The Mature Reader Knows When to Close a Book for Good
It’s not often that I give up on a book. Cold Mountain (1998) by Charles Frazier and The Little Friend (2003) by Donna Tartt are the only two books that I remember putting down half way through reading.
But I have found a book that can repel me faster than any other, a book that I put down a mere ten pages in. Tuscany for Beginners (2005) by Imogen Edwards-Jones is that book.
At face value, it seemed like a similar story as Under the Tuscan Sun (1997) by Frances Mayes. In the preface, Tuscany admits to taking cues directly from Tuscan, saying that the main character had a rough patch in her life, then became inspired by reading Under the Tuscan Sun and headed to Italy. The novel is to be her diary of this adventure. After the first small chapter, however, the diary format disappears and third person steps in. On top of the writing aspects that annoyed me so quickly, the main character irked me as well: she was rude to her daughter when she wanted to visited.
That was it. The book was closed and listed for trade on Paperback Swap.
I feel that I have grown as a reader to be able to put down a book that is not interesting, where I used to believe that it was a must to drudge through, regardless.
UPDATE: I forgot the most annoying aspect of the writing style used in this book: to give an Italian edge and feel to the novel, or perhaps to just constantly remind the reader of the locale, every tenth word or so is randomly in Italian! And they are not words and phrases that you can use contextual clues to deduce the meaning of.
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