Reading List

I was in a book club last year--well, really, just the first half of the year. We picked a few decent books to read--like the Red Tent, the Kite Runner--okay, so it was just a couple. I may have read another good one through them but I can't recall. But most of the selections were annoying. How can a book be annoying you ask? Well, the plots were predictable and the characters just weren't intriguing enough, or I was turned off by the title so I didn't bother with the book. I know, I know, you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but if I don't even find the title interesting, why should I bother with the rest of the book? Anyway, recently a friend brought a book back for me from another country. And shortly thereafter another friend asked me what I thought of the book so far. The following words slipped out: Well, it's just not that well written. In response my friend said, okay you've got to stop being so critical--what do you think of the story? And on went our conversation.

But, it got me thinking. Am I being too critical? What is it exactly that makes me say "It's just not that well written." I am not by any means a great writer myself so what expertise am I basing this criticism on? Does a book have to be well written for it to be enjoyable? I know many people who read romance novels just for the hell of it--and I don't know that either of the above-mentioned books are particularly "well-written" but they tell great stories. So, is reading anything a good thing or just reading quality books? Well, contrary to popular belief, I don't have all the answers.

However, one of my new year's resolutions was to read some of the classics. The one that I've started is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I haven't gotten very far into the book--it tends to be a little bit of a slow read even though it is captivating. From what I've read so far, I have to agree with one of Amazon's editor's description: In Madame Bovary Flaubert never allows anything to go on too long; he can suggest years of boredom in a paragraph, capture the essence of a character in a single conversational exchange, or show us the gulf between his soulful heroine and her dull-witted husband in a sentence (and one that, moreover, presages all Emma's later experience of men).

So, I guess what makes a well-written book is when you know the author has chosen each and every word carefully to get across his/her point across. I suppose that's what makes the classics the classics--they're not only well-written but tell great stories and develop characters that stick in one's mind. I hope one day I can be as meticulous about the words I choose to write as some of the great ones out there!