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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:
CramptonHodnet · 17/08/2018 17:02

Laughing at your description of Reservoir 13, southeast Smile.

It was the sections of nature writing that I remember most and really enjoyed. But then I do like a good non-fiction nature book, such as those by Robert Macfarlane or John Lewis-Stempel.

If nature writing isn't something you like then it is going to drag. And I did like the repetitive accounts of the lives of the people in the community as the years went by. It felt kind of meditative in its repetition. But I can see that that could be the very reason to abandon it too.

It's one of my favourite reads of this year, so far.

ScribblyGum · 17/08/2018 17:20

Catch 22 has defeated me twice now.

The biography of Alan Turning beat me into submission with maths. The audiobook was over thirty hours long and I seriously had listened to about twenty of them, twenty long hard hours of MATHS maths-maths-maths-tiny interesting bit about the human person Alan-maths-maths-maths until I could go on no longer. I felt sad and weakened by the whole thing. Imagine being so crummy at maths that you can’t even endure 30 hours of someone talking to you about a brilliant man who achieved amazing things with maths. Pathetic.

Womaningreen · 17/08/2018 17:20

oh I can't bear books that keep on repeating themselves.

one I ditched recently, I can't even remember the name Blush

but it was the repetition. The ineffective idea was to show that the woman was going mad because three nights in a row, she imagined the same things. (or maybe it was a practical joke and went on for fourteen chapters, I don't know because I couldn't bear it any longer).

I swear the three chapters were near identical, with only things like this as a change

first incident - she thought she heard a twig snap underfoot

second incident - she thought she heard a twig break underfoot

I don't know what the third incident used for "break" because by the time I started that chapter, I realised what they were doing and thought I better put it in the charity shop pile before I went mad.

Repetition as a device shouldn't mean repeating entire paragraphs, surely? Is that was Reservoir 13 does? (not that I'm going to read it based on this thread).

Another one who couldn't finish The Goldfinch. I did hear it got very good after the bizarre start but it was a library book and I had to give it back anyway.

Womaningreen · 17/08/2018 17:21

x post with ScribblyGum

I quite like maths but wouldn't read that either! Grin

ScribblyGum · 17/08/2018 17:28

I don’t know why I thought a book about a mathematician wouldn’t be crammed full of lots of maths so more fool me for attempting it really.

Topseyt · 17/08/2018 17:29

I can't get on with anything by Tolkein, even though I love the films of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

He seems to spend pages just describing banal stuff like doors.

ScribblyGum · 17/08/2018 17:32

The repetition in Resevoir 13 is clever though. I liked it. The cycling through the seasons with the same cast of characters for 13 years was unusual but made it a different type of reading experience.

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 17/08/2018 17:57

Repetition.

Now that reminds me of the utter drivel that was While You Were Sleeping.

puddleduckmummy · 17/08/2018 18:16

Life after life by Kate Atkinson 😴😴😴 so unbelievably dull

Cuppaqueen · 17/08/2018 18:18

The People's Act of Love by James Meek, a bloody weird novel about a Russian sect obsessed with self-castration. I gave up when reading a letter in it some bloke's supposed to have written his wife (?) describing cutting his own balls off or something ... ewwwww. Just no. This was years ago but it's one of few books I couldn't (didn't want to) finish. Made me cross my legs even as a woman.

I loved Wolf Hall and all the Patrick O'Brien novels eg Master & Commander, although I am a big fan of historical detail and archaic phrasing in books like that. I love the way Tolkien writes so I'm willing to put up with his wayward narratives, although I do always skip Tom Bombadil zzzzz. Couldn't get into the Essex Serpent but that's more a case of unstarted than unfinished.

Cakemonger · 17/08/2018 19:29

Laughing Cuppaqueen, if I ever encounter the James Meek I'll know to avoid it. Reminds me of Murakami's 1Q84, which was deeply, deeply pervy and weird. Really regretted reading two whole volumes of it

Charley50 · 17/08/2018 19:34

I liked Wolf Hall and Reservoir 13. Wolf Hall is hard to get to grips with but I enjoyed it.

I don't usually like books with a lot of description but I loved Reservoir 13; loved the rhythm of the seasons and the changes in people's lives. Things happen, but just kind of gently.

Also liked We are all completely besides ourselves. And the Goldfinch.

