[HPFGU-OTChatter] Lewis Carroll, James Herriot

[Catherine Keegan]

At 03:18 PM 12/18/01 +0100, the glorious goat wrote:
>[Have you all also ever ruined your enjoyment of a good book by reading it
>according to the rules of the wrong genre?

Oh.  Yeah.  Reading mysteries as mysteries is not worth it.  Read them for 
the characters and appreciate the work the author has done to make it a 
mystery secondarily.  I no longer try to read books as anything other than 
stories.  Try it on non fiction and see if the author can actually write!

I love Lewis Carrol but I read it on my own.  He is very tweaked.  I 
recommend reading the books on a rainy day with plenty of tea and something 
weird on the stereo.  (Hmm.  That shows my age.  CD player.  There, that 
works better.)

I was forced to read the LotR trilogy many years ago by adoring fans.  I 
dunno.  It was ok.  I had already read a ton of derivative fiction and 
liked the other stuff much better.  I am now married to a complete LotR fan 
who is amazing me every day by reciting huge bits of it.  (He has a near 
photographic memory and isn't afraid to bore you with it.  sigh.   Well, he 
does put up with my various obsessions and I have trained him to pick up 
his socks and we're nearing the 20 year anniversary...)  I suspect that I 
would have liked the books a lot better if no one had preached them at me 
first.

James Herriot's books are lovely.  I love animal stories and his were so 
gentle and sweet.  It helped that he also included the ooogey stuff and the 
funny locals.  I have suggested ever-so-carefully to my husband that he 
might want to read them.  He's shown no interest thus far and I'm trying 
not to shove them at him.  (And he's ignoring the fact that I haven't been 
able to reread the first book of the LotR trilogy and it's sat on my night 
stand for months 3/4s read.  I have ODed on the songs and am not in the 
least bit in love with any of the characters.)

So, how do you influence folks to read your favorite books?

Catherine in California
(How many Catherines are there on the list?  Must be at least three, if not 
four of us.)