True Confession: Polar Book Club Failure

I hang my head in shame and announce something that should be obvious by now: I did not read Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, the Polar Book Club book this past winter.

I tried. In fact, I am still trying to read it, a few sideways glances at a time.

It is perhaps the least enjoyable book I have encountered this year.

It was weird, which I normally do not mind (and, truth be told, tend to prefer). 

It was tedious reading, scattered, unfocused storytelling. 

It also put children in adult situations. Okay, let's not be coy: a pre-teen boy was having all the sex he could muster. I cannot tolerate gratuitous sexualization of children in books, and since the story ambled along in a scattershot way, I did not see the value in that portrayal of a child. 

Finally, it was not the story I expected to read. I thought I was getting a love story that stretched across time.  Instead, I managed to get quite a ways into the story without a glimmer of such romance (but plenty of sex).

I read a few pages every once in a while, hoping it gets somewhere good. However, I think I am formally and publicly surrendering. It's not the book I want to read, so I won't.

Have you read it? Have you tried? Let me know!