I checked out several books from the library, that had been on my to-read list for a while. Unfortunately, a couple of them just didn't make the grade, as far as being worth finishing.
A number of years ago, I truly enjoyed the first books in the Stainless Steel Rat series, by Harry Harrison, which featured the master criminal, Slippery Jim diGriz, in a number of sarcastically related adventures. Once again, either the series just went on far too long, and Harrison ran out of good ideas and worthy plots, or Harrison himself went on too long, and began to lose his touch in his later efforts. The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell was about Jim and his sons, James and Bolivar, rushing to the rescue of his wife Angelina, who has been sent to Heaven, or reasonable facsimile thereof, by an con artist turned preacher. Frankly, don't bother.
I can't recall where I found the other book recommended, but I wish I could, so I'd take further recommendations with a grain of salt. Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang was advertised as a fresh, irreverent, refreshing (and probably a few other meaningless adjectives) look at the immigrant experience and success in America. I couldn't even make it past his childhood. I was far too busy raising my own children during his childhood to pay any attention to the cultural icons which he twists slightly and riffs upon, so I didn't get any of his witticisms, and the quips I did comprehend were mostly rude, crude, and simply unacceptable. Couldn't keep pressing on, sorry.
2 comments:
One of the joys of so many books being available these days is that I no longer feel guilty about not finishing bad ones. Or, if I've paid for it, tossing really bad ones right into the garbage.
PH - I never feel real good about paying for something that's not worth reading. Thank the Lord for public libraries! There may be something satisfying, however, in tossing a bad book in the garbage, or perhaps turning it into a tiki torch.
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