Reading a long book is a bit like being trapped on a deserted island. You can't get off until you have properly built and tested the damn boat you made out of coconuts and sap. Sure, you could leave before you've made sure it's seaworthy, but you'll probably just sink without knowing just how good that boat could have been.
The point is that you don't want to leave that island half way through the book. This is a very aggravating place to be. Sure, your grandpa might think he is wise when he says, "Oh, but it's all down hill from here, sonny!" What a load of crap. Being at the exact middle of a book simply means you have to do exactly the same amount of stuff that it took you to get there... one more time.
Even if the book is good, you're still bloody obligated to finish it at this point. Throwing it away now would be an absolute crime. You're here for the rest of that journey, and there's nothing you can do about it other than just die. Yeah, that's what it feels like. To a reader that has read any good book half way through, stopping feels like death. So many unanswered questions! It's horrible!
When I turn the book on its side and see the bookmark sticking right out of the middle, I cannot help but scowl. All that work, and all you did was move that far? You couldn't be a quarter ways to the finish, could you? No? Guess you didn't love me after all. Next time, I'm using a different bookmark, you traitor.
It is also about this time that I am fiddling with the idea of what book I will read next, but it's often too bothersome to out rightly decide. What if I choose one that I get really interested in? All that means is I have half a giant book just to get to the fist chapter of the new one. No. I can't bear it! It's too much! I'm trapped on this island until I can properly get this boat in proper order. Nothing else will do.
And, once again, grandpa really didn't understand anything about books. Half way doesn't mean down hill. It means you're about to make the ultimate climb. Things are about to get hard and rocky for me. This is the part of the book that separates the men from the boys. I have to do this. There's no other way off this island. I have to keep reading.
This blog was written on July 27, 2022.
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As a writer, I have come to realize that a very long book can usually be more than one book. I do not mean as volumes of the same story, mind you. The distinct ideas can be told separately, as their own distinct stories.
ReplyDeleteJust so I'm clear, I actually experience this even with shorter books. It's only magnified by books being larger. I always have an intense desire to finish any book I read and it usually kicks in a few chapters in. It's just how I have always experienced books, but I always keep coming back for more.
DeleteBetrayed by a bookmark... haha. Indeed half way doesn't mean downhill. You aren't coasting downhill until after the climax, the resolution ties it all together.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I go through so many bookmarks.
DeleteI tend to focus on what I am reading until I am finished. There are circumstances which necessitate starting on a second book, but I can always come back to the first one. I try to avoid reading more than one at a time.
ReplyDeleteThree. Three. It's got to be three.
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