The Long and the Short of It
April 13th, 2008 bhenricksenThe older I get, the more I value short novels. It’s a ratio thing. When I sit down to read, I wonder what percentage of my remaining life will be devoted to the book that is now in my hands. And what percentage of that remaining life am I willing to live vicariously? In college we read War and Peace, a hundred pages a week for nine or ten weeks. I read it all and was impressed with myself. Last year I decided to read it again, just to see how the characters were doing. The second reading was simply a chore. Tolstoy had become long winded–all that theory-of-history stuff! All that editorializing! And Pierre . . . how did Professor Ramsland ever convince us that Pierre was an interesting fellow? Or had Pierre simply become plump and boring from dozing there on my bookshelf all those years? If I were in the book bizz today, I’d put out an edited version of War and Peace–all the lame theorizing would go, and definitely Pierre would be off the team. Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark? I don’t think so–it would be War and Peace without the dumb guy. Read the rest of this entry »