I didn't like The Girl with All the Gifts - found it oppressive. Tried another of her books and found that oppressive too, so I put it down.

LemonRedwood · 17/08/2018 19:44

I'm on holiday at the moment and have just finished two excruciating "summer read" type "psychological thrillers" (they really weren't) because I hate hate hate not finishing a book once I've started.

Then got into a conversation with DH about books we've not been able to finish and it turns out we've each only never finished one book and it's the same one for both of us - American Psycho. Just too sick. We both stopped at around the same point in the book too.

blondeemily · 17/08/2018 20:07

LemonRedwood which two books were they? I usually go for psychological thrillers so it's good to know the ones not to bother with!

LemonRedwood · 17/08/2018 20:23

The Wife's Secret and My Husband's Lies, both by Caroline England. Definitely swerve them - both very predictable. Possibly should have known for 99p each on kindle but have discovered some gems that way!

I really enjoy a good twist or surprise reveal and as someone who struggles to work out whodunnit on Midsomer Murders then I am always massively disappointed when I predict early on what's going to be revealed Sad

blondeemily · 17/08/2018 20:28

Thanks Smile

essietopcoat · 17/08/2018 22:09

Like the OP, Do Not Say we have Nothing - I just couldn't engage with it at all.

The Women's Room, first tried reading it in my late teens, found it really boring and gave up. Saw it again in a charity shop about 20 years later, same iconic cover and thought, I must have been too young to appreciate it before, I will read it again. But no, exactly the same thing - boring and gave up again...

essietopcoat · 17/08/2018 22:12

The Goldfinch - I did read most of it and it is a really good book, but there's a long monologue at the end which I skipped and just read the last paragraph. I don't count that as giving up on it.

I just think she needed a decent editor.

Original poster
almondfinger · 17/08/2018 22:18

My first ever failure was The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy followed by Iain M Banks The player of games. I've read all of Ian Banks and loved those. My husband a big sci-fi, fantasy reader and suggested these. Not for me.

He has also suggested I read the whole Game of Thrones series which are on the book shelf - never going to happen. Watched it on tv, loved it, don't need to read for background and the characters that didn't make the series.

Started Little fires everywhere on Wed and finished it today, God it's good to read a book and not want to put it down, or rather sleep then pick it up. An earlier poster said she reads for pleasure and if a book is not a pleasure to read she stops. I'm taking that forward in my book reading life.

Another one here who loved All the light we cannot see.

I loved David Mitchell's Bone Clocks, am a bit wary of picking up Cloud Atlas now though.

OP posts:
BonnieF · 17/08/2018 22:20

Lord of the rings. Tedious, turgid nonsense.

An Anita Brookner novel which apparently won a literary prize. Can’t remember the title. The book had no plot whatsoever. Nothing happened, so I gave up.

bibblebobblebubble · 17/08/2018 22:40

Currently struggling with Shantaram. I know it’s meant to be amazing but I dislike the main character intensely and there’s some clunky writing - keeps talking about Bombay as ‘she’ for instance, and dodgy descriptions like someone having eyes the colour of cinnamon, yawn. Anyone persevere to the end?

Loved Goldfinch, prayer for Owen meany, reservoir 13....

Muddlingalongalone · 17/08/2018 22:58

bibblebobble struggled with Shantaram but glad I made it - hated the Goldfinch though so different strokes for different folks...

Original poster
almondfinger · 17/08/2018 23:15

Shantaram, I think you almost read that one just to have the badge of getting through it.

A Fine Balance is superior on every level and will stay with me for a long time.

Shantaram also on the shelf. I think I need a serious clear our of shite books.

OP posts:
Womaningreen · 17/08/2018 23:48

Also, The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown.

I was really surprised they made fascinating subject matter so boring. But also - repetition. There was a sort of repeated theme. I think that's fine if you can do it well, but in this case it was also a similar description each time - as if the reader wasn't clever enough to work out what was happening.

or someone just copied and pasted.

also a lot of descriptions of people getting dressed - never relevant in any way either. Very disappointing indeed. I did end up scanning through the last of it to follow up a particular thing, but from looking online, I think it wasn't followed up.

HushabyeMountainGoat · 18/08/2018 08:40

I loved Alias Grace too! I read it years ago. There's a Netflix adaptation of it too in case anyone hasn't seen it.

I like Wuthering Heights and Bleak House too. BH took a few goes but once I got into it I couldn't put it down.