Me and Nicholas Nickleby

So last year, as part of my 2012 reading challenge, I began the daunting task of reading Nicholas Nickleby.  I have long been a fan of Dickens and I have long defended him against those who claimed that he was entirely too needlessly verbose to rightfully carry the credit so many literary scholars have given him over the years.  While I'm not about to abandon my stance that he is a great author I do have to admit that I found myself feeling acutely aware of the fact that he was being paid by the word as I slogged my way through the book. 

I was aware when I advanced through the chapters far more slowly than I thought I should be able to, I was aware when the month I had given myself to finish the book ended without me being even a quarter of the way through and I was painfully aware when I found myself procrastinating over and over again when I thought that I really should just sit down and read the damned thing.  After months of this I gave up on both the book and the reading challenge.

But I began this year by vowing to try it again and what better time to seek vengeance on my sloth than by challenging myself to finally finish the book for NaNoReMo, which John is once again hosting.  I admit, I find myself feeling very nervous about the fact that tomorrow marks the beginning of the shortest month of the year and I’m due to reach the end of this massive tome in only 28 days.  But I do have a significant head start and way more determination than I had the first time around- mainly because if I let this thing defeat me for a second time I will never forgive myself.

So this is me vowing to read- in its entirety- Nicholas Nickleby.  I will be linking back up to the Bathroom Monologues for blog hopping purposes as I post entries related to my progress and when I finally post my final review.  For those of you who are also participating, please post a comment and let me know so I can follow your progress as well.  For everyone else, wish me luck!