'Life-changing' books that left you cold

[Profpointy]

THe book was great but the film managed to miss out 2 of the 3 main events

Yebbutt Natasha Kinski does get her kit off which is the main thing

 

[hopless500]

Yebbutt Natasha Kinski does get her kit off which is the main thing

Hmmm

 

[Profpointy]

Loved 1984 and Animal Farm (I seem to like the dark totalitarian stuff)...Keep the Aspidistra Flying left me well and truly cold.
Must re-read The Clergymans Daughter...
Anything by Dickens. I seriously tried, I remember picking one up and thinking I must be missing something so I tried. Gave up 1/4 the way through.

whilst Aspidistra and Clergyman's daughter are well written and moving, they are rather bleak and sad. I most appreciated his non-fiction or semi-fiction rather than the novels, 1984 apart which is a clear masterpiece. Down and Out, Catalonia, Wigan Pier, various other essays etc ar ethe ones to go for (first) in my view

 

[growingvegetables]

Oh yeah...

The Idea of the Holy. Rudolph Otto.

Not being blown away by it nearly cost me my degree.

Passed on my well-thumbed and scribbled-on 40 year-old copy to my daughter last week; essential reading for one of her courses this semester. I only read it once, absorbed - and all these years later, it's still deeply engrained.

Must go back and reread - perhaps I've added a few ... "tweaks"

 

[growingvegetables]

Dune - Frank Herbert. Didn't get that at all. Gave up.

But ... it is SO much more fun to read if you've sat in the desert in the Empty Quarter, and actually seen lizards crossing the sand like his monsters on Arrakis. OK, they were a bit smaller.

Much smaller?

......











Quite tiny, actually; but I know where he got his idea from , and love the way he's played with it.

 

[Saluki]

But ... it is SO much more fun to read if you've sat in the desert in the Empty Quarter, and actually seen lizards crossing the sand like his monsters on Arrakis. OK, they were a bit smaller.

Much smaller?

......











Quite tiny, actually; but I know where he got his idea from , and love the way he's played with it.

I read it - or started to read it - because a BF nagged and nagged and went on about how fabulous it was. Not a fan of the film either, so it was a bit of a non-starter. I know it's supposed to be amazing, insightful etc but it wasn't my cup of Darjeeling.

 

[Davos87]

The French Lieutenants Woman by John Fowls.
Felt like I had been reading it since he was a corporal

 

[Dayvo]

Ice Cold in Alex left me thirsty.

Very good, actually, as was the film.

 

[John the Monkey]

Anything by Douglas Adams aside from the HHGTTG trilogy.

I always get the feeling that Adams was more interested in the jokes, than in combining them into a narrative. (Although I've enjoyed HHGTTG when I've read them, there are none I feel anxious to go back to).

 

[John the Monkey]

Hardy is regarded as an author of classics, so while it's all subjective, I am out-numbered by people who read many more novels than me.

I really like Hardy - that idea of character equalling destiny finds an echo in the noir of James M. Cain et al, other fairly miserable narratives about poor sods trapped by fate that I really enjoy too