Finishing Skills
I have this odd (or is it?) habit of starting to read a new book before finishing the one that I have been reading then. Its quite usual for me to be reading two or three books at the same time . Usually I'll end up having one book for the lazy mood, one for the alert mood, and one for the inspired mood.
By the way, I'm a very slow reader and sometimes very disloyal to books. I abandon many midway and those which I finish, I take ages to do it. That is the reason why I keep out of bibliophile gangs. Reading never comes to me naturally. Unless it is such a well written book. Classics like Idiot and Love at the time of cholera were abandoned mid way. Thats the kind of a Brutus that I'm.
But this last month or so, I have almost lost count of the books that I have left open on my table.
- Hyperspace, A scientific odyssey through parallel universes, time warps and the tenth dimension by Michio Kaku.
Source : Rajani, my student and hence no due date!
Genre: Popular Science
Status: Two parts of the four part book.
Comment : A very informative and research provoking book. - The Magical Maze by Ian Stewart.
Source : British Council Library - Already renewed thrice. Due date Aug 9, 2007.
Genre: Popular Math
Status: Into the fourth chapter. Out of eight chapters.
Comment : Informative and easy read. - A Devil's Chaplain - Selected Essays by Richard Dawkins.
Source : British Council Library - Already renewed thrice. Due date Aug 9, 2007.
Genre: Essays, Evolution.
Status: Just a few paragraphs.
Comment : Not yet. - Chaos - Kramamillayimayil Kramam (കയോസ് - ക്രമമില്ലായ്മയിലെ ക്രമം) by K. Babu Joseph
Source : Randhir Sir, my colleague and hence no due date!
Genre: Popular Science, Malayalam.
Status: Two of eight chapters.
Comment : An introductory stuff. - The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru.
Source : British Council Library - Already renewed once. Due date Aug 9, 2007.
Genre: Politics, History, Philosophy.
Status: Into fourth chapter. Out of 10.
Comment : I'm determined to finish this one. The inspiring thoughts in the book which inspired me to dream but failed at inspiring me into action have bred another blog. - Orphaned Dreams - Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. Just got it two days ago.
Source : College library, GEC Barton Hill.
Genre : Philosophy
Comment : Promising.
Dear authors, forgive this trespasser.
10 comments:
Hmmm...Interesting...The books that I left mid-way include Alchemist, Siddharta, The Prophet (similar genre) and The Class (Eric Seagal). The latter reminded me of his own Doctors that I couldn't continue any further.
Last read Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'. Have decided not to read for 2-3 weeks to allow it to sink in. Its a lovely novella!
Aah, the Discovery of India..This and the Glimpses of World History are arguably the two most neutral observations of history ever written!!!That's in my anvil, planning to buy one.
Lagey Raho!!!
"By the way, I'm a very slow reader and sometimes very disloyal to books. I abandon many midway and those which I finish, I take ages to do it. That is the reason why I keep out of bibliophile gangs."
Something I can relate to very much, there ...
And, I've never read a single classic. Don't know, why ...
Guess, I broke conventions by "writing" more than I'd "read" :)
Akhil, have you wondered why it is possible for some people to write more than what they read? - Ideas don't obey any "law of conservation". Keep writing.
Naga, Alchemist and Siddhartha are in my small list of books that I completed. I could complete alchemist because of its simplicity and stupidity and Siddhartha because of its simplicity and elegance. They are kind of diametrically opposite themes. Having a purpose vs having none. So i guess you would like at least one of them.
Prophet is one of my favorite. I'm a big admirer of Gibran. So are Biren and Divya. One of the unforgettable stories by him is Garments.
I think i too started reading The Class (May be we got hold of the same copy, for i had found it in your bangalore home on Saju's marriage eve) I didn't advance much anyway. But I was really moved by his more popular work (Love Story). "He turned and walked out of my office room and my life".
BTW, I'm progressing on Zen and the art ...
hmmmmmmmmm.. i have been leaving books midway and my roomie completing each one with a vengeance ..
Talking about love in the time of cholera.. i managed to finish it.. u didnt miss anything not completing it.. i wonder y people call it a classic.. maybe the class eluded me.. cause i jst found it. ahem.. gross...
..
hav u ever read Salman Rushdie?
No Nasia, I haven't read any of Rushdie's.
I had completed Marquez's "One hundred years of Solitude" at a pace of 1 chapter a day. I was also very much inspired by some of his short stories. I cannot explain why I like his books. But they generate a very heavy feeling that I enjoy at times.
yaa.. i knew it.. tat his class eludes me... :-)
ahem,can't help but comment when the talk is about books!
@nagasubramanian:pls try n read siddhartha.i was ready to give my heart and soul to the author (hesse)who wrote that..
@deepak sir:i found 'love in the time of cholera 'hugely put-downable too..it meandered on and on without saying much..but that was one of the rare occasions when i left a book half way,and i felt so completely guilty at being disrespectful to marquez..finally i found solace here.
'Discovery of India 'was an eye-opener for the fool in me hugely ignorant on indian history.thank god,it was part of our class 12 syllabi;nothing less would have forced me to read a piece of non-fiction then!it made me realise why 'pandit' goes so nicely with jawaharlal nehru.Doordarshan also does it part by airing the series on disovery of india(Bharath.Ek Khoj)again n again.not prime time though!
btw ,my favourite author is j.m.coetzee..
oh god!!!!!!!
thank you, it's a solace to find a fellow traveler.
at least u r better, for sometime I was only buying books and not reading it and this has made me stop buying also thinking abt those still not touched.
i has been a long long time since i've 'visited' a library!!!
seems strange....
well i've to change...if i can change from a bibliophile to lazy sloth i can transform back also....
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