Yes, I Still Read!

Over the past couple of months I've been struggling to get into my groove. With blogging. With life.

Consequently, there has been a distinct lack of posts about books and reading.

I'm still working my way through an obscene amount of fiction. None of it new. None of it owned by me. Just books that I pick up at my local library because I've heard of the author or the cover grabs my attention, or the blurb intrigues me.

I'm currently reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. Heard of it? I had. I had a vague notion that it had generated quite a lot of buzz. So I thought I'd better check it out.

What to say? Please bear in mind that although I am a lifelong reader and have recently completed a Masters degree in librarianship, I have not studied English Literature since high school. So I don't really have the vocabulary to adequately review books like a professional. I just say what I think.

So...I'm half way through it and...it's loooooong.

Don't get me wrong, I love a long book. I read Under the Dome by Stephen King during my summer holiday and I watched with dismay as my bookmark marched through the pages getting closer and closer to the end. I was sad when I finished it. The same can be said for many other thick books with lots of pages. But Freedom is long in that "Are we there yet?" kind of way.

I am enjoying it though. I guess I'm just feeling as though some vicious editing might move it along a bit for me.

A professional review of Freedom, written by Tim Walker, waxes lyrical about Franzen's ability "to give each of his characters such comprehensively realised psychologies". Perhaps that's what takes so long. Also, Walker says that "Its pages fly by like a pulp thriller – and it's only half as long as War and Peace.", so I'm feeling like a bit of a Neanderthall.

Anyway, I may or may not write a proper review of this book when I'm finished it. I just wanted to let you know that I'm still reading and still thinking critically about what I read, even if I'm not writing about it as much.

What are you reading? Have you read Freedom? Have you ever found books that receive critical acclaim less than inspiring?