Perseverance in reading

[whiffey]

If you start a book, do you always finish it ?

I used to until I began War and Peace and was nearly crying with boredom after a few chapters. On realising how much there was still to go, for the first time ever I abandoned a book. There are variations within an author, for example all of Trollope's Barchester books are brilliant, but other novels, e.g. Nina Balatka, leave me cold.

Which book have you given up on the quickest ? Conversely which book could you not put down ? (for me The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth)

[goldenboy]

i gave up on lord of the rings and the illuminatus trilogy.

[shaneystar2]

War and Peace is the best book ever for insomniacs ..after a few pages you drop off to sleep through sheer boredom .
Lord of the Rings was ditched after a few chapters ,likewise Captain Corellis Mandolin
One book I found boring to start with and nearly gave up on was Dr Zhivago by Pasternak but I stuck with it and am glad I did and have read it again several times.
Books I can't put down are mainly murder mysteries and thrillers with the exception of that drivel The Da Vinci Code which was also ditched into the nearest charity shop after a couple of chapters. !
Classics eg Dickens ,Gaskell ..I will read again and again.
I also have to admit that I still read Just William from time to time !

[dot.hawkes]

anything by Patricia Cornwell leaves me cold, i cannot bother with her, but anything John Grishom I can stick with.

[SaxyJag]

Usually, yes, even if it's not brilliant. I've only left three books unfinished in as many years, viz: 'Ursula, Under', 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' (made me put it down the quickest), and Benjamin Zephaniah's 'Gangsta Rap'.

A book has to be really bad to make me put down without finishing it.

I'm talking here only about published books. I read a lot of stuff that fellow would-be writers post to websites. Some of it's good, but some is just atrocious and not even critique-able without being offensive.

[LeMarchand]

I always used to read a book cover-to-cover; "Plague Dogs" was the first book I gave up on - I had to read the dialect out loud to try to understand it! I will still make a good effort to finish a book, but others I haven't been able to get through include "Lord of the Rings" (too many songs and poems), the first book of Robin Hobb's third trilogy (possibly not the best place to start, but I found it pretty tedious) and "The Lovely Bones" (I do intend to try again, but I suspect that my oestrogen levels aren't high enough).

[Hermit]

I always feel like a lightweight if I don't finish a book, especially if its a 'classic' but there are some I really have had to ditch such as Don Quixote, or one I tried loads of times with was Nikolei Tolstoy's Book of Merlin; I eventually got over the difficulty of all the welsh he put in only to discover that there was no characterisation or anything personable at all and yet the critics (on the back anyway) claimed it was as good as Leo Tolstoy altho on the basis of your post maybe that explains it :)

[Hermit]

Incidentally, the book I was surprised to find I couldn't put down until I literally fell asleep at about 4 in the morning was Jane Eyre. Suprising because I normally go for modern fantasy stuff and I'm a big tough man (well man anyway), not a girlie looking for romance.

I wonder if anything that is translated is going to be a let down on the classic side.

[whiffey]

Thanks everybody, very interesting.

Hermit, I agree utterly about Jane Eyre. Another one to read if you haven't already is A Tale of Two Cities. See it as a love story, one of the greatest ever written, and I defy anybody to read the final chapter with dry eyes.

[waimarie]

Hi whiffey, It must be me, I found the 'Da Vinci Code' one of the most boring books I spent good money on. I took it on holiday to France last year, did actually finish it and wondered why I bothered. I intend to see the film as it cannot be any worse than the book (that's my theory, anyway).

On the other side, every time I pick up 'Catch 22' there is something new and I never tire of reading it.

[jump79]

I usually start books I have some interest in so more likely than not, I'll finish them.


There are exceptions of course, and books that put me off right away are:
-Violins by Anne Rice
-most Jane Austen books
etc etc.


I'm reading a 600 page book at the moment, Birds Without Wings (Louis de Bernieres) and although it may take weeks or even months to read it all, I'm pretty sure I'll finish it.

[andy-hughes]

I've never managed to get past the first chapter of Lord Of The Rings, and I gave up on The Da Vinci Code about a thrd of the way through - I found it dreadfully clunky, with a boring plot.

I never mind not finishing a book, I simply move on to another - reading is for pleasure (unless for education) if you're not enjoying it, no-one is going to give you a gold medal because you stuck it out to the end. Life's too short, and there are too many great books to waste time on ones you don't really like.

[Hermit]

Waimarie, your comment about the Davinci code reminded of a book I really hated that I bought on the basis of hype -The Satanic Verses! Myabe I was bit young but it really put me off critics. All the metaphors seemed so contrived as if designed to be clever and win awards not to 'paint pictures with words' as they say. I mean fluffy as cloud may be naff but we all know what a cloud is so its descriptive, when the metaphore is obscure its pointless.

Maybe I should try again now I'm older, but I did try it quite a few times and suprised myself by eventually getting past the first bit and well over half way b4 realising that whilst I'd adapted to his style I just didn't care what happened next so I dumped it.

[robbo82]

Like Hermit, I always feel a bit of a cheat if I don't read a book cover to cover, therefore I have only ever given up on one book, E.M. Forster's A Passage to India. I found it hard to read more than half a page at a time without losing interest, I just had to ditch it or I would have been reading it for the next two years.,

[Hellion]

Anything by Henry James.

I managed to pass O Level English Literature without finishing 'Far from the Madding Crowd'.

The Magus by John Fowlds it's my sister's favourite book and god knows I've tried but it is sooo dull.

Sorry guy's I read LOTR when I was 16 and couldn't put it down - my Mum let me stay home from college so I could finish it.

Hermit - try Wuthering Heights once it gets going you can't put it down.

My favourite page turners are the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich I can polish one off in about 4 hours!

[CT]

I don't ever think i've given up on reading a book yet. Although Moby Dick by Herman Melville was a trawl. That took me about 8 months to read.
Books that I can't put down are usually good sci-fi. Saga of Seven Suns by Kevin J Anderson is probably the one that i've read the quickest.

[mycats]

I never got round to finishing
"Crime and punishment" started well then got dull, "Emma" who cares?? I couldnt finish it because I just didnt like her. oh and
"One flew over the cuckoo's nest" I have never managed to get past chapter three
and "A connecticut Yankee in King Arthrs Court"
Saying that, it took me about 5 attempts to get past the first couple of chapters in "Dune" and I have now read it literally dozens of times and it's my favourite book!

[mycats]

oops forgot ones I couldnt put down lol
any of the Vorkisigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold any of the Amber series and any Discworld book. Oh and Wuthering Heights, I was late meeting my mates in the pub one night because I had to finish it!

[Litchick]

The only book I ever put down before the end was Stephen King's "The Last Stand." I was disappointed because I'm a fan and he usually tells such a good story but this one went on and on going NOWHERE.