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Ana muses about what she remembers and how things change.
For years I longed to find the Rissa Trilogy by F.M. Busby. I'd lent my copies to a former friend and never got them back. First published by Berkley in 1976, the books are out of print, not available in e-format.
I finally bit the bullet and ordered used copies on Amazon. Book 2 arrived, but not books 1 and 3. Amazon refunded my money. I stared at Book 2 but really wanted to reread the series from the beginning, when young Rissa is seized from her parents and tossed into Total Welfare.
Last week, I caved. I started reading Rissa and Tregare.
The book is nothing like I remembered. The writing is stark but repetitive. 90% dialogue. If I had to assign it a genre, I'd call it YA science fiction, but was YA even invented back then?
I'm trying to recall why I loved it so much. Classics defy the passage of time, and I was so sure this series was a classic. Either my memory is flawed, or my tastes have really changed.
If I find Books 1 and 3, I'll probably purchase them. Read them like people watch cult classics like, say, Rocky Horror Picture show. For campiness and nostalgia. To remember how I've changed.
Oh, I so hate it when I loan someone a book and they don't return in. Arghhhh.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting that your current read didn't live up to your expectations from the past. I think our tastes do change over time. I also think as writers it's way too easy to find the flaws in others' writing and harder to simply get lost in a book for the pleasure of it. I know for me it has to be a book that really, really knocks my socks off.
I agree with Deb about our tastes changing. I used to love Penny Vincenzi's novels, but the last time I read one, I found it horribly over-wordy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Debra as well (both about lending books and not getting them back, and about our tastes changing as well as reading as a writer). A lot of things don't live up to our memories, unfortunately. But in my memories, everything is perfect! ;)
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