The reading life sometimes raises interesting conundrums. Originally, I believed that once I started a book I should finish it.  Just like the “clean plate” rule my parents instilled in me for eating food, I approached my reading in the same way: Once you start you need to finish.  This seemed like an honorable way to approach books and was probably reinforced by my limited selection while living in Japan. However, at some point I became aware that I was limiting my selections to tried and true genres or authors, rereading old favorites and in general missing the wide and awesome smorgasbord of choices that were available, just because I was afraid I would be trapped into reading something I didn’t like or enjoy.  So my rule changed to the “life is too short” rule which allowed me to dip into and taste a wide variety of books, authors and genres and if I didn’t like something I could put it down; since life is too short to read what you don’t enjoy!

Generally I do not talk in my blog about what I don’t like since it is hard to write about things you don’t like or couldn’t finish but on further reflection it is sometimes the things that we don’t like that reveal more about us or prove more useful to a reader than what we do like!

So in that spirit this blog posting is about a book I couldn’t finish.

Perfidia has been in my book queue for quite a while.  It had all the right components: a murder mystery set in LA right before the beginning of WWII and the hysteria that lead to the internment of Japanese Americans.  Additionally Ellroy is a solid author whose books I have enjoyed when they were made into movies-Black Dahlia and LA Confidential. So all the components were there, but I just couldn’t finish it because it was so toxic.

Every page was filled with racist and ethnic slurs. Most of the main characters were misogynistic, corrupt and brutal as they tried to out maneuver each other in their efforts to gain more power.  Although the investigation into the murder of a Japanese family right before Pearl Harbor had intriguing plot twists, it got lost in the toxic interactions between the characters. Generally, I love authors who conjure up the life and times of their characters since it adds a sense of realism and integrity to the story. Gritty, colorful language, regional accents and swearing can all contribute to that sense of realism but in this case the “color” overwhelmed the main story line making it impossible for me to read. I have been quite surprised by my reaction since I really am not a sensitive reader, but some combination of things in this book just got to me and I just had to put it down.  I am disappointed and even embarrassed to confess this but I am sure you too have experienced this at some point in your reading life.  I hope that you will take time to share your own “couldn’t finish it” books. Who knows it might be cathartic!  In the end, all I can say is that we have to shake off our disappointment and that smidge of embarrassment for not being able to gut through books we don’t like and then we must be vigilant to not let that experience taint our ability to try new books, or new authors or even new genres, because that would be the real perfidia!

Brenda’s Rating: Zero out of 5 Stars

Recommend this book to: Only those with tough stomachs!

Book Study Worthy? maybe

Read in ebook format.