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Original poster

At what point do you give up on a book you're not enjoying?

31 replies

SaltResistantSlug · 13/06/2012 19:55

Or do you just persevere?

Bored rigid by the one I'm reading - and Kindle says I'm only 61% there. Don't really want to give up past halfway but it's very slow...

OP posts:
iamme43 · 13/06/2012 19:58

page 50.

stargirl1701 · 13/06/2012 19:59

I've only given twice.

Emma - awful, just awful
Cloud Atlas - didn't get it

I was about halfway through each time.

JackieandJudy · 13/06/2012 20:09

It used to be "never" as I couldn't help but feel that the author's hard slog should be repayed by my perserverance.

However, I'm older and wiser now, and I give up shortly after getting bored. Smile

FairToMiddlin · 13/06/2012 20:12

If I'm not gripped by the time I have read about 3 chapters - I give up.

DH will plough through to the end but complain whilst doing so!

FiftyShadesofViper · 13/06/2012 20:13

I don't, I battle on until I finish even if I hate it because I am always terrified it might get really good just after I put it down.

bigbadbarry · 13/06/2012 20:15

Shades of grey, 4 pages in. Usually give them a couple of chapters but life is too short to perservere for the sake of finishing.

Original poster
SaltResistantSlug · 13/06/2012 20:26

Fifty I understand that completely!

OP posts:
dalty · 13/06/2012 21:40

I once stuck at a book and eventually loved it. It was 'We need to talk about Kevin'. I found it really hard going but then could not put it down. I recommended it to everyone and a couple of months ago started to read it again. I hated it second time around! You never can tell!

ThisAintKansas · 14/06/2012 08:52

Not often. If I can get a third of the way through, I usually persevere (and I have finished some God awful books as a result).

I threw The Time Travellers Wife down in disgust about halfway through. Pure schmaltz.

Cloud Atlas was unreadable. I got less than a third through and gave it to the charity shop.

There are many books that i finish and think 'That was a waste of life'. Ach well. The perils of being an avid reader Grin

poorbuthappy · 14/06/2012 08:55

I have just given up on Fifty Shades of Shite at page 111. If she can't write normal stuff competently then I doubt she's going to set my knickers on fire with her sex.

FEEdec · 14/06/2012 08:55

I usually try and persevere as long as I can (at least 100 pages) before giving up. Although I can only remember giving up on one book and it seems a common one - Cloud Atlas! could not get into it at all.

I found The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo really slow going to start with but persevered and ended up absolutely gripped and loving it.

NoOnesGoingToEatYourEyes · 14/06/2012 09:06

I'm having this dilemma with Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons right now. I really thought I would love it (it's about what he calls psychic vampires, people who can influence the minds of others and control them, and do so just for the fun of it, but the more they do it, the more powerful they get.

It's absolutely dire. It's all rape scenes, sexual abuse and nazi's playing chess with real people my mind controlling them and then shooting the taken 'pieces' for sport. And I'm only a few pages in.

If the rest of the book carries on like this it really won't have been worth the time or the money and I don't want to throw good time after bad money. I've put it to one side so I can read Brodmaw Bay by FG Cottam instead and I really have no interest in picking CC back up when I am finished.

bigbadbarry · 14/06/2012 13:43

I loved Cloud Atlas.

SecretSquirrels · 14/06/2012 18:50

I read for pleasure not because I have to, so I refuse to read something I don't enjoy.
I try to give them 2 chapters but I don't always stick it out that long. It's more difficult when a book goes downhill and I've already invested a lot of time in it.There does come a point when you think you may as well plough on.
Worst ever failure was with a free kindle download ( I know , I know I should know better). I actually gave up at 90%.

MarySA · 14/06/2012 18:56

Sometimes only a page or two. Sometimes a couple of chapters. If it's a library book I take it back eventually after renewing it lots of times. If it's my own book I keep it for ages which is why I've got so much clutter.

Thegoddessblossom · 14/06/2012 18:58

Agree agree agree with Girl with Dragon Tattoo and We need to talk about Kevin being really slow starters and then brilliant once you got into them.

I gave up on The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt, about a third of the way through, so disappointed as The Secret History was so ace.

Have abandoned a few Jodi Piccoult's too as they were boooooooooooring.

gastrognome · 14/06/2012 19:18

Life's too short, and there are too many enjoyable books out there to waste time on ones that aren't giving you any pleasure.

Having said the I usually plod on for a bit to give a book the benefit of the doubt, but if I really can't get into it then I'll give up - at any point! For example, I got 3 quarters of the way through a Game of Thrones recently and just couldn't get excited about it so have given up for now.

Ephiny · 14/06/2012 20:05

I've given up over half-way through if it's boring and badly written and I can't see the point of continuing. It doesn't often happen, but notable examples are Labyrinth by Kate Mosse (predictable plot, annoying main character), A Mercy by Jodi Picoult (just did not care), and the fourth book of Robin Jordan's Wheel of Time series (it became clear that he was going to spin out the same uninspiring characters and repetitive plot over 100 books or whatever it was, and I wasn't prepared to waste any more of my life on it).

Almost gave up on Time Traveller's Wife but kept going as it was an interesting idea and I wanted to see what she'd do with it. Couldn't bear any of the characters though, and it did go horribly sentimental.

Sometimes I've been wrong though. I gave up a few chapters into Wolf Hall the first time I tried to read it (the writing style was a bit annoying and I get impatient with literary 'affectations' like that) but I gave it another chance and actually thought it was fantastic in the end, especially compared to most historical fiction.

SandStorm · 14/06/2012 20:09

I've tried to read the Da Vinci Code twice now and not got beyond chapter one. Really can't see what the fuss was all about.

bouncysmiley · 14/06/2012 20:25

1/3 of the way through. Life's too short. Agree re cloud Atlas - hate hate hate! I will never get those hours back!

NicknameTaken · 15/06/2012 10:30

When they're due back at the library (tightwad).

MurielTheActor · 15/06/2012 14:28

When it stops being a pleasure.

NoraHelmer · 15/06/2012 16:55

Really wanted to give up on Mockingjay (third in the Hunger Games trilogy) recently but I ended up skim reading to the end just to see what happened. Such a disappointment compared with The Hunger Games which was one of the best books I've read this year.

reliablemillipede · 15/06/2012 17:53

Agree that life is too short to persevere with a book I'm not enjoying, saying that I've had to fast skim a couple just to see what happens at the end.

Agree with Mockingjay!!! I'm currently on 2nd book of fifty shades of shite, 2 chapters in and I'm bored........... is it worth continuing with ??

BestIsWest · 15/06/2012 20:49

Very quickly usually but persevered with Lord of the Rings until about two chapters from the end. Just put it down and couldn't be bothered to pick it up again.