. Barth’s love for storytelling is on full display and so far it feels like he’s just basking in that, letting the wind take things where it will.

I didn’t read much today, but I loved what little I read.

Besides Sot-Weed, Barth’s longer novels haven’t been my favorites. So far I’m loving this one though, so hopefully it changes things