I give up.

Ok. I made a big decision here. Remember the past posts how I keep talking about a book called Gilead by Marilynne Robinson? And remember how I keep saying how I couldn't finish it? Well I decided to give up and NOT finish it. That's right! I'm not going to finish this book (there is a great article by Nick Hornby he wrote for Believer and is now in a compilation book called Polysyllabic Spree who talks about letting go on this very topic)! Who cares you might ask...well I do. You see, I get very type A, neurotic even with books. If I start it, I HAVE to finish it, even if I don't pick it up for a year or so. I started this book with great expectations...I previously read Housekeeping, another book by her that Caitlin recommended which I fell in love with. But Gilead is boring. Really really boring. It is about an old man dying, a minister so there's a lot of J.C. references and a lot of repetition (just think about all the stories the old people in your family LOVE repeating). He is writing to his young son about life. I only got to page 80 something. Maybe that wasn't fair? My friend gives every book up to page 150 (she almost gave up on Blood Meridian but loved the ending). So should I give myself a page number as well?

"I don't write the way I speak. I'm afraid you would think I didn't know any better. I don't write the way I do for the pulpit, either, insofar as I can help it. That would be ridiculous, in the circumstances."

Maybe this book is too positive for me. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 and P.P.s usually don't let me down. Here is a great review of the book. Let me know if you want my copy, I will mail it to you and maybe you can let me know how it goes.