“In the morning I walked down the Boulevard to the rue Soufflot for coffee and brioche. It was a fine morning. The horse-chestnut trees in the Luxembourg gardens were in bloom. There was the pleasant early-morning feeling of a hot day. I read the papers with the coffee and then smoked a cigarette. The flower-women were coming up from the market and arranging their daily stock.” – Ernest Hemingway
I was talking books with my roller skating friend, Dee, (I know – isn’t she awesome? She likes books AND roller skating) and I told her about the latest book I quit on. She asked what made me put it down – the characters, the setting, or the plot? Then she said, “Setting is a big deal for me. I don’t want to read a book that’s set in a place I don’t want to be.”
Whoa. That seems so obvious now – when you immerse yourself in a book, you are there, wherever it is set, so why would you voluntarily go someplace you don’t want to be? My friend dislikes dystopia, “Huh-uh, no end of the world for me, thanks,” and I am right there with her.
After Dee said that – “I don’t want to read a book that’s set in a place I don’t want to be” – I thought about how many of my book choices have been based on setting. I wanted to go someplace cold, so I grabbed The Tricking of Freya, set in Iceland. I wanted the jungle, so I read Ann Patchett’s State of Wonder. I wanted the South, so I read The Color Purple. Likewise, many of my favorite books become beloved because they transport me to a place I want to be – the red earth of Georgia in Gone With the Wind, among fragrant blooms in The Language of Flowers, by an Alpine stream so cold you can chill wine in it in summer in The Sun Also Rises.
Have I ever quit on a book based on its setting, though? Not that I can recall. But that’s probably because I never started it. I often won’t pick a book up if I’m not interested in the place where the story unfolds. A post-apocalyptic future. Space. Even though dystopia is hugely popular, and I have read a few dystopian novels that I very much enjoyed (Ready Player One, The Forever War, The Hunger Games, The Giver), it takes a lot of convincing to make me give them a try. I don’t like bleakness and destruction and all that. That being said, dystopian fiction makes me think about things I wouldn’t otherwise think of, about our future instead of our past. What will rise out of our destruction? Are my friends who are preparing for the zombie apocalypse – stockpiling antibiotics, amassing survival gear – maybe onto something? I wrote several pages in my journal about memories and dreams, and gathering wisdom from them, after I read The Giver. After The Age of Miracles, I spent days thinking about the ripple effect, how changes in our solar system – in the case of Miracles, a lengthening of the day to 50, 60 hours – would have tremendous implications for our survival, from something as seemingly mundane as school and work schedules to issues as large as world food supplies.
But still, despite all that learning and thinking, when I read I like to curl up in bed and immerse myself in a setting I want to experience – Newfoundland winters, or summer in Appalachia. If I can’t travel to Paris, or feel what life was like for a pioneer on the prairie, I want to read a gifted writer’s rendering of the scenery, the culture, domestic life, the storms. I want to feel snowflakes on my skin, or smell rain on warm wheat, or hear the clink of cups at an outdoor cafe.
In other words, like Dee, I want to read a book that takes me to a place I want to be.
What about you? Does setting play into the reading material you choose?
If you’re wondering why I abandoned the book I was reading – it wasn’t setting, characters, or plot. Or maybe it was all three. I couldn’t get beyond the language (70 or so pages of 19th century English in the beginning of the book, 100 or so pages of dialect in the middle), so it was hard to see the scenery, get a feel for the characters, or have any idea what was going on plot-wise. I couldn’t get close to any of them because I never found my stride with the words. This is usually my reason for breaking up with a book.
Butterfly Mind 
So, I started reading Irish literature about halfway through my sabbatical. At first, I intended it as a way to learn more about the Irish people and the Irish psyche. But setting turned out to be critical to my enjoyment. I loved books set in Dublin because even if they were set a century ago, I could still recognize the names of streets that I walked down every week. And even now that we are back, vividly recalling images of Dublin or Belfast or Cork adds to my enjoyment of the books immensely. (On a related note, I need to take a break from Irish literature. It just makes me wish I was still on sabbatical!)
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I hear you, Allen. Literature is a blessing and a curse when it comes to armchair traveling – you get to be there again, but it makes you long for it in real life, too. Please, please share some Irish titles you’ve enjoyed. That’s a place I definitely want to go, both on the page and in real life.
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For readers interested in books set in Ireland, Allen enjoyed TransAtlantic by Colum McCann and Strumpet City by James Plunkett.
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I love this new in-flux of dystopian literature (I just finished “Divergent” – fantastic!!) I think setting has less impact for me; if I quit a book (which I do all the time), it’s almost always because I can’t grab on to anything interesting. Now, if the book isn’t interesting, but it’s set somewhere interesting (“the secret keeper” is the perfect example of this), then I’ll keep reading to learn more about it.
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So what is it about dystopian lit that you like? Is it the imagination that’s involved? I can totally get on board with that – creating scenarios and what ifs. We need to talk more about this.
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I love the idea of “breaking up with a book.” It does have an emotional component! Maybe just for the incredibly nerdy; but I am what I am, and I am incredibly nerdy.
When I quit on a book, I always second guess myself, wonder if I’d like it if only I were a more committed/more cerebral reader ( i.e. a better person). Could I have made it work?
But, no! If I’ve reached the age where I can embrace my nerditude in all it’s glory, then I can certainly be okay with putting down a book. Life is too short to voluntarily spend time unhappy!
