Thursday, October 02, 2008

Booking It and Eye Boogers

"Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those, who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear, which is inherent in a human condition" - Graham Greene

Haven't booked it in awhile, so thought I'd get back in...



What, in your opinion, is the best book that you haven’t liked? Mind you, I don’t mean your most-hated book–oh, no. I mean the most accomplished, skilled, well-written, impressive book that you just simply didn’t like.

Like, for movies–I can acknowledge that Citizen Kane is a tour de force and is all sorts of wonderful, cinematically speaking, but . . . I just don’t like it. I find it impressive and quite an accomplishment, but it’s not my cup of tea.

So . . . what book (or books) is your Citizen Kane?


Mine would have to be "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.

The premise? Very cool. The writing? Amazing. The story? VERY interesting.

What killed it for me was ... well, those of you who have read this story and know me and my story preferences will understand why I wasn't particularly happy with this book. It has to do with our hero. That's all I'm saying, cuz it's a major spoiler. Fact is, though, I'd never read this book again -- and I wouldn't recommend it to most of my friends. There are some of you (For instance: Jen, Charity, Anno) who would probably thoroughly enjoy it ... but me? Not so much.

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Speaking of Charity -- go check out what she just got and give her a C, give her an O, give her a N, and a G, and an R... okay, I'll stop.

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So... Dakota woke up the other morning (Mon? Tues?) with icky yellow-green eye boogers. Blech. And she was pawing at her eyes... and one had the third eyelid swollen and I wondered -- do dogs get pink eye?

Just so you know, apparently they DO.

So, I have a tube of goop to squeeze in her eyes three times a day until it's gone. When the doggy doc gave it to me, I thought -- great, gonna have to have DD and DH sit on her while I do this. But, you know what? For all her faults, she is a very patient patient. She just sits and lets me do it. Alone. Three times a day. In fact, when she sees the tube come out, she slithers over with the tip of her tail wagging and just plops down. Without me asking.

I guess I will keep her. If only she was leash trained. *sigh*

But, she is cute:



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What Your Handbag Says About You



You are a low maintenance person. You can adapt to a variety of situations.

You are an organized and together person. You are competent and successful.

You are practical and down to earth. You tend to be a rather reserved and quiet person.



This was hard for me because... I use a fanny pack! LOLOL.... But, yeah, it's pretty right on.

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13 comments:

gautami tripathy said...

The prose matters more to me. If I don't like it, I can't read it.

My BTT post!

SmilingSally said...

I've never read that title, but I still answered. Come visit.

Anonymous said...

Ok, now I'm even more curious to read The Time Traveller's Wife...

And I'm amazed by the thought of a pet volunteering for medicine!

Chrisbookarama said...

Oh no! I loved The Time Traveler's Wife.

MomJane said...

The Time Traveler's Wife annoyed me. I wouldn't read it again.

I can't specifically name any other books, but there are books I pick up and read about two chapters, and then put down to read later, and then find that I just can't. I realize I didn't enjoy the chapters I did read.

Charity Tahmaseb said...

Well, I've already read The Time Traveler's Wife and I enjoyed it very much, so your assessment was spot on.

Oh, and thanks for the shout out. We're pretty excited about it.

And that skinny dog and her big sticks. Cracks me up.

Melissa McClone said...

Hugs to Dakota. That book has been on my to read list, but now I'm wondering if it would be worth my time. Hmmm.

this handbag quiz was pretty spot on -- You tend to be relaxed throughout the day. You are naturally at peace.

You are a very creative person. Your life tends to be a whirlwind, but you always seem to pull it together.

You are practical and down to earth. You tend to be a rather reserved and quiet person.

Erin said...

I both loved and hated Time Traveler's Wife. I can see how, if you have certain literary preferences, you may not like it. I don't recommend it to customers in the bookstore where I work unless I either know them or they seem to like similar stuff.

I read it last December, when I was new to the area, my long-term boyfriend was out of the country for a month, and my parents, who lives several states away, had just gotten some bad news. As you say, the book was very well written, but I had such an emotional reaction at such a negative time for me that it's hard for me to weigh in on whether I liked it or not!

Anonymous said...

Husband trimmed back a huge tree last year and when I walked outside and saw all the branches, I thought of that picture of Dakota....

Brandy said...

Awww, poor Dakota! And I've had cats with pink eye. I wish it were as easy to give them meds.

I was wondering about The Time Traveler's Wife and have decided to go with my first instinct and not read it. It's been getting rave reviews lately, but I've never been one to read a book just because of that.

I hope you have a lovely day!

Tori Lennox said...

Wow! That's a honkin' big stick! Teddy Roosevelt would be proud. *g*

A Blog In The Rough said...

Never read that book, now I'm kinda curious if I'd like it myself.

That's so great your poochie is a good dog when putting on the eye cream, you lucked out on that! Sending get well wishes to her...

anno said...

You were right... I loved the Time Traveler's Wife, but it's been so long since I read it, I don't remember very much about it. I'd be interested, though, in what you didn't like about the male protagonist?