is it worth persevering with 'the thousand autumns of jacob de zoet?'

[yummytummy]

i have tried and got to about 100 pages but just finding it v dry and hardgoing. does it pick up or should i abandon? unsure as so many have raved about it. what do you think?

I picked up a book at the library once that had been 'raved about' and had won the Nobel prize for literature. itwaswrittenlikethiswithnopunctuationatallandicouldntunderstandathingidecideditwasacaseofemperorsnewclothesandbetthatthejudgingpanelhadntevenreaditbecauseicertainlydidntgetpastthefirstpageiflickedthroughsawthatitwasallthesameanddecidedlifestooshortifeelthesamewayaboutstupidpreservedsharksthatsellformillionsofpoundsforgoodnesssake

Translation: It was written like this with no punctuation at all and I couldn't understand a thing. I decided it was a case of emperor's new clothes and bet that the judging panel hadn't even read it, because I certainly didn't get past the first page. I flicked through, saw that it was all the same and decided life's too short. I feel the same way about stupid preserved sharks that sell for millions of pounds. For goodness sake!

I am clearly not avante-garde enough for anything that critics rave about. If you find it boring, stop and find something else.

I tried. I failed. Several times.

I loved it. I found it a really easy read and an affecting story.

Ponce

well at least its not just me then! dont know why i feel bad not persevering with it. so slug, what happens then, to save me trudging through it?

No, I could not finish it either so would be very grateful if someone could tell what happens!

I loved it! After the 1st 100 pages I was struggling a bit but then went back to the beginning and skimmed over what I'd read so it all made a lot more sense. Have you got the version with a list of characters at the back? Check it as it is really helpful (I only stumbled on this by accident but it made such a difference). It's a really good story and does get going I promise you. (If you like Cloud Atlas you'll like this but this is a more straightforward read than CA - honest).

i thought this was a thread i started a few months ago exactly the same question !! i have still not finished it and have read several books in between but think i will go back to it as so many people do like it and it does have a certain something...

I enjoyed it - but it took me about three months to read it because I started it shortly before DS2 arrived and then didn't read anything for weeks.

I can tell you what happens if you like ...

I loved it and would whole-heartedly recommend it - even dh loved it and he normally hates David Mitchell (boo to dh)

However, if you're not enjoying it, life's too short ...

I've tried a few times to get going with The Finkler Question ... god, it's irritating! and I've now decided that it's just one of those books which is destined to be unfinished by me ...

I'm reading it at the moment and finding it a real page turner. Just a really gripping story. So I'd say give it another chance. If you don't like the blokey Dejima(sp?) setting, you might enjoy the move to the mainland and the story of Miss Aibagawa more.