Which book has defeated you?

[xsquared]

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!

Anna Karenina for me. Got about a third of the way in and couldn’t read any more.

The Shadow of the Wind. Was sat on a train once reading it and had got quite a lot of the way through it, when the guy sat next to me pointed out that he'd got 'this far' before giving up. It was further on from where I was so, at that point I decided to give up, too. Wasn't enjoying it. [Did love Captain Corelli, though, but I did read it whilst sitting on a beach in Crete and found it a great holiday read]. I refused to watch the tv adaptation of 'The Mill on the Floss' until I'd read the book. By the time I'd admitted to myself that I was never going to read it and watched the video I realised that the child actors in the film were all grown up [well, middle aged, I'd say; Emily Watson was one of them]. Also gave up on The Book Thief and just watched the film. Which I wish I hadn't....

There should be a support group for people who can’t finish Anna Karenina. I should be the chair though because despite hating every word and hoping she caught consumption I can remember ridiculous detail about duck shooting and mushroom picking on the bastard carriage ride. I need that memory space for passwords and things.

I'm currently fighting my way through War and Peace. For some reason I keep noping out of it.

A Prayer For Owen Meany. A friend at uni raved about it so I thought I would read it. That was nearly 20 years ago and I haven't finished it yet! I might give it another go - third time lucky!

Lord of the Rings, Middlemarch and Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

Love Catcher in The Rye.

Catch 22 seems to be a marmite book, I remember reading it whilst quite young and finding it a quite easy and funny read.

One on that list was the secret history, I heard about it on here. People loved it, but I really didn't rate it, can't even remember why now.

bananapeanutbutterandtoast Don't write The Goldfinch off! Loved it and often think about it though there are two particular sections that could have used some brutal editing as unnecessarily drawn out.

I finished Anna Karenina! I quite liked though I hated Anna herself, she was so annoying and self indulgent. I despised catcher in the rye when I read it in school then for some reason decided to revisit it 20 years later and I loved it.

I start loads of books, work really hard, even enjoy them a fair bit, then stop reading for a little, turns into ages then I think we’ll realistically I need to start again but that feels worse than starting a book from scratch so I just stop. Got more than halfway through war and peace, which I liked! and did that. I hate myself.

Wolf Hall for me.

*well

@SkeletonSkins
Glad it's not just me! I'm giving it until Sunday (back at work Monday) to see if I can get into it.

I would recommend skimming the war bits to complete War and Peace. (Former student of Russian literature). It's what got me through it!

The Talisman by Stephen King for me. No idea why, I loved the sequel, Black House. Just a nope, have never got more than a third in.

Another vote for Ulysses. Is there really any point in making a book quite so incomprehensible?

Loved Anna Karenina though. Plus pretty much all Russian novels, with my favourite being Crime and Punishment.

Lord of the Rings, Atonement and struggling with Gone with the Wind at the moment. Just cannot get into it at all.

Middlemarch.
The god of small things
The miniaturist.

Couldn’t get through them at all!

David Copperfield - best cure for insomnia I've ever attempted to read, I'm unlucky if I make it past page 1 and have never made it past the end of chapter 1.

@HadAnOeuf, fair, I think I'll have to tbh. @RaskolnikovsGarret, Crime and Punishment is probably one of my favourite books, I do like Ulysses though as well.@Bosabosa The miniaturist is next on my to be read list. I've not attempted it yet.

Cloud Atlas. Utter shite.

Wuthering Heights for me. I think a PP mentioned it too. I have tried and tried and finally admitted defeat. I am never going to read that fucking book.

Catch 22. I gave up. That was back when I used to force myself to finish books so it was obviously very bad!

I read The Catcher in the Rye but I don't remember a thing about it.

There's some really bad books on that list though. The Lovely Bones and The Time Traveller's Wife are awful.

I love Middlemarch - it's probably in my top 5 books of all time! Couldn't finish The Famished Road or The God of Small Things, though.

Middlemarch

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