Did you ever have one of those books? You know the one. You bought it because all the reviews about it were good. Friends or family - the trusted ones - recommended it. You cracked the spine, expecting to be wowed and...
You are less than whelmed. But you keep plugging away. Keep reading. Keep trying. "It has to get better," you think, "NPR said it would." "Why would preciousflower164* have given it such a glowing Amazon review...I have to be missing something!"
400 pages in, you realize - you're hooked. And not just because you've been forcing yourself to keep reading. But because the book has finally managed to suck you in. You find that you love the characters. You're anxious to find out what happens to them. How their lives change. Will he ever make up with his brother? Will he ever forgive the girl who destroyed his heart? Will he ever see his father again? These questions nag at your heart, begging you to come back to the book. Once finished, you find out it has changed you.
Or do I just sound like a crazy person? Well, anyway, I just finished that book. 2 hours ago.
Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese. I started this book at the end of April. I just finished it. It took me a really long time to get into it. But it just snuck up on me. All of a sudden, I couldn't stop. I read on the train - I have a 1/2-hour ride to and from the city, and I pass that time reading. Occasionally, I read at home, but not often. Once I'm home, I prefer to spend my time hanging out with Matt, cooking, baking, or, well, doing this! So I know I'm sucked into a book when I find myself reading it on my off-hours. I came home Friday night and read until Matt got home. I read more yesterday when we got home from Hershey. It took me a month to get through the first 400 pages. It took me 3 hours to get through the last 150.
If you're a patient reader (which I am often not), give this book a shot. And if you do read it, or have read it, how did it go for you?
*Amazon usernames have been changed to protect the innocent
Wow, you are a better reader than me! My bookclub read a piece in the last few months that I hated two chapters in. I stopped reading two chapters in. During the discussion, I complained about those two chapters. Everyone else loved the whole book!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book!! it is definitely one of my favorites!
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