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I agree, Dee. I used to second guess myself too, that maybe I wasn’t committed enough, that everybody else in the world has gotten something out of this, why can’t I? Or, am I just too stupid to get this? But I came to the same realization as you – I’m reading for pleasure, and I want to enjoy my reading experience, not choke on it.
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Also, I wish I could take credit for the “breaking up with a book” idea, but I’m pretty sure I picked that up from a Book Riot piece. Let’s see if I can find the post… Well, I can’t find it. Dang. Anyway, I like that phrase too, so thanks to whoever wrote that for the first time!
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I can’t believe I used the wrong form of its. It’s a major pet peeve of mine! My nerditude lives in all its glory!!!
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When I think of my abandoned books one thing that comes to mind is that I did not connect with the main character. But there are other books where this happened and I loved the book, so there are probably multiple elements. Thanks for this post that made me reflect.
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Yes, I started a post about characters, too, but I didn’t finish it. I’ve been trying to find the common thread to why I’ve quit the books I’ve quit, and I don’t know that there is one. Like you, I’ve not connected with characters and still loved the book, or never knew where it was set and still loved it, or maybe I hated the book but finished it anyway. Interestingly, it is those books I didn’t like that I often carry the deepest lessons from.
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Your last sentence makes a good point, too. Now I am thinking about those books for me, ha! Thanks, Andrea.
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Try Cormac McCarthy’s (“No Country for Old Men”) “The Road.” Postapocalyptic with love and hope thrown in.
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To say Brian was moved by that book would be an understatement. I’ve been waffling about it. Now you, he, and Tim (see below) have all recommended it. I’m thinking I should add it to my list.
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You know, I have never really thought about that before – but I definitely will from now on. Now I’m wondering how settings influence the stories I write; am I more likely to finish writing a story that’s set in a place I want to be? Thank you for getting me thinking 🙂
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Oh wow! I never thought about that either – will a writer be more likely to work on a piece that’s set in a place she wants to be? I know I tend to avoid the hard stuff, the uncomfortable stuff. I’d rather be back on the marsh, or in the mountains, or laughing with our kids, so those tend to be the places i write about. Thank you so much for suggesting that – it makes sense.
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That’s what I love about you, kiddo, thought-provoking blogs ! First “serious” book I ever read on my own was Thor Heyderthal’s “Kon-Tiki “, at ten yrs. old. That book, and, quick on the heels of it “The Old Man and the Sea” set me out seeking books with settings that appealed to me, the ocean being both a curiosity and an escape. By late teens, early twenties things got more character driven and the setting mattered less. While “The Sun Also Rises” made me want to go to Spain, and run with the bulls ( ah, the folly of youth ! ) “To Have and Have Not ” did not bring Key West alive for me, Jimmy Buffett’s songs would stoke my curiosity there. These days as a card-carrying curmudgeon, I like stuff that is subject / story-driven. I love Donald Ray Pollock and Cormac McCarthy ( among quite a few others ) , so, if southern Ohio Appalachia and west Texas-Mexico, respectively, are dystopia, consider me there.
My tastes in transgressive and bizarro lit further supports this.
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Yes, characters drive my book choices quite a bit, at least for rereading. The characters become my friends and I want to keep hanging out with them, so I just reread. “To Have and Have Not” didn’t do it for me either, though “Old Man and the Sea” definitely evoked the Caribbean. I haven’t read any Donald Ray Pollock – I’ll have to look him up. That’s interesting that your reading drive changed throughout the years. Since I’ve been exploring this setting/character/plot dynamic in my head, I have struggled most with the plot element, and whether plot really affects my book choices. I still haven’t determined the answer. I have to write to find it out.
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I don’t really mind where the events in a book are set, but I have found that I prefer to read books set in the real world. Things that really could have happened, to real human beings. But that said, I have read and enjoyed books that have more or less supernatural elements, sci-fi… (Harry Potter comes to mind, and also the Lucky Starr series by Isaac Asimov, which I read years ago as a teenager, though I never really liked his other books) I think I can accept a fantasy setting if I like the way the writer brings us into that world.
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I realized when I was writing this that I’m the same way – I like books set in the real world I have a few fantasy books that I like to escape into now and again, but I move into a hazy place, like a dreamworld, when I read fantasy, and not in a good way. Fantasy is like a drug – good in moderation, but I can definitely overdo it 🙂
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Well—I have, over the past year, finally given myself permission to ditch a book if it’s just not working! I think before I just felt that I HAD to finish it. No more. The latest book I broke up with was (I hesitate to name it) a NY Times bestseller that all my book-club lovin’ friends raved about. I finally got it from the library, read 4 chapters, stopped, then flipped to the back to see if what I thought was going to happen did. Yep, it did. I didn’t like the two main characters so I declared, “fini!”
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I’ve got to know – was it Gone Girl? The description you give here sounds exactly like the reactions I’ve heard in my reading circle to Gone Girl…
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Yes, it was! It’s always interesting when my reaction is SO different from most others’ on a book. Although I was at a family reunion and a cousin thought exactly what I did…..she said, “I saw the author on a talk show and she seemed so nice!” I just found the tone of the book so ugly.
I really DID like the protagonist’s sister though….but that wasn’t enough to keep me reading!
What did you think about it?
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I haven’t read it yet, but my friend Amy had the same reaction as you. It’s next on my list – I hope to start it today or tomorrow.
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I’ll be interested to hear your reaction. Obviously folks are all over the map on this one!
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