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Original poster

Are you a quitter!

44 replies

fatowl · 21/01/2015 15:49

I'm not..... Will read a book to the end and more and moan about it incessantly.
But currently 250 pages into a 600pager and not even remotely looking forward to my reading time. (Plus it's a classiomg it's hard work happens) but img it's hard work
Very very rarely give up on a book

OP posts:
Original poster
fatowl · 21/01/2015 15:50

Phone messed up my post there: meant to say omg it's hard work. Do you give up? Or finish out of sheer stubbornness?

OP posts:
magimedi · 21/01/2015 16:31

I used to feel almost obliged to finish any book I started but in the last few years I have changed completely. I will give a book a fair go but if I really don't like it and/or think it is badly written I'll give up on it. Too many books on my 'to read' list for me to waste time with rubbish.

waycat · 21/01/2015 16:32

I confess to being a quitter.

It isn't often I have to give up on a book, and I always give it a fighting chance before I throw it aside.

But when I do, I have a strange pang of guilt for some silly reason.

Then I remind myself that life's too short to waste on a bad book, and there are so many others out there to try.

I find that if I don't look forward to my reading time and I can't fully remember the thread of the story or the names of the characters, then it's time to quit and move on.

magimedi · 21/01/2015 16:32

Pressed post too soon as meant to say that some books I will give a couple of trys to, especially if they are well reviewed.

I tried Wolf Hall & gave up but came back to it about 6 months later & adored it.

TheWhiteRoad · 21/01/2015 16:34

I used to doggedly persevere no matter how awful the book ('The Slap' springs to mind). But now if I'm not into it after a fair go, then I ditch it. Life is too short to waste time on bad books!

Costacoffeeplease · 21/01/2015 16:41

I rarely give up but have recently on We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - I just couldn't bring myself to carry on with it - almost gave up on The Rosie Project too but plodded on with that one

There have been other occasions where I've stopped reading a book and gone back to it when I was more in the mood, so sometimes it's just temporary (but not with We Are All.... just loathed it)

Sallystyle · 21/01/2015 16:51

Life is too short to read books you are not enjoying.

I have too many on my to be read list.

I read 100 pages for shorter books.. 150 for longer ones. If I am not enjoying it by them down it goes.

Thurlow · 21/01/2015 17:00

I would have said never but I tried to read a few of DP's 'proper' sci-fi books recently and they utterly defeated me. I got about a third of the way into The Player of Games by Iain M Banks and just hated it. Ditto Dune hasn't grabbed me much yet - I'm calling that one paused as opposed to quit though...

I did finish Hyperion despite hating it. I think after that experience I've decided to stop pushing on with books I can't stand.

But in general I'll just skim read to the end.

thelittlebooktroll · 21/01/2015 18:17

I am a quitter, but always get to at least page 100 before I throw in the towel. Agree life is too short for books you don't enjoy.

Dragonlette · 21/01/2015 18:46

I'm a quitter. I give it a fair try but if I'm not enjoying it then I'll give up. It doesn't happen very often, but I don't feel guilty if I stop reading a book. I'm attempting to read the luminaries atm but it's not grabbing me yet, so I may have to give up on that one for a while.

thelittlebooktroll · 21/01/2015 18:51

I gave up on The Luminaries I think way before page 100 and possibly even before page 50Blush

piebald · 21/01/2015 19:15

I never used to quit and like someone said above have gone back to books and ended up loving them but the Kindle has changed my reading habits ( for the worse i think) I find it harder to get the commitment to a book when i am not seeing the cover and reading the blurb and that has now crossed over into real books and i quite often quit
ALTHOUGH i do think there is a lot more stuff published these days which perhaps ought not to be

Skatingfastonthinice · 21/01/2015 19:15

Knowing when to stop is a good thing. Smile
I have very high standards and if a book doesn't meet them, whether it's a crime thriller or a Heavyweight Tome Of Proper Literature That Everyone Finds Amazing, I just stop without regret or shame.
Reading from choice should be a delight IMO, there's enough stuff you have to read that brings you down and makes you feel fed up.
So yes, I'm a quitter.

Blueblueblueblue · 21/01/2015 19:22

I have a chapter one rule. If I can't make past the first chapter I stop and put the book to the side. I give it 4 attempts (sometimes you just aren't in the right frame of mind) and then if I still can't read past chapter 1 I give up.

I can only think of a couple of books I didn't carry in with both because they were so badly written.

crapfatbanana · 21/01/2015 20:50

Yes, I'm a quitter. I have no shame.

BaconAndAvocado · 21/01/2015 22:53

Knowing when to stop is a good thing

Totally agree. Time is scarce, books are not!

Moher · 21/01/2015 23:11

Not usually, but am wading through the turgid and appallingly badly written Wolf Hall and I can't believe what a pile of crap it is. That's to say I, Moher, hate the book but I, Moher, have also bought Bring Up the Bodies, so I, Moher, am trying to persevere and if you, MNetters, don't know what I'm on about then I take it you haven't read it yet!

BaconAndAvocado · 21/01/2015 23:40

No, I haven't read it yet.......

But it's on the telly box soon!

DramaAlpaca · 21/01/2015 23:51

I always used to struggle through to the end of books I wasn't enjoying as I thought I should.

Eventually I realised there are so many books I want to read that it wasn't worth sticking with something unless I liked it, so I became a quitter.

Didactylos · 21/01/2015 23:53

I usually read to the end (or at least skip to the sex scenes Blush)
but there are some memorable books that are just too bad to finish

aoife24 · 22/01/2015 14:35

Yep and I don't see that there is an issue with it. If a book and it isn't working for me I'm happy to let it go and find something that does. I don't understand why some people see it as a kind of moral failing. If I'm eating something I'm not enjoying, listening to something on the radio I am bored by, watching a film that bores me, I stop. Why not with a book?

imaginative · 22/01/2015 16:05

Definitely a quitter. Life's too short! I want to enjoy my reading.

fredfredsausagehead1 · 22/01/2015 21:52

I cAn be a quitter too, gave up on the girl with all the gifts half way through recently!

tobee · 23/01/2015 00:10

I've got more of a quitter as I've got older, definitely. Also, I can stop reading because I can't stop thinking about other ones I want to read. This depresses me as I think I've basically got adhd (but without the hyperactivity, lol) and I think I'm a bit of lightweight, fibberdigibbet and am probably a bit dim. This is not helped by all my family being big readers. I also read slowly.

However, there are some books you just find literally gripping , and my fingers will be holding the book so tightly. And I go into a kind of grief afterwards. I don't know why some effect me like that and others don't.

ShadowSpiral · 23/01/2015 00:17

I used to force myself to plough onto the end regardless of how dull I was finding it.

These days, if I'm not enjoying a book, I tend to skim to the end (or even just skip to the last chapter) so just can see how it ends. I have less patience for boring books now.