Am I wrong about The 100-year-old Man...?

[CaptainNelson]

Ok, so this was chosen for my book group. I didn't go into it with the best attitude because it annoys me when books have ridiculously long titles, but I tried to put aside my prejudices. However, about a third of the way through I found myself sighing in boredom when I picked up the book; I didn't care about any of the characters, I didn't find it funny at all, just daft, and I was particularly irritated by the old man's castration just so that the writer could avoid any messy romantic involvement. I gave up. But book group meeting is approaching and now I feel guilty about abandoning it.
Am I wrong about this book? The world seems to think so. What have I missed?

[Epiphany52]

I found this book annoying and really didn’t care about any of the characters. Read the plot on Wilkipedia and then tell your book group you didn’t like it and why. That’s what book groups are for!

[Pinkruler]

I gave up on it before I got to the castration bit! Plus my grandfather was about 100 at the time and I just couldn't buy into it.

[AliasGrape]

I read it and finished it but can’t remember the castration or anything at all other than I found it all tedious and annoying.

[elephantoverthehill]

I'm afraid I gave up on it too.

[Juicer54321]

Me too. I read it on holiday so I carried on whilst away. Got up until the last chapter but I haven’t bothered to finish it.

[LoniceraJaponica]

I gave up on it as well

[SagelyNodding]

It's one of the very few books I have given up on. I thought it was a load of shite.

[DeadBod]

Didn't like it at all. I gave up in the end which I don't think I've ever done with a book before.

[BartonHollow]

I read it all (for a book club)

It was absolutely shite and I found it dire and annoying

[Thebookswereherfriends]

I’m not one to give up on books, but I also packed it in. Only got 2 or 3 chapters and it was just not engaging me.

[MsAwesomeDragon]

I read it all for a book club. It was ok, but I'll happily read anything, I'm not particularly discerning. I would never choose to read it again, and I've not been tempted to read any more by the same author. It was just a bit meh.

[greyspottedgoose]

I finished it! And got 63 pages into the sequel before admitting defeat

[fessmess]

I loved it. One of my favourites. We also read it in book group and we all scored it high.

[cloudtree]

I think it’s a fantastic book. Ds1 (13) has also just read it and absolutely loved it.

[Arcadia]

I found it boring and skipped long bits. Didn't get the hype.

[Foodylicious]

The6te is a film if you can drag yourself through it...

[Arcadia]

This is way better....

[DontPanic42]

I read it and really liked it, I thought it was quite clever and a bit like Forrest Gump

[CaptainNelson]

Glad I'm not alone!
goose, there's a sequel?
epiphany, I like your thinking

[LoniceraJaponica]

I must admit that I'm struggling to understand why people liked it. At first I thought it was slightly amusing, and a bit Forrest Gump-like, but it became too repetitive and ultimately rather boring. When a book reaches the point where I am not interested in turning the next page then it is time to give up.

I gave up on The Life of Pi as well.

[StartedEarly]

I gave up.
I like my book group, they are lovely people and I love it when everyone talks about what they are reading. I'm fed up though of books I hate. It's making me read less not more because I prevaricate.
My current dilemma is whether to quit or carry on and brazen out the months I don't want to read the books. To be fair no-one ever minds if you hold your hand up and say you haven't read it.

[AngryPrincess]

I thought he was a total git to be honest.

[CaptainNelson]

started, I feel a bit like you. I don't want to leave the group, but haven't enjoyed many of the books recently. But I'm sure some of the others don't like the books I choose, so maybe we all just need to be more honest. I don't always like the books I choose, actually - and I have said so! I know that not finishing the books isn't unusual within the group, so I'm just going to go and say what I thought as unconfrontationally as possible!
But I'm so glad so many other people didn't like it either

[ivykaty44]

He was castrated 😳 I forgot that part, I read it all - it was a bit silly..

[hackmum]

I thought he was a total git to be honest.

Well, yes, that's the point. It's a satirical novel. If people haven't grasped that, they won't enjoy it.