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Original poster

Which book has defeated you?

307 replies

xsquared · 03/01/2019 23:43

Inspired by the top 100 thread, I thought I'd start a thread about books that you've tried reading, perhaps more than once, but given up on.

For me it's bloody Middlemarch! I'm 39 now and I started reading it around 15 hopefully in time to do an English essay about women's roles in 18th century literature, which was met with a "whoo" from my teacher at the time. She was right though.

Tried reading it again in my early 20s but was distracted with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Tried again at least twice more, probably on holiday somewhere and I think I've got to admit defeat. I don't seem to get much further than shortly after Dorothea marries Casauban.

I got half way through War and Peace when it was televised but lost interest when the series finished. I may try it again this year!

OP posts:
colouringinpro · 05/01/2019 12:39

A couple over the years but the real stand-out was Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I'm sure it is very clever, twins, old and new India and everything in between but I had no idea what was going on!

haverhill · 05/01/2019 12:43

Loads. I no longer feel a failure if I don’t want to finish a book. Life’s too short.
The Goldfinch, Wolf Hall, Crime and Punishment, Bleak House, Far From the Madding Crowd.

MiniMum97 · 05/01/2019 12:48

@Cakemonger yes me too! I loved the style of writing. It's the first book I've read where I actually reread sections just so I could enjoy reading them again!

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Books
OneStepMoreFun · 05/01/2019 13:08

Captain bloody Corelli. I just wanted to scream, 'Get on with it!'

Cakemonger · 05/01/2019 21:16

@Cakemonger @OneStepMoreFun So interesting that the same thing makes one person love a book and another hate it!

Mokepon · 05/01/2019 21:27

War and Peace.
Several times. I get to the war bit and yawn. No way.
And I want to get through it as Anna Karenina is one of my favourite books and I feel like it should be worth it.

chachaboom · 05/01/2019 22:29

Catch 22. Urgh.

Justheretogiveaviewfrommyworld · 05/01/2019 22:33

Chesil Beach

ContessaIsOnADietDammit · 05/01/2019 22:38

Moby Dick. I've tried several times in my life and have just not got anywhere with it.

Hare with the amber eyes. I was quite happy to abandon that one Grin

Bel Canto. I felt bad as a friend recommended it, but I hated it!

The Dispossessed. Again, a friend loved it but I never got very far; currently having another go....

researchandbiscuitfan · 05/01/2019 22:59

Re Wolf Hall - nope, everyone was called Thomas, not Oliver!!

Many of my very favourites are mentioned above , including A Suitable Boy, The English Patient, Captain Corelli.

However I read them mostly in my teens or twenties. Wolf Hall I’ve just ‘read’ thanks to Audible in the car - I don’t think I’d have patience to actually read it.

I think audio is probably the trick for books you want to read but can’t seem to. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose plus Last of the Mohicans are my nemeses

GetYourRocksOff · 05/01/2019 23:02

We Need to Talk About Kevin. I've tried a few times and I just cat!

CantstandmLMs · 05/01/2019 23:10

I have We need to talk about Kevin in my to read pile. Lots saying they couldn't get through it. Was it boring or was it the subject matter can I ask?

MsTSwift · 05/01/2019 23:13

God I couldn’t put we need to talk about Kevin down. Absolutely compelling book and very readable. Dark though. Love Lionel Shriver though read almost all of her books and met her a few times

BobbinThreadbare123 · 05/01/2019 23:21

I did not get through Ulysses as it is dull as shite. I also couldn't finish The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. Nonsensical bollocks. Also The Book of Dave by Will Self. I didn't mean to not finish it, but I put it down and could not be arsed to restart it.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 06/01/2019 06:47

Ooh I loved wuthering heights. But I grew up on the Yorkshire moors too so it was very evocative for me. Also loved Madame bovary.

Could not get into Kerouac. I have tried but it really doesn't appeal.

I also managed to finish the rainboew by dh Lawrence but it was such a slog I threw it in the recycling Blush

Myoldfriend · 06/01/2019 06:59

I gave up on Catch 22 and never managed to finish Great Expectations.

ItsClemFandangoCanYouHearMe · 06/01/2019 09:11

@BikeRunSki it was. I was trying to read it on holiday so lots of things going on and it really threw me as I was struggling to concentrate. Funnily enough I read Kevin bridges autobiography first so I thought I'd have it down.

I must try again as I haven't seen the film and I keep saying I want to get through the book first.

taybert · 06/01/2019 09:24

Hmm, Captain Corelli and Catch 22 are two of my favourite books! That said, Catch 22 took me a few attempts and I only persevered to impress a boy (now DH!) I think they both get to a point when all the threads start to come together and you start to understand bits that previously made no sense. The fact that Catch 22 isn’t even chronological doesn’t really help. As I get older I am generally of the opinion that life is too short to spend hours reading a book you’re not enjoying though and I regularly ditch them. If I was coming to Catch 22 for the first time now I almost definitely wouldn’t finish it.

redexpat · 06/01/2019 09:28

Out of Africa. Tried 3 times, once when I was in Kenya.
Catch 22
Middlemarch

mamaduckbone · 06/01/2019 09:33

I loved both Captain Corelli and The Goldfinch but both took me a couple of attempts to get through about the first third and to a point where it all starts to come together and make sense.
The Bees I’ve tried hard with but can’t finish.

MiniDoofa · 06/01/2019 09:36

The life of Pi. Something about uncovering teeth on an island was the final straw for me.
So glad someone else said Elena Ferrante. I got half way thru my brilliant friend- was trying to read it before I watch the much acclaimed tv series. So so boring. Not sure I can even be bothered with the tv version!!

sulflower · 06/01/2019 09:48

The Hobbit bored me to tears and I gave up. Same with American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis, dull dull dull.

ClinkyMonkey · 06/01/2019 09:57

The last volume of The Lord of the Rings, many years ago. I think I was having misgivings about finishing the trilogy halfway through volume 2, but I persevered. Then a few chapters into volume three I just stopped. Too many battles, which seemed to go on for endless pages. The prose was so dense it was like wading through treacle.

One man's meat is another man's poison, as the saying goes. It's great to get recommendations from other people and sometimes they work out well. Other times they don't and that very fact is interesting in itself.

I'm reluctant to reread some of my favourites from years ago in case I find out that they were, in fact, crap! I'd rather live with my lovely hazy memories.

PutYourShirtOnMartin · 06/01/2019 10:05

Gormenghast trilogy

I want to love this book so much and I have tried many times to read it but.... arrrghhh

BikeRunSki · 06/01/2019 11:20

@ItsClemFandangoCanYouHearMe
Watch the film, the cinematography is beautiful even if the subject matter is somewhat grim.

I still have a soft spot for a Glaswegian accent though. obviously why I married a man from Gloucestershire