Book Thoughts: Failed Reads Fall 2025
While this blog is normally littered with my surface-deep analysis of books and games, I've been finding it difficult to sink attention into entertainment of late. I've spent more and more time stuck in my own mind or obsessed with the myriad destination-less side-quests I frequently fall into, and I've had little patience for anything that doesn't grab me or feel worthwhile.
To maintain the sanctity of this little corner of the internet, the very least I can do is report on my failed readings!
Pale Fire
This is a book lauded accross forums, written by the author of the much more famous "Lolita" (which I have also not read). The primary idea presented is that the work is an extremely lengthy commentary by an extremely untrustworthy narrator about a 999-line poem written by the narrator's recently deceased neighbour (who was a famous author).
The initial setup and situation was wonderfully interesting, and the absolutely unhinged narrator continuously de-railing the commentary to tell their own story was initially unexpected and entirely novel -- however by the end of the first canto's worth of commentary I found myself uninterested in continuing. The preposterous story unfolding in the commentary-turned-autobiography seemed the ramblings of a madman in a way that felt pointless to read, as if it wasn't going anywhere or accomplishing anything except filling pages. While the overall concept remains inspiring, I don't feel compelled to continue reading what feels to be well-written filler.
The Best of Roger Zelazny
After quitting The Book of Amber series half-way through I decided to give another try to Zelazny. For all that I disliked his famous fantasy series, echoes of reading "The Lord of Light" has kept me curious toward his other works.
I only made it through the first short story involving a translator on mars, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit! Zelazny's prose is easily digestible while still feeling more refined than that of many other Science Fiction authors.
Despite this, I failed to get through the second story in the collection. I frankly don't even remember what it was about. I can't blame Zelazny for this one, as I believe it was around the same time as a major job change that I put the book down for good.
Writing this now, I do want to give the collection another try. Perhaps I'll take a swing as "A Night in Lonesome October" this year.
Upcoming Reads
I've got a copy of A Canticle for Lebowitz sitting on my coffee table, mocking me. I've been meaning to start it but haven't a time where I've been ready to dedicate a full hour or two and attempt to fall into the story.
I recently purchased a copy of House of Leaves which I'm fairly confident I'll not finish, as well as Katabasis by R.F. Kuang -- despite my dislike for the second half of Babel, the first half was good enough for a second shot at this author.
I also picked up Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Not for any particular reason, but I loved Children of Time very much, and have been wanting to read more by the author. This book was standing alone on a shelf in my local book store and caught my eye.