On my second try reading Walden by Thoreau, I made it about a 1/4 of the way before giving up and desperately perusing my Kindle for anything else to read. That’s when I started reading The Adventures of Sally (1921) by P.G. Wodehouse. The Adventures of Sally was a book I’d picked up shortly after buying my Kindle, when I discovered the large number of free classics available on Amazon. I’d never heard of P.G. Wodehouse before but he had positive reviews and it’s hard to say no to free.
As soon as I started reading The Adventures of Sally, it was like a refreshing breath of air. Gone was the pretentious, wordy preaching of Thoreau and instead I was thrown into the clever and quick dialogue and descriptions of Sally and her friends. Only one page in, and I knew I would finish this book.
I never could get into Thoreau, despite having to read him in high school and college. He’s one of the reasons I tend to shy away from philosophy.