Page 69

Reading a Financial Times article on "how to navigate a world crowded with books - and live to tell the tale", I was intrigued by something - new to me - called the McLuhan test. The idea is that when you pick up a book in a shop, ignore the dust-jacket, the critics' comments, etc. and just read page 69; your response will tell you whether or not to buy it. As I write this I have a washing machine beeping irritatingly in the background demanding to be unloaded, and a family due home in a few hours' time expecting me to have visited the supermarket and filled the fridge, so there's no chance of a saunter into town and a browse round Waterstone's. I can but test the test on books I already own.

Our shelves are full to overflowing and there are many there I haven't yet read - N.B. the article says "those who are 'truly cultured' are 'capable of owning thousands of unread books without losing their composure or their desire for more'", so that's alright, then. I picked a few at random and turned to p.69.

Tove Jansson's The Summer Book and Muriel Spark's The Complete Short Stories failed to pull me in.

More compelling were Great Expectationsand Alain de Botton's How Proust Can Change Your Life.

The bait was well and truly taken for Jennifer Donnelly's A Gathering Light and Trollope's (no, I've never read him!) The Warden.

I checked p.69 of Sarah Bryant's excellent The Other Eden which I've just finished and greatly enjoyed, and it, too, hooked me. And then I read the first page of each of the books I've mentioned and found my reaction was the same as to the later page. So what does that tell us? Just begin at the beginning?

Comments

[dovegreyreader]

This was John Sutherland's latest advice too and I can recommend The Gathering Light as a book to keep on reading.I'm not as Trollope -mad as others but The Warden is good for setting up the rest of Barchester and paves the way, so well worth reading. Then head straight into Barchester Towers before you lose the thread and the momentum and you'll be nicely surprised.I'm now halfway through The Pallisers and likewise, there is a moment that is suddenly just right to read one of these.
The Summer Book is another ethereal read, a difficult book to define and pin down and I should imagine it would be hard to click with unless you read from the start.

[Les in NE]

I have The Gathering Light in my TBR stacks, too (although it's called A Northern Light here in the U.S.). I loved The Tea Rose and am looking forward to its sequel (Winter Rose).

[Francesca]

I'd never heard of the McLuhan test, but I'll test it next time I'm in a bookstore. Without having read anythign about it, my guess is that its usefulness lies in picking any random portion of text well into the book, after the usually overpolished beginning.
And now I'd better go read that article.

[Bluestalking Reader]

This is so interesting! I'm going to try it, maybe later tonight when we're snowed in. Supposedly a monster winter storm is bearing down on us. Oh joy.

[Peg]

I found this post very interesting. I will try the 'page 69' means of deciding if a book is worth the time to read it! I only (unless it is for book club) give a book 25 pages and if I do not care for the character, plot or style of writing - I move on! So many good books and so little time!
Guess I am not 'truly cultured' as it bothers me to have shelves of unread books! I keep very few books to re-read.

[Jo at Celtic Memory Yarns]

This has always been my method too (Page One usually, rather than further on). How many times have I thought that a book sounded interesting, only to find that the author's route is so definitely not mine. Glad you found the Dickens and the Trollope irresistible - came later to the latter than the former but love both passionately now. On the downside, have you noticed how much really bad writing is being published these days? What happened to elegant style, crisp prose, CORRECT USE OF GRAMMAR?

[Nicola]

I adored The Gathering Light and I would recommend it as a great read.

Lovely blog, by the way.