Books you've deliberately stopped reading?

[fuzzpig]

(Apologies if I'm repeating a subject here, MN search function not behaving ATM!)

I have unintentionally stopped reading many books over the years, sometimes I've found them too hard to get into and/or just put them down somewhere and forgotten to pick them back up . Any of these, I'd like to think one day I'll start them again and finish them.

But I've only ONCE deliberately closed a book never to open it again. It was Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. I don't think of myself as a prude, but it was just... yuck.

"What they do in the dark" by Amanda Coe. Was in the style of Kate Atkinson but darker, and it was ok until almost the end. Then I guessed what was going to happen and it was so horrid I stopped as would have haunted me for ages. I had to take it straight back to the library as didn't even want it in my house.

The Slap

The Secret History

Goldfinch (sending a theme here? )

Wolf Hall

The Hundred Year Man who Climbed out of the Window

Yawn fest!

50 shades made me very very angry!

I've tried 4x with The Book Thief! I think I need to accept I'll never read it.

Pride and Prejudice. It's just shitting awful and I heard it didn't end we'll.

at Ethel! Of course it ends well, which version are you thinking about?

The childrens book by AS Byatt - life is just to short to plough through that.

The wasp factory by Iain Banks - plain vile.

I very rarely give up.

Oh yes add The Satanic Verses. Just could not get into it at all.

Wolf Hall - turgid, boring crap
American Pyscho - actually tore this into pieces and put in in the recycle bin, it was so dreadful.
Anything by Dan Brown - although to be fair, after the rubbish that was Da Vinci, I've ignored his books.
There was also an horrible book by some sort of TV presenter, who's name I can't recall, nor the title of the book, that also went to way of Pyscho - seem to think it was about a Canadian town, where strange, nasty magical things happened. Whatever - hated it!

For some unfathomable reason, I took a book by Wally Lamb on holiday with me once. Why, why, whyyyyyyy. It was utter tosh.

Also, Sophie Hannah. Ye gods. The Other Half Lives made me want to rip my own eyes out. Full of vile, weird people who behaved nothing like anyone you've ever met, and to call the plot incomprehensible is the understatement of a lifetime. That one made it to the charity-shop bag in double-quick time.

I did read (and loved) Wolf Hall though

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace brought me to my knees. I love this writer, read all his non-fiction stuff but could not get past the first few pages of I.J. This makes me sad....

I put down the third installment of Bridget Joneses in disgust. I just hated everything about the book. I was especially pissed Mark had been killed off, done and dusted.

It by Stephen King was tossed in the bin before the half way mark.

It's alright, Halsall, come over here: safety zone for Wolf Hall lovers!

Isee, I second you about The Children's Book. I did finish it, but only because it was for book club and I was on holiday with loads of time on my hands. It was one of the most self-indulgent, boring books I have ever read. And long. And boring. And full of pretentious, tedious people. And did I mention that it was boring?

We need a fans of Wolf Hall thread :o

I admit to almost being a little afraid to read it, after seeing some of the comments on MN, but didn't find it at all difficult or boring.

It helped a lot that I'm interested in that period of history and have read several other books (fiction and non-fiction) about the Tudors.

I read Bridget Jones on holiday and loved it,I thought it was done well.

I disagree about American psycho completely

I managed 3/4 of Brick Lane until I realised that I didn't care what happened to any of them.

Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies infinitely better as sage plays. Ditto the Curious Incident
As a librarian (retired) I used to have to read widely for professional reasons and felt it was almost rude not to finish a book...but having retired and realised life is too short to persevere...
I too don't enjoy Dickens .
Fifty Shades was truly awful, not just the style but the premise that young beautiful girl in effect sells herself to rich man. Ugh . (However it did get me through the very first time I flew alone- have flown a lot, but don't enjoy it and was oddly nervous. Was gripping in a horrible way. Didn't notice we'd landed) I suspect the French guy next to me was reading my Kindle over my shoulder . So glad I paid £2.58 for it .And have deleted.

So many books on here that I have LOVED. Just to add a bit of balance Cloud Atlas and Wolf Hall are 2 of my absolute all time favourite books! I also loved the Book Thief, last half of Shantaram (first half VERY annoying I agree), Curious Incident etc...

I agree re: Lord of the Rings - yawn

But 3 books that have burnt themselves onto my memory as I hated them and had to stop:

The Accidental by Ali Smith - hated all the characters within 10 pages
Before I go to sleep - complete load of unbelievable crud, couldn't carry on with it
Waterland by Graham Smith - a bleak book about fens and eels, every page seemed to be about eels .... Why???? Hated it!

I had completely forgotten about Brick Lane. I took so long to read it - just didn't want to pick it up - that I forgot the plot and, in the end, stopped and gave it to my SIL who didn't like it either. It was tedious and it shouldn't have been. Disappointing.

I've read the whole thread to see if anyone else mentions my number 1 "I have got to stop reading this before I lose faith in the human race". Iseenodust I'm with you on The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. It's not even that long, but I didn't see the point of going further than about page 60.

Others on here I've managed, but things like 50 Shades I've made a conscious decision to not even start. Also The Lovely Bones. No one's mentioned that one though, am I wrong? I just thought I'd be too emotional to get through such subject matter.

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula le Guin - supposed to be a groundbreaking classic, put me off science fiction for life

I must admit I really like Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. I think she does male dialogue very well.

I also like Dickens. All of it. Great Expectations is my favourite. I'm also a life member of the Thomas Hardy Society and I've read all his novels and poems that I know exist. (I don't like his short stories so much).

Dostoyevsky is the one I've struggled with. I read about how great he is but just can't see it. The Idiot I quit after 10 pages. Crime and Punishment I discarded after the crime was committed. Where was there to go after that? A theme that runs through most books that people discard. You couldn't care a less about any of the characters. Birdsong was spoilt by the annoying grand daughter in contemporary time who I hated with a passion.

So that goes for Nicci French (who is two people). Can't stand their books. Improbable women with unsuitable annoying boyfriends taking on stupid police forces and run rings round them to solve crimes single-handedly.

Anything by James Joyce apart from The Dubliners, which I liked.

The Inheritors by William Golding (Lord of the Flies author) Well, I did actually finish this but it's a few hours I'll never get back .

Ash by James Herbert. Did give up on this one and was gutted because I'd loved his early stuff (The Fog, The Rats, The Lair etc). I wondered if he'd actually written the book at all to be honest, it was so amateur.

Fifty Shades - D.I.R.E! I will not be watching the film either....

Sympathise about Cloud Atlas. Saw the film and enjoyed it even though I hadn't the foggiest what was going on (missed the first bit though). Read the book and it's a far more detailed and intense read. Did finish but probably won't read it again...

It takes a hell of a lot for me to give up on a book but my last one was about a year ago - Brideshead Revisited. Found Waugh's style turgid and un-involving. Shame, really, as I loved the 2008 film and do think it's a cracking story.

Wuthering Heights here too. Got to page 32 when doing it for English Lit O'Level and never read any more. Still passed the exam somehow

Jane Eyre-shut the fuck up with your turgid whining.
And withering heights-they deserved to bore each other rigid.