Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
Just finished Great Expectations, and this is the first book where my reading method has been a problem. The trouble is that I'm a speed-reader - I can comfortably read at 1200 wpm on a screen, with around 80-85% recall. However, something about Dickens' style made this tricky, which is why it's taken me somewhat longer than the books I've read so far. However, I found myself enjoying the book more as it went on, and would suppose that this is partially due to acclimatisation to the language.
Great Expectations is a book in three parts. The first part, I found to be heavy going, with a very changeable pace. Also, some characters were developed in minute detail, whilst others were only skimmed across - this jarred somewhat with me. However, as I moved into the second and third parts, I started to enjoy it. I've never been a Dickens fan before, but after seeing how cleverly he's conceived this story, I will have to try some of his other stuff. The way in which he ties up all the threads together is excellent; the plot twists and turns but never feels forced. The execution is not always equal to the concept though, but obviously, the age of the book means that it has a very different style, and it may be just that I'm not used to it.
I'll give this a 7. That's mostly for the concept and story, though I did start to appreciate the style more towards the end.
Something more modern next, I think. Not that there's many really modern books on the list. On The Road, by Jack Kerouac looks suitably different, so I'll give that a go, I think.
Great Expectations is a book in three parts. The first part, I found to be heavy going, with a very changeable pace. Also, some characters were developed in minute detail, whilst others were only skimmed across - this jarred somewhat with me. However, as I moved into the second and third parts, I started to enjoy it. I've never been a Dickens fan before, but after seeing how cleverly he's conceived this story, I will have to try some of his other stuff. The way in which he ties up all the threads together is excellent; the plot twists and turns but never feels forced. The execution is not always equal to the concept though, but obviously, the age of the book means that it has a very different style, and it may be just that I'm not used to it.
I'll give this a 7. That's mostly for the concept and story, though I did start to appreciate the style more towards the end.
Something more modern next, I think. Not that there's many really modern books on the list. On The Road, by Jack Kerouac looks suitably different, so I'll give that a go, I think.