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Books you’ve tried to read but just can’t get on with them

213 replies

GonnaGetGoingReturns · 28/04/2023 23:15

I know this is subjective but what books have you read or tried to read but just can’t stomach them?

My recent ones are:-

Brother of the More Famous Jack - what a load of pompous affected twaddle! Can’t seem to see how it’s so lauded, got to page 17 and gave up.

Cold Comfort Farm - managed a bit better with this, about 4 chapters in, but still, affected pompous twaddle. Was told it was similar to the adorable I Capture The Castle but it’s not, at all! Gave it to SIL to read as she got I Cspture The Castle for me and she didn’t like it and when I asked DM if she’d read it when she was younger she said exactly the same about it as me.

Oh and if anyone sees K-Ming Chang’s Bestiary and thinks it looks interesting, it isn’t, it’s just weird!

OP posts:
GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 29/04/2023 22:37

The Grapes Of Wrath. It was so bad I couldn't read more than a third of it, even though it was my A level exam text.

I really really tried but it was like wading through treacle. In the dark. While drunk. Wearing a lead suit.

So lucky that the exam was entirely on the first third!!

Also the Tom Bombadil part of LOTR. Completely pointless and intensely annoying.

PermanentTemporary · 29/04/2023 22:36

Another vote for Anna Karenina. I've been attempting to read it and completely failing for 36 years. (Though now I think about it, it's always men who are pressing it on me. There must be female fans of it?)

Having gone from totally not getting Dickens to being a big fan, I think there's always hope of new horizons.

HeadNorth · 29/04/2023 22:23

The Mirror and the Light. I loved Wolf Hall. Bring Up the Bodies was not as good, but still good. But OMG, The Mirror and the Light was tedious.

JaneJeffer · 29/04/2023 22:10

Footle · 29/04/2023 22:04

@JaneJeffer , you haven't missed much. Though my DH was riveted by one of them.

Grin
m00rfarm · 29/04/2023 22:10

I read LOTR when I was 11 and loved it. I read it again in my 30s and thought it was absolutely rubbish - needs serious editing to make it even faintly acceptable. And The Silmarillion I hated even as an 11 year old. I read War and Peace when I was 11 and read it again when I was in my 30s and still loved it (just understood the nuances slightly better!). So it is not an age thing - a good book is still a good book, irrespective of my age!

HewasH2O · 29/04/2023 22:09

My Brilliant Friend - a book needing a whose who at the start is over complicating things.

Cantsayanything · 29/04/2023 22:09

Les Miserables. I generally enjoy French 19th century literature but can't get on with Victor Hugo.

Something by Luca Veste. I'd read a couple previously and they were ok. The last one though I couldn't finish. I can't even remember the title and that probably explains why it was £2 in the supermarket.

I never saw the point of Lord of the Rings when people got into it at school and I've never tried to read Harry Potter either.

Footle · 29/04/2023 22:04

@JaneJeffer , you haven't missed much. Though my DH was riveted by one of them.

RampantIvy · 29/04/2023 22:03

Shuggie Bain was quite an eye opener. I read it with horrific fascination. It wasn't a comfortable read.

JaneJeffer · 29/04/2023 22:02

Footle · 29/04/2023 21:49

@JaneJeffer , Mary Webb's Precious Bane , in particular. Also I think The Constant Nymph.

Ah see I haven't read those so it means nothing to me

JacobsCrackersCheeseFogg · 29/04/2023 22:01

Shuggie Bain too. I think it's the Glasgow dialect. This Sassanach couldn't get on with it.

LOTR, and Hobbit which mystified DH because he loves Tolkein.

Dickens. Too difficult to get through. Most "classic" literature though. It's a chore to read than a pleasure.

Nightynightnight · 29/04/2023 22:00

I think I have a copy of this somewhere but never got round to starting it. I'll dig it out now.

TaraRhu · 29/04/2023 21:57

@LadyMonicaBaddingham I agree. I finished it because I skimmmec out every second page. Sentimental rubbish. I don't get why she could just be a bit of a weirdo without some horrendous back story.

catlovingdoctor · 29/04/2023 21:54

A Little Life. Just didn't engage me at all, gave up after the first few pages.

TaraRhu · 29/04/2023 21:53

My brilliant friend and the follow ups. Too much description. Really wanted to like them but they just didn't suit my tempo or something.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 29/04/2023 21:51

I threw Eleanor bloody Oliphant in the bin. What a pile of nonsense

Footle · 29/04/2023 21:49

@JaneJeffer , Mary Webb's Precious Bane , in particular. Also I think The Constant Nymph.

midsomermurderess · 29/04/2023 21:46

Riddley Walker is marvellous. It does take commitment but it is worth it. It’s haunting.

weegiemum · 29/04/2023 21:46

Anything by Jane Austen. I've tried, but they were all so tedious I decided I'd not waste my time any more!

TokyoSushi · 29/04/2023 21:45

Thursday Murder Club, I've been reading it for about 18 months, 2 or 3 pages every few weeks! It's just so boring!

HarrietSchulenberg · 29/04/2023 21:44

I'm currently on my third attempt at Anna Karenina. I've been trying for 25 years but keep getting distracted, giving up for years, then having to restart.
Took me three goes at Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker but I'm so glad I persevered as it became one of my favourite books.
I've given up completely with Ulysses.

grannysmithspips · 29/04/2023 21:42

YukoandHiro · 29/04/2023 20:40

The Paper Palace. Boring, and the main protagonist is a twat.

Agreed

grannysmithspips · 29/04/2023 21:41

HewasH2O · 29/04/2023 20:34

LOTR and A Suitable Boy. On the plus side LOTR meant I never wasted time on any other fantasy books. ASB is still waiting on a shelf 20 odd years later with a bookmarked where I gave up.

Same with A suitable boy. It has been on countless holidays, still unread. I have the original version and the version where ut is split in to a few books. I have it on kindle and on audible. I really want to love it. But I don't - yet!

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 29/04/2023 21:40

Any of the classics-Jane Austen. Brick lane

Derrymum123 · 29/04/2023 21:34

The Thursday murder club too. I so wanted to enjoy it, but oh my days, just not my cup of tea. The style of writing just wasn't engaging at all. But I do like Richard Osman on TV.