I