I turn 42 in a few weeks and decided to finally read HGttG because I thought it was a shame that I hadn’t yet done so, being a fan of both scifi and absurdism. I didn’t grok it. People seem to really love this novel, and I kept waiting to have an ah-ha! moment where I understood what the appeal was, but it never happened. I’m sort of bummed about it. :/
English humor has a certain style to it that doesn’t click for everyone. And some books one just can’t connect with - I have tried reading the Wizard of Earthsea books several times, but it always feels like I’m blind in them.
I’ve found with Pratchett that I had to do the Tiffany Aching books first to really feel his writing; then I was able to read his other stories.
But sometimes it’s exposure; it takes me about a quarter of a book to ‘get’ Shakespeare, then my brain clicks with it and I can read all his plays without trouble.
I turn 42 in a few weeks and decided to finally read HGttG because I thought it was a shame that I hadn’t yet done so, being a fan of both scifi and absurdism. I didn’t grok it. People seem to really love this novel, and I kept waiting to have an ah-ha! moment where I understood what the appeal was, but it never happened. I’m sort of bummed about it. :/
English humor has a certain style to it that doesn’t click for everyone. And some books one just can’t connect with - I have tried reading the Wizard of Earthsea books several times, but it always feels like I’m blind in them.
I’ve found with Pratchett that I had to do the Tiffany Aching books first to really feel his writing; then I was able to read his other stories.
But sometimes it’s exposure; it takes me about a quarter of a book to ‘get’ Shakespeare, then my brain clicks with it and I can read all his plays without trouble.
I feel your pain. At least you tried.
My ah-ha moment was probably: “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.”
In any case, happy birthday. I hope you find all the answers this year.
See that was my favorite line in the book, and almost everything else wasn’t!
Haha, thanks - here’s hoping!