Forcing myself through a book

[cupcake_goth]

Soooo, last night I started reading Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out. (I have very dim memories of the Hammer movie based off of it.)

I ... I don't know if I can keep reading it. YES, I know, it was written in 1934, and I understand that the social landscape was very different then. But good GOD, the casual and unthinking racism. Just ... wow. I nearly threw the book across the room last night, while I was reading at bath time.

I want to read it, because it's considered a classic of the supernatural/occult suspense genre. But I just don't know if I'll be able to keep at it. Which is a shame, because in terms of wacky occult and "Black Magick" stuff, Wheatley did his research, and the book could be all sorts of fun in a popcorn-reading sort of way.

Comments

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

you know, there are a few books I just could NOT finish reading because they repulsed me *so much*. Lolita is the first one that pops into my head, but I know there were several that squicked me for the reasons you listed.

*shudder*

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't finish Lolita. Several of my friends think it's The Best Book Ever...and I can see why, but UGH.

It's not just the subject matter (going into it, I thought she was fifteen...no, she's TWELVE), it's the smarmy smart-ass "I'm so fucking clever" first-person voice. I hate that in any novel--it's why I don't like Tom Robbins or Kurt Vonnegut.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that voice in combination with the OMG Skeeeeevy nature of the character and what he talks about just made my skin crawl. I have no personal experiences that are triggered by it, but I know lots of people who do. It's just *yucky*.

I have to say that your statement about your friends thinking it is the Best Book Ever actually gave me a visceral shudder. ICK I TELL YOU ICK ICK ICK!!! These people need to get out more. There are far better writers, and FAR FAR more pleasant books.

ICK ICK ICK ICK ICK ICK

[savannarama.livejournal.com]

Aieeeee! I just came in here to say "that reminds me of me trying to read Lolita"! I bought the annotated copy, which was probably the wrong choice for a person with a little ADD, the first time around . . .

The language is gorgeous, but I just couldn't manage. I stopped 25-30% through. I still have it. I keep thinking one day I'll try again.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

mine sits on the shelf with other 'classics'.

I honestly have tons of other books i would MUCH RATHER read. Like... H Rider Haggard's series about Alan Quartermaine, or the Sherlock Holmes series, or everything by H G Wells, or the annual reports of all of the major soda companies from the 20th century... *koff*

okay, honestly, i think I would rather gouge my eyes out with a grapefruit spoon than go back into that book. 0.o

Cultural Relativism

[boyastridgirl.livejournal.com]

I realize this is probably not what you want to hear but for the reasons you stated, I'd read the book. There are a lot of pieces of literature that have the exact same issues within them and the discerning reader is able to connect the details in the book to the context of when the book was written. The times were very different and as you have attested, the differences in social opinion between the time of its publication and your reading it mean a great deal in the enjoyment of the work. It may be hard to stomach but it was true to its times, which sometimes means we have to be made to feel squeamish. Stretch for it, I'm sure you'll get past it.

Re: Cultural Relativism

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. I'm going to take another go at reading it tonight, and see if I can tamp down my reactions of "Really? REALLY?!"

[valdary.livejournal.com]

I have trouble reading Sax Rohmer's books for the same reason, Bulldog Drummond was a great adventure series in it's time, but ouch the attitudes

[tbosky.livejournal.com]

Wheatley is a main character in F.G. Cottam's House of Lost Souls which was interesting and creepy. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78854958

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

I don't finish books likes that. It isn't worth my time.

[brumbjorn.livejournal.com]

I used to read Nancy Drew books as a kid. I had 3 MUCH older sisters and we had many, many copies of those books in our house -- multiples of some stories in different printings. The very early ones were REALLY racist in the portrayal of the housekeeper. Interesting to compare an old printing to a new one...

[zimon66]

Stay far, far away from Florence Marryat's The Blood of the Vampire.

[satellite6.livejournal.com]

Change this week to last week and the author to H.P. Lovecraft... and i could have written what you said verbatim. Call of the Cthulhu was such a struggle and wordy as hell. I'm sure the Geek committee is on its way to reclaim my card, but i can't help feeling the guy is over-rated. Soooo, I can relate. :)

[satellite6.livejournal.com]

BTW, Lovecraft also was famously racist - even more than other authors during his time.

[jisatsu-ganbu.livejournal.com]

The interesting thing about H.P. Lovecraft for me is that no one seems to talk about how racist he is. It's all horror innovation and lasting ability. The first time I cracked open a collection of his I was a little shocked - like the possibility hadn't even occurred to me.

[tainted-pastry.livejournal.com]

This is actually Tainted Pastry's husband here who has felt compelled to add his thoughts after she showed him this thread, which I found to be a fun and interesting read. As someone who majored in English and once aspired to be a professor of Literature, I have to agree with the Cultural Relativism standpoint - I've slogged my way through numerous books just for that educational/enlightenment experience. BUT, I've found it increasingly difficult to continue this method for the last several years. Life IS too short to continue reading a book that offends or is just plain boring. No one is expecting me to write a paper on it anymore, so why bother?

All art is a product of its time; but time *is* fleeting.

[moonxpearl.livejournal.com]

I had a lot of trouble in American Literature for this reason. Mostly because we didn't get far past the Puritan era. I was so bored with the "we're all born horrible sinners and we're all going to Hell unless we repent for things we never actually did" schpiel.

[marc17.livejournal.com]

Can I borrow that book after you?

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Sure! I hope to be done with it by this weekend, if my head doesn't explode.

[brsis.livejournal.com]

I remember The Devil Rides Out!

It doesn't get any better, and I remember finishing it with a feeling of general loathing for the main character that probably should have been directed towards the author.

The occult stuff is damn solid, to the point of somewhat overwhelming the plot in places (Oooh, look, another two or three pages of explanations...) but getting past the casual racism, sexism, ageism, and the passionate belief that all evil people are ugly takes some doing. I preferred Lovecraft, where skipping over the bad kind of xenophobia at least lead to giant tentacled elder gods.

[satellite6.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm determined to get through "At the Mountains of Madness" and “The Whisperer in Darkness”. After that, Lovecraft and I will probably part ways.

[ptpenguino.livejournal.com]

I got through Heart of Darkness, somehow. Well, it is a very short novel, and also there is a lot of "I remember this scene from Apocalypse Now!"
Curiously, the main character was unusually sympathetic to the native Africans, though the words are hard to read. But, that is a view into what the world was, then... it wasn't pretty.

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

Something I thought of this morning:

I love the Little House on the Prairie series to a somewhat embarrassing degree--I have them all in paperback.

Laura and her father are fairly sympathetic to the Native Americans--but they still move in and take their land.

But there's a scene in one of the later books where the local men put on a minstrel show--in black face paint and horrible stereotypes and all--and she refers to them as "darkies."

The first time I read it as an adult, it was really startling! Thankfully it's just the one chapter.

Completely unrelated

[semy-of-pearls.livejournal.com]

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[cherry-faery.livejournal.com]

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Hope the weekend was kind to you! :)