Guest Bloggers on Recent Reads and "Great Book" Guilt

Here are a few guest voices for this Sunday evening's post.

The first is a book recommendation from my friend Andrew, who wrote in about his recent favorite book:

I just finished Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It's one of the most unique, thoughtful books I've read in a while and I'd highly recommend it. He just published a new book called Black Swan Green about a 13 year old boy growing up in exburban England in the 80's. It's also quite good, particularly if, like me, you were a suburban kid growing up in the mid-80's.

The second is a post from my friend Tuvana about guilt over not reading The Great Books that we all think we should read:

Speaking of starting books, I was feeling virtuous for picking up the serious novel The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. I hesitated to start it, given that it had several elements that turned me off: stream of consciousness narrating, a time ('50s) and place (Poland? Germany?) that were not that interesting to me, and 588 pages. Plus the blurb said it was about a dwarf in an insane asylum with a tin drum (literally). But I opened it anyway, since it came highly recommended by a good friend. The first 38 pages went well and I congratulated myself for staying the course through the part about the 1890's grandmother's four skirts in a potato field in Poland.  But then two visitors came to the asylum and I had to force myself through that page. I feel defeated and intellectually lazy for putting this book back on the shelf. But how far should we push ourselves to read the Great Books? I live with a certain degree of guilt for not reading more serious fiction, and it usually gets the better of me after I have read a particularly unsatisfying piece of fluff (most recently a mystery by Peter Robinson - not recommended). Once in a while I actually make it through a Great Book, like Howard's End two years ago.

Questions: Does anyone else have Great Book guilt?  And how can I get over my guilt?

Thank you, Andrew and Tuvana, for your contributions. I will return tomorrow with thoughts on Tom Perotta.

Comments

[Rachel]

I agree - Cloud Atlas is one of the best fiction books I've read in years. The construction and the vastly different styles Mitchell uses for each character are masterful. But, you need to get through the first 50 pages before you can really enjoy it.