Sarah is hosting the Not a Rat’s Chance in Hell Challenge, and for some reason I signed up. Maybe it's because I am inherently masochistic, or maybe, I genuinely think it'll make me a better reader. I'll copy and paste the ten categories from her post, along with the book on my shelf that matches the description. Hats off to Sarah for coming up with this list.
- A book that has been previously abandoned Irène Némirovsky - Suite Française or, Jane Austen - Mansfield Park
- A re-read. Didn’t quite get it/thought there was more/made promise to self to re-read? Time to make good. Anita Brookner - Hotel Du Lac or, Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
- A book that has sat on the shelf, like, forever. (Decades.) Philip K Dick - The Man In The High Castle
- A book that paralyses one with dread. Oh my god. Umm, there is, Gravity's Rainbow and 2666, and being a masochistic, I recently purchased The Savage Detectives. It's got to be one of those! Or, Wolf Hall.
- Investigate a canonical writer hitherto most shamefully overlooked. Thomas Hardy - Tess of the D'Ubervilles The Return of the Native
- Seek out a book by an author who has earned ostracism by being so good that any further novel could surely never measure up…? J.D. Salinger - For Esmé – with Love and Squalor
- And the opposite… That author who was supposed to be really good, but didn’t go down too well? Give him/her another go! I might be manipulating this single one in my favour, but something by Nabokov. I found Lolita too twisted, and couldn't quite finish it, but I loved his writing, so... Alternatively, Peter Carey's The True History Of The Kelly Gang. I can't even begin to describe how much I hated My Life As A Fake, so...
- Take a chance. Read a book which you would rather not. For instance when the OH says ‘you’ll really like this’ and you’re thinking ‘no, I really won’t…’ Hmm... let's leave this one for now. Other than chick-lit, I'm a pretty open-minded reader, so, let's see.
- A book from an unfamiliar genre. Isaac Asimov - Foundation
- Ask a friend (preferably a person of impeccable taste, and definitely not someone who might have an axe to grind) to choose a book that you will, in their opinion, like. (This does not mean ask a dozen people until you get the right answer!) Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - Cancer Ward
I'm not sure if I'll finish this challenge - think I'll come up one or two short, but hey! It's not called Not A Rat's Chance In Hell for nothing. I think at some sadistic level, Sarah actually expects us to come short... :)
I am actually really excited about this challenge though - I mean, there are so many contenders for some of the categories that the mind boggles. For example, on investigating a canonical writer - well, I've not read any Tolstoy, the Brontë sisters, Bolaño or Umberto Eco. It's actually quite embarrassing, if you think about it.
As for books sitting on my shelf for decades: I bought both, Tess of the D'Ubervilles The Return of the Native and Mansfield Park about eleven years ago, and they've sat pretty for all these years, probably (possibly?) judging me.
So, are you tempted to join in? The more the merrier, and all that? What would you choose in each of the categories, IF you were to join?
More importantly, have you read any of the books? Is it going to be a smooth or extremely bumpy ride? Looks like a really tall climb though...
Edit #1: I pulled out Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native instead of Tess, so edited the post to reflect the same. Ooops. Sorry!
I stumbled upon this