Books you have been unable to finish

[Halicarnassus]

An unfinished book is a problem for me. They remain as sore points, adorning my library shelves, winking at me as I shuffle past with a book and a cup of tea in hand.

This may be a problem, only for those who normally read their books from start through to finish, ploughing on despite sometimes heavy wearisome going. Others may think life's too short.

Anyway, two that come to mind, to start the conversation...

Underworld by Don Delilo. Got to half way and I just couldn't go on.

The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk. Same.

[stevensfo]

This may be a problem, only for those who normally read their books from start through to finish, ploughing on despite sometimes heavy wearisome going.

Apart from a few that I had to read at school, I can't imagine making myself continue a book like that without a very good reason.


However there are some books that I've stopped reading for other reasons. I remember starting to read The old Curiosity Shop a long time ago, and giving up about halfway, not because it was boring, but because life at that time was just not conducive to the enjoyment. Busy family life, pressure at work, new house, whatever. With books like those, you have to really immerse yourself in them and I felt it was impossible. To enjoy a book, I have to be alone, with no distractions. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have some relative peace and quiet this summer to get back to my favourite pastime of coming home early from work and sitting on the terrace with a book and a beer!

A few years ago, I started a book called 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt. It's in two or three parts and I stopped at the end of the first part, not due to it being hard going, but because our kids were coming back from uni and I was being nagged to do things in the garden. I was enjoying it so much and wanted time to finish it in peace so I could savour every chapter. Maybe this summer?

Steve

[Halicarnassus]

I suppose there are a few reasons why one might plough on despite the feeling of wading through a never-ending marsh.
The book might get better, hopefully. I am a man who likes to complete things I start. I don't like giving into things. I feel that if I lay aside a book then everything that has gone before has been a waste of my time.
Okay, I probably need to see a psychologist.

[midnightcatprowl]

When younger I would plough on determined to finish but that's changed as the decades have gone by. Now? Well there are so many books out there I'd like to read so why waste time on those I'm not enjoying or finding worthwhile?

I also think that feeling you 'must' finish a book can in its most extreme form lead people to be less adventurous readers avoiding the new and unknown.

My route to not being bothered about not finishing books was eased by donations to Charity Shops and participation in Bookcrossing and, of course, simply returning things to the library which meant they weren't around to nag at me from my shelves.

Now I've pretty much switched entirely to e-books it is delightfully easy not to finish something. If you are certain it is a no go, rather than something which you might finish when you're in a different mood or have the time for the more concentrated reading it requires, it can be deleted and it vanishes.

I can't remember most of the books I haven't finished - probably because a big reason for not continuing was the inability to remember what had already happened or which character was which.

Recent non finished books have included:

Between Seasons (Home Book 1) by Aida Brassington, this is sort of in the fantasy genre. Great concept but insufficiently tight writing to sustain my interest.

Clayhanger Arnold Bennett. Much enjoyed when I studied it for O level or maybe A level, today it just makes me yawn.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I gave away the quarter read print version, I'll be deleting the one twentieth read e-book version. So many people express such enthusiasm for this, but I seem to be lacking in the appreciation of whatever it is.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: Wayfarers 1 by Becky Chambers. Good concept but too many characters who are too difficult to remember and as there are clearly lots more characters to come I've given up.

The Honey Month by Amal El-Mohtar which was a Book Club read much appreciated by others but I struggled with it. The stories and poems are all based on the taste/appearance/aroma of a particular honey and as I actually dislike the taste and aroma of honey maybe that was the root of the problem.

[Slarti]

A friend bought me Joseph Heller's Something Happened as he knew I'd enjoyed Catch 22 and he was into literature.

I tried, I really did, but it was turgid, boring and nothing had happened, or looked as if it was going to. It is a long book and I managed about 2/3 before admitting defeat.

I was also unable to read The Count of Monte Cristo the first time I tried and then years later was given a very posh copy, by my then girlfriend, and found it hard to put down. Investigation revealed that they were different translations, so from then on, if a book has a non-English source and I find it hard going, I look for a different translation. Doesn't always work, but often does.


Oh, and I failed War & Peace. Couldn't keep the characters straight in my head.

Slarti

[midnightcatprowl]

A friend bought me Joseph Heller's Something Happened as he knew I'd enjoyed Catch 22 and he was into literature.

I tried, I really did, but it was turgid, boring and nothing had happened, or looked as if it was going to.

Exactly the same reaction here. Couldn't wait to read Something Happened after reading Catch 22 but couldn't wait to stop reading Something Happened once I'd started it. Always think of it as great title pity about the rest!

[hermit100]

'The Coming of the King' by Nikolai Tolstoy.

As I have an Arthuriana obsession I made a number of attempts to read this book but could just never get into it and gave up. Having said that, it is still on my bookshelf...

Nowadays I'd give up after one go, maybe two if I really thought the second attempt might be different*, so many books to read and so little time.

*I remember, to my shame, giving up on Pratchett's 'The Colour of Magic' at first go, I was clearly just not tuned in to the right wavelength and couldn't see why people liked it so much. Second attempt totally different, read it from cover to cover in one sitting. And every Pratchett since.

[Lootman]

If I don't like a book I will rapidly discard it. I don't like wasting my time (except here, obviously). I might persevere if the book is highly recommended by people I trust but only up to a point.

So either I give up after a few pages or I finish it. The only exception to that was Atlas Shrugged. About half way through John Galt's massive soliloquy, I lost the will to carry on. No regrets; I had gotten the idea.

[Slarti]

If I don't like a book I will rapidly discard it. I don't like wasting my time (except here, obviously). I might persevere if the book is highly recommended by people I trust but only up to a point.

So either I give up after a few pages or I finish it. The only exception to that was Atlas Shrugged. About half way through John Galt's massive soliloquy, I lost the will to carry on. No regrets; I had gotten the idea.

Wish I could remember what they were, but I did give up on a couple of books part way through because they suddenly changed, almost as if the author had got fed up and somebody else took over. So had been enjoying then next chapter not at all. They went to charity shop and out of my mind.

Slarti

[UncleEbenezer]

Many reasons:
- I'm working through at low priority it over a period of years (Decline&fall of the Roman Empire. B**** idiot of an editor in the way of the edition I have. )
- Too hard to make the effort (Finnegans Wake)
- Damn, this started nicely, but got boring as soon as he turns his attention away from fire and brimstone (Paradise Lost).
- WTF is the point of this?
- Got distracted by life, and haven't got around to restarting it yet.

[Halicarnassus]

Many reasons:
- I'm working through at low priority it over a period of years (Decline&fall of the Roman Empire. B**** idiot of an editor in the way of the edition I have. )
- Too hard to make the effort (Finnegans Wake)
- Damn, this started nicely, but got boring as soon as he turns his attention away from fire and brimstone (Paradise Lost).
- WTF is the point of this?
- Got distracted by life, and haven't got around to restarting it yet.

What edition of Gibbon do you have?

[UncleEbenezer]

What edition of Gibbon do you have?

It's from Gutenberg.

Gibbon's text is interspersed with idiosyncratic notes, apparently from one Rev H.H.Milman. The distinction between Gibbon's text and the notes is at times woefully unclear.

[Halicarnassus]

What edition of Gibbon do you have?

It's from Gutenberg.

Gibbon's text is interspersed with idiosyncratic notes, apparently from one Rev H.H.Milman. The distinction between Gibbon's text and the notes is at times woefully unclear.

Ah, ok. I have the Everymans edition which are quite decent.

[TedSwippet]

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

It is consistently highly rated and features on many "Best. Books. Ever!" lists, but for some reason I wasn't able to get more than about a quarter of the way through. The issue wasn't lack of time. I just found it turgid and not engaging.

Thanks mostly to project Gutenberg I have read plenty of 19th century novels in e-book form, including Crime and Punishment by the same author and which I rate very highly indeed, so I don't know why this one failed to capture me. It's not pure length either, since in the same episode -- a lot of commuting -- I read Anna Karenina, War and Peace and Moby Dick, among many others. Perhaps like a lot of works from the same era, this one only really seems to come to life around half way through, and I didn't get that far.

Anyway, this remains my one memorable failure. Is anyone prepared to convince me that it's worth another attempt at scaling it?

[AleisterCrowley]

Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand

On the other hand: I couldn't get on with London Fields (M Amis) when first attempted, but I picked it up again a year or so later, read the whole thing and really enjoyed it

[Halicarnassus]

Atlas Shrugged- Ayn Rand

On the other hand: I couldn't get on with London Fields (M Amis) when first attempted, but I picked it up again a year or so later, read the whole thing and really enjoyed it

Rand's book is a topic for hot debate. Many despise the literature and love the philosophy; and every other permutation possible.

I thought it was OK.

[Gaggsy]

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I gave away the quarter read print version, I'll be deleting the one twentieth read e-book version. So many people express such enthusiasm for this, but I seem to be lacking in the appreciation of whatever it is.

Funny how different books by the same auther can give such opposite results.
A pub conversation about "the best book I've ever read" led me to The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov. Which I enjoyed but wouldn't say I shared my drinking buddy's enthusiasm. That put me on to The Master and Margarita which I have to say I struggled with. Could have been a differnt author as far as I was concerned. I did finish it though.

A friend bought me Joseph Heller's Something Happened as he knew I'd enjoyed Catch 22 and he was into literature.
I tried, I really did, but it was turgid, boring and nothing had happened, or looked as if it was going to.

Exactly the same reaction here. Couldn't wait to read Something Happened after reading Catch 22 but couldn't wait to stop reading Something Happened once I'd started it. Always think of it as great title pity about the rest!

I read Catch 22 as a teenager and loved it. We also had 'Something Happened' in the house but that one, I didn't even start. My brother had read it and reviewed it for me. His review? "Nothing Happened". Time well saved.

A few I've actually started but not finished:
The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy. I'd recently read several books with an Indian theme. Read the first chapter of this and thought - no more.
Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe. Downloaded it free and started the first few pages. Thought - I already know the story - didn't continue.
Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy. Another free download. Maybe it's because I'm not invested? On the other hand I read Under The Greenwood Tree and thought it was great.

[TedSwippet]

We also had 'Something Happened' in the house but that one, I didn't even start. My brother had read it and reviewed it for me. His review? "Nothing Happened".

Yeah, I thought it sludgy. I later read Good as Gold and found that more approachable and entertaining than even Catch-22, but Good as Gold seems to split opinions right down the middle so you might not find the same.

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy. I'd recently read several books with an Indian theme. Read the first chapter of this and thought - no more.

I really liked this one. It's about a decade since I read it, but I still recall it well. I especially liked the way the narrative's timelines oscillated around both before and after its defining moment, only settling there and resolving at the book's end.

[JMN2]

I liked Pat Conroy's earlier books but couldn't finish his 2009 South of Broad. The dialogue was embarrassingly corny and stilted.

[carrie80]

I'm having trouble thinking of any books that I've made a definite decision not to finish, but if I'm not in the mood for a book I had been reading, I'll pick something else up instead and it's quite common that I'll never get around to going back to the earlier book. Occasionally something I couldn't get into first time round will work for me on a later reading - Jo Walton's Among Others is one of these.

I can think of a handful of books I've finished despite not liking them over the last few years. Mostly it's that I really dislike one or more of the main characters, but there was something else compelling about the book. One was a loan from a friend who has introduced me to a number of authors I love. In one (A Discovery of Witches) I was really infuriated by the central romance and felt the "hero" was someone the protagonist should run away screaming from, but I still wanted to know what happened. One (Rule 34) was a Fool Book Club read and was quite interesting, barely saved by one sympathetic viewpoint character to balance the one repulsive and one slightly unpleasant viewpoints. One (Leviathan Wakes), I strongly disliked one viewpoint character, but the other one was fine and I was interested in the plot.