I am DNF-ing War and Peace.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the final nail in the dwindling enthusiasm I had for War and Peace. Yes, I was enjoying it, but I wasn’t gripped by it. With each passing day I found it harder and harder to pick up. The voices in my TBR piles were growing louder.
This was a buddy read with my friend Colleen who has been been a focused and determined reader of this classic. Practicing good buddy read etiquette, I did reach out to tell Colleen about my decision to DNF War and Peace before writing about it here. And I am writing about it now only because back in January I wrote a blog post about deciding to read W&P. [Update for those who read and remember that post: On my deathbed I will not feel bad about not reading W&P. Trying it once was enough.]
I probably spent more time on my decision to DNF the book than I did on deciding to read it. Not that that matters. But as I was waffling with my decision to let it go, along came Dolly.
Parton, that is.
Dolly and James Patterson wrote a thriller together and this is the story that I want now. Run Rose Run comes out March 7, 2022. Thanks to Libro.fm for the advance listening copy. I’m currently at the 31% mark and enjoying it.
There are two main protagonists. One is a young woman running from something while trying to make it in Nashville and the other is a legendary country music superstar who is struggling with some internal wound. Both are tough and capable women, and I like the peek into Nashville’s country music industry. There are some cliched bits, but they are fading as the story gets deeper into the characters. Dolly performs/narrates the superstar character.
So, that’s my War and Peace story and how Dolly came to my rescue.
Same thing happened to me twice! And then you had me thinking (briefly) it was the translation! Sorry that it did not work for you, but there are SO many great books out there that it is not worth wasting your time reading a (boring) Russian novel about a Russian war in 2022.
Well, I guess now we know it wasn’t the translation. Haha.
DNFing is hard on a classic I think… It took me a long time to decide to DNF Middlemarch and there is still a part of me that thinks I should give it another try since so many other people think it’s fantastic. However, you totally get a pass on this forever with two years of Covid and now Ukraine. Am I insane to take on Bleak House now? 🙂
Thanks for the affirmation! 😊 It took me three attempts to get into Middlemarch, but the third time was the charm. I ended up loving it. I read Bleak House last summer and really enjoyed it. The first chapter or two was rough going but once the story got rolling I looked forward to reading it each day. It’s humor and wide cast of characters made for a fun read. And it made me want to read more Dickens. Hope you enjoy it!
I started it and got about three pages in before all the names floored me. My husband has read it and that’s enough for this household!