Postponing the Inevitable

[ladysprite]

It's late-ish in the evening, and I'm sitting here playing silly games on my computer in a desperate attempt to avoid what is waiting for me in the next room. Of course, this is incredibly ridiculous, since the awaiting torment is self-imposed, and by avoiding it I am, in fact, also postponing my own reward.

Last week I was very bad. I fell off the Laurell K. Hamilton bandwagon. It wasn't my fault, honestly. But I've gone through every decent unabridged book on tape my library has to offer, and I found that they have most of the Anita Blake series on tape available through Interlibrary Loan. Every one, in fact, except the one after the last one I read. And so, of course, I had to borrow that missing book and read it, not for its own sake, but so I could have amusing listening material for my summer drives to and from work.

The book is just as bad as I remember the rest of the series being. Trite, tawdry, self-indulgent, and full of some of the weakest and most unnecessary self-justification and excuse-making I have ever seen committed to paper, but still somehow vaguely entertaining enough for me to have read my way through a shameful amount of the series. And I can work my way through this one, with the assurance from friends that the series eventually does improve.

Everything was fine, as a matter of fact, until I started browsing through Barnes and Noble this weekend and found the new Charles DeLint hardcover.

I'm fairly particular about books. I can read more than one book at a time, and I have, but I much prefer to read one book start-to-finish before starting in on another. It's a lot like finishing dinner before starting dessert; I want to appreciate each thing on its own merits, and wallow in it, and experience every detail of it, rather than splitting my attention. I also don't like to quit books halfway through - if I start something, I should be tenacious enough to finish it.

And so now the Laurell Hamilton novel has transformed from 'something amusing and entertaining, in a mock-worthy way' to 'that obstacle between me and several hundred pages of exquisite urban fantasy by my favoritest author ever.' It is so much wilted, overcooked literary spinach, and even though there is delicious DeLint dessert waiting for me after I soldier on through it, I have been obstinately dragging my heels and avoiding it from sheer frustration ever since. The fact that this is not bringing me any closer to the new book is not lost on me, but somehow doesn't matter to the part of my brain devoted to avoidance behavior.

One more game of Spider Solitaire, then maybe I'll tackle another chapter....

Comments

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I used to feel that way about having to finish a book once I'd started it. Somewhere along the line -- I'm not exactly sure when or why -- my viewpoint shifted. There's not enough time in my life to read all the things I want to read; why should I waste valuable reading time on a book I don't like?

It still takes a fair amount of awfulness for me to stop reading a book altogether -- sometimes I just take a break from it and go read something different for a few days and then come back -- but if I'm really not enjoying the book, I no longer hesitate to say, "I'm not spending any more time on this, it's not worth it." I've put aside a couple of mystery series for that reason, usually when the protagonist irks me to the point of making me grumpy for an hour after I've put the book down. No fiction book is worth that!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

My sympathies, I also hate to put down a book unfinished... but in this case maybe you should set it aside and let yourself read the other book first.

[laurion]

I know the feeling. I tend to read books the same way. Once in a while though, I've given up on a book so I can get on to more interesting material. Maybe I have less willpower. I try to justify it by admitting how little time I have to read these days, and allowing myself to choose quality over quantity.

But that's just an excuse. :)

[mneme]

I think I actually became a lot happier once I started being willing to abandon books (and it's saved me from a lot of bad read experiences). Of course, I -do- sometimes want to find out what happens -and- really don't want to slog through a book (at which point, it gets the skim treatment, something I reserve for very few books indeed).

Naturally, however, not everyone is me.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

I don't share your opinion of Laurell K., but I understand the feeling.

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly being a little more harsh on Ms. H. than I probably should be. I'm never sure whether I love to hate her books, or hate the fact that I love them. :)

I keep meaning to email you, by the way - I did finish 'Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,' and I thought it was utterly fascinating; thank you for recommending it. Sometime when we're actually in the same general area and not pretending to be other people, I'd love to talk about it.... it's the sort of book, at least to me, that begs to be discussed.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

that would be nice...

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

sadly, I got tired of the victorian rigmarole half way through and haven't been able to pick it up again. What's the new de Lint? I can't go around with an incomplete de Lint collection (well, except for the stuff that's out of print that I haven't been able to beg, borrow or steal, like The Faire at Emain Macha). I liked the first 4 or 5 anita blake books, but they seem to be basically the same storyline with more powers and more lovers after that. Oh, well.