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Books that have defeated you

201 replies

Queenoftheharpies · 25/05/2009 16:25

Middlemarch.

I've tried reading it three times now, and enjoyed it right up to the point where Dorothea gets engaged to Casaubon. And then, for no reason hit a stumbling block.

It's always the same point in the story as well. I think it's when there's some protracted discussion of the corn laws / agricultural practice.

Has anyone else encountered this? A book you really want to finish but that just defeats you?

OP posts:
paisleyleaf · 27/05/2009 22:43

Sophie's World

ILoveDolly · 27/05/2009 23:26

I can pretty much plough through anything as I am not averse to skipping bits.

Love all the George Eliot's , even Romola (anyone?), can do Dickens (but a bit more slowly).

And Moby Dick. It's great!
Vernon God Little perks up at the end too.

But even I - the Great Skippy - cannot get into Ulysses. He was frying something, and I just thought 'what the hell am I doing?' and shut the book.

ILoveDolly · 27/05/2009 23:27

Also did not get Cloud Atlas until quite near the end. Stick with it, it's a grower.

glasjam · 28/05/2009 09:04

I want to get the prize for most tenacity in trying to finish a book I thought I "should". Possession by A S Byatt - tried it first in about 1991/2 - hated it and couldn't make it past the first two chapters; tried again in 2000 thinking I might have changed and would appreciate it more - hated it - thought it was fusty, up its own a**e and unreadable; was reluctantly forced to borrow it off someone for a book group this year and LOVED it!

I think over the years I was less intimidated by all the literary references and didn't feel stupid because I couldn't work out what was real and what was made up - I just got on with the story and really got into it. I remember feeling decidedly inferior because I didn't have a Masters in English Literature or Women's Studies when I read it the first time - this time I couldn't give a toss and took it at face value and "found" the story. Thought it descended into something resembling an episode of Midsomer Murders at the end (without the murder of course).

cupcakefairy · 28/05/2009 10:29

glasjam I agree about Possession- it's beautiful! But takes some getting into... My Mum always says it needs serious editing but I loved the sprawling nature of it.

mumofapickle - Lolita really drags in the second half doesn't it! I struggled on to the end though and it was v good overall.

Whoever hated Sense & Sensibility have you seen the film? Book and film are among my favourites. Although I probably prefer Persuasion out of Austen's novels..

Noonki · 28/05/2009 10:47

A suitable bride. Tried and failed many times

made it to the end of wild swans though. God that country has had a terrible history.

pavlovthecat · 28/05/2009 10:48

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I have 2 copies, read it 5 times, get a little further each way, then I get stuck. Don't know why as its a really good book. I have accepted that I am not ready to finish it yet.

steamedtreaclesponge · 28/05/2009 10:55

Anna Karenina. Have tried it twice and each time I get bogged down in the endless discussions about Russian peasant farming methods. All those people who blither on about it being such a great love story, etc etc obviously skipped those bits.

Also Catch 22. And Ulysses. But I am determined to get the the end of them all one day!

Thunderduck · 29/05/2009 22:35

Twilight. It's awful. Vampires that can go out in the sun?

WolframAlpha · 29/05/2009 22:44

Most recently, Beijing Coma.

When a smug undergrad Finnegans Wake.

mamknowsbest · 31/05/2009 00:32

Vikram Seth - Suitable Boy. It is huge!!!! There is a big family tree at the beginning and a character list. I kept on having to refer to this over and over as there are a hell of a lot of characters in this book. I got fed up and put it away.

YanknCock · 31/05/2009 20:19

He, She & It by Marge Piercy. Read another one of hers, Woman on the Edge of Time and really liked it, but for some reason the other one has defeated me at least 12 times.

Harimad · 01/06/2009 13:28

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Larkrise to Candleford
Master and Commander
Atonement
Shogun
Is Everything Sh*t or is it Just Me?
Eats Shoots and Leaves

  • although they haven't officially defeated me yet - I just put them down a few months / years ago, and haven't picked them up again yet...
cheapskatemum · 04/06/2009 22:35

There are definitely themes here! I loved: Wild Swans, Middlemarch (read it in one sitting, right through the night, just could not put it down), Time Traveller's Wife (finished it, then went straight back to the beginning & read it again; anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez; Anna Karenina - but agree about the peasant farming bits, Vernon God Little.

BUT

Have tried Ulysses 2 or 3 times - nope, not for me. Likewise Catch 22. This thread has made me want to try Captain Corelli's Mandolin and a couple of others, just to see whether I can finish them or not!

thisisyesterday · 04/06/2009 22:38

very few things i haven't finished, i tend to just plough through it all.

but i didn't manage "being and nothingness"

must have another go at that one of these days.

branflake81 · 05/06/2009 11:31

I would say persevere with We Need to Talk about Kevin.

It took me several attempts to get into but really worth it in the end.

elle23 · 05/06/2009 12:58

Catch 22 - Didn't even get halfway
The Magus - will finish one day, even if it kills me!

Spillage21 · 05/06/2009 13:01

The Poisonwood Bible - I have tried and tried, but nope...

Hundred Years of Solitude - just got fed up of having to look at the family tree

boogiewoogie · 07/06/2009 22:43

OP, I'm at that point in Middlemarch for the 4th time! I'm determined to finish it though before the end of the year!

GorgonsGin · 08/06/2009 12:02

Just found this thread

I finished Possession by A.S. Byatt last week. Very tricky read and whoever said it needs a good editing is spot on! I found, if you skip all the poetry, only read the last paragraph of the letters and just read the prose, you get through it very nicely and I really enjoyed it .

littlepollyflinders · 08/06/2009 15:59

Oh yes Spillage - Poisonwood Bible - aaargh!
I'm not generally one for abandoning books but couldn't get it.
Or Captain Corelli but they were both a while ago.
I'm saving Ulysses for when I have nothing but time on my hands but fast running out of years!

cheapskatemum · 08/06/2009 18:24

You see - I LOVED Poisonwood Bible. I rest my case.

girlandboy · 08/06/2009 18:29

Sarum by Edward Rutherford.

A saga from the stone age to the present day. I get as far as the Romans and then..................

Tried it 4 times now.

JeffVadar · 09/06/2009 18:51

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse; I have made two attempts so far.

I have no intention of ever trying anything by James Joyce because I know that it would drive me mad!

I did find the new AS Byatt a bit of a struggle, although I love all her others.

I loved Jonathan Strange though, couldn't put it down in fact!

donnie · 09/06/2009 20:10

Underworld by Don de Lillo.

I mean, please. I defy anyone - ANYONE - to actually read this from cover to cover and get the whole bloody thing.