The Day of the Jackal: 07/29/07

Sometimes when I'm reading a book I feel as if a black hole is sitting just out of view sucking up the words and plot that should be going into my mind. No matter how slowly or attentively I read these books, nothing seems to stick beyond the first couple of pages. The Day of Jackal is the most recent book I've "read" to do this to me. This phenomenon isn't something I can pin down to a certain genre, author or time period nor have I found any way of counter acting the problem no matter how much I want to enjoy the book.

The Day of the Jackal should have been an enjoyable read to me. It is a political thriller and a "what-if" book like Roth's The Plot Against America. Somehow though the pacing of the book made it feel more like a very dry book report and I just couldn't focus enough on the book to care if the Jackal succeeded or not. I know this book is a well respected book but it frankly didn't do much for me.

Other books that have repeated fallen into the black hole (even if I have enjoyed other works by the same author) include:
• The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad ("read" 3 times)
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain ("read" 2 times)
• The recently "read" Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.
• Harry Potter the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

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