Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

What books could you not finish?

281 replies

almondfinger · 15/08/2018 21:17

I am having the most miserable of summer reads.

Do not say we have nothing - FFS, I persevered and it got a bit better and then reverted to tedious. Have way in I had to put it down.

Then I picked up A brief history of 7 killings - Every time I pick it up I fall asleep. The patois is difficult but when it gets to the CIA agents told in English I cant read that either. So far their have been so many killings I have lost count and it's far from brief.

I had to go out yesterday and buy some new books to look forward to. Tell me some of the books you couldn't be arsed with so I can avoid.

OP posts:
MazDazzle · 16/08/2018 22:56

That reminds me, I couldn’t get into Wolf Hall at all. Maybe I should give it another try?

Couldn’t finish a book by Jodi Picoult, so vowed never to read any of her drawn out shite again.

HiGunny · 16/08/2018 22:56

So much hate for Wolf Hall, I really liked it! Possibly one of the worst books I ever started was Jonathan Frantzen 'The Corrections'...a whole chapter dedicated to a poo Hmm
Also never managed to get through Dr. Zhivago.

LighthouseSouth · 16/08/2018 23:03

I didn't hate Wolf Hall at all and I could see the brilliance of it. It just wasn't for me and I think it's...700pp maybe?

Forgot - The Goldfinch. That I did dislike enormously. Stopped about p60. It was doing the rounds at work so it just needed to go to the next person. I loved The Secret History though.

craftymum01 · 16/08/2018 23:03

Clockwork orange - I understand it’s fast paced and a world of drugs etc but it gave me a headache trying to decipher what was being said.
Life of pi - doesn’t flow well. I don’t like books I have to keep re-reading sentences of.

Dontrocktheboat · 16/08/2018 23:05

HiGunny - The Corrections is one of my all time favourite books! Yes, I guess there was the poo bit but that was quite far in.... I found it a funny and touching depiction of family relationships and flawed characters who were nevertheless likeable. It's still my coming up to Christmas read....

My brother got me wolf hall on cd do I listened to it on my commute - but there is no way I'd have got through the book, I kept losing track of what was going on.

superram · 16/08/2018 23:08

The goldfinch, the luminaries. Finished a prayer for Owen meany but it was awful. Also disliked life of pi and captain Corelli. I like a story not a description.

StepsRoadmum · 16/08/2018 23:10

Catch 22 - have tried 3 or 4 times but get half way through and just can't do it.

Quickerthanavicar · 16/08/2018 23:11

The Goldfinch

mastertomsmum · 16/08/2018 23:11

White Teeth, a Tale of Two Cities

Quickerthanavicar · 16/08/2018 23:16

I cheered when people died in Wuthering Heights, had to read it for Uni. Absolute bollocks.

Sillybilly1234 · 16/08/2018 23:21

A Thomas Hardy book. So dull I can't even remember the name.

SophieSellerman · 16/08/2018 23:38

Quicker, that made me laugh. I had the same reaction. My English 'A' level teacher was very cross with me. Bollocks is the only word for that book.

heatherblue · 16/08/2018 23:52

God loads of books I've loved here. Adored Secret History and The Goldfinch, devoured Wolf Hall, loved Cloud Atlas and subsequently read everything else by David Mitchell. I've read all the Tolkiens. I couldn't get on with Bonfire of the Vanities and abandoned it half way through. I once attempted something by Stieg Larsson and couldn't get beyond the first couple of pages.

LighthouseSouth · 16/08/2018 23:58

@Sillybilly1234

Hey sis, I didn't know you were on here Grin

It was more than 30 years ago, let it go.

PixelAteMe · 17/08/2018 00:05

The Satanic Verses. Tried twice, and never got beyond page 90. Tedious.

The Autograph Man. Also gave it a second try and gave up after about 100 pages. Tedious.

We are All Absolutely Beside Ourselves. Skipped large chunks/speed read in the hope that the story would take off. It didn’t.

FrameyMcFrame · 17/08/2018 00:08

Midnight's Children

itwillbealrightpromise · 17/08/2018 00:14

It's been mentioned upthread, but Wuthering fecking Heights. Just could not be bothered with it, but Jane Eyre is one of my favourite novels, so am clearly more of a Charlotte than an Emily.

I never finished One Day by David Nicholls. It's very well written, but I couldn't warm to either of the protagonists at all. I've seen the film now, so I've spoiled it for myself anyway.

tobee · 17/08/2018 00:26

Crimson Petal and the White. Got through the first 50(?) pages and thought "wow, a really fabulous read, very entertaining, marvellous!" Then suddenly pffft it lost its charm. Might try again one day though.

Deadringer · 17/08/2018 00:28

The Hobbit. People keep calling to the Hobbit's door and we get a detailed description of their features and their clothes. I know it's relevant, because they are all sorts of different creatures, but it was just so detailed and dull. It got to the point where I said if another fucker knocks on that door I am done. And they did.

Deadringer · 17/08/2018 00:30

Oh and girl with the bloody dragon tattoo. I didn't get past the description of the tattoo. Can you guess I hate detailed descriptions.

LighthouseSouth · 17/08/2018 01:02

I loved Crimson Petal but I dd see the TV adaptation first. That was brilliant, which probably helped with the book - characters firmly in place in my head already.

OhTheRoses · 17/08/2018 03:57

Anna Karenina. Something by Elizabeth Bowen.

Seniorschoolmum · 17/08/2018 04:18

A Suitable Boy. The people who gave it an award must be a different species to me.

SusieQ5604 · 17/08/2018 04:37

Anything by Dan Brown. His writing is just awful.

SusieQ5604 · 17/08/2018 04:38

Also Lord of the Rings! And Hunger Games

Swipe left for the next trending thread