The Great Passage is the first that I’ve actually read of the many, many “Kindle First” books that I’ve downloaded for free in the past year or so since I became aware of the Amazon program. I can’t ignore the opportunity for a free book, but I’ve been so on top of my library queue and meeting self-imposed reading deadlines that I just haven’t gotten to any of these, which I mostly choose either based on the description being the least irritating of the group in a given month, or maybe there being a cute cover that seems like maybe the pick might be whimsical enough.
Because while I love a free book, I’m also skeptical. And based on The Great Passage, I’ll continue to feed and exercise that skepticism. Because it’s fine. But I could have been reading something else.
I just kept wondering WHY write this book? It’s the story of the creation of a dictionary, which is a pretty fascinating undertaking… have you read The Professor and the Mad Man? Get on THAT, if you want to be reading a book about a dictionary. Hooboy. (And ps: it’s NON-Fiction!)
But I digress, mostly because The Passage is pretty boring. There are a bunch of people involved in the thing, and they’re all decent people drawn into the complexity of the project, which takes so long to accomplish that everyone involved crosses at least one if not several personal thresholds over the passage of time. But the heart is missing, as is any momentum, and when the market is flooded with books (hooray! I’m not complaining!) why did I read this one?