Currently have “Roman Social Imaginaries: Language and Thought in the Context of Empire” sitting there, MOCKING me with its SMUGNESS, because I cracked it open, took one look, and said “Hooh boy, I’m gonna have to be in an industrious-ass mood for this one.” It’s not particularly thick in terms of length, but it’s definitely dealing with very abstract concepts.
It’s been three months, and I’ve still not found a mood ambitious and focused enough for that particular monster.
Anyone else got an end-game boss like that sitting on the shelf at the moment?
James Joyce - Ulysses. I have let it rot away in the back of my mind, because of the “prerequisite” to read the whole western canon up to the point when it was first published. While this no exactly true, I can’t help thinking this way.
Someday.
I’ve had Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon on my shelf for fourteen years!
I’ve attempted it four separate times.
I think I’ll be ready for it next year.
I’m at the same exact stage. One day I’ll do it.
The Power Broker - It’s just so f-ing big.
Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. I finally put it down after trying to read it… But I may get the audiobook sometime to see if that helps
Its a thick book and beautifully written but I felt like it was slog.
I read the first book of Tu Rostro Mañana (your face tomorrow) in 2021 I think. It was great but very dense (at some point I counted 10 pages on my phone without a full stop). The second book is supposed to be even worse about this but has better reviews overall. Still trying to find the best time to start it.
People’s History of the United States. It’s been at least a year since I picked it up, I’ll get through a chapter over a few sessions and then have to put it down for a while. It’s dense and depressing so I take it in small bits
It’s also… questionable scholarship.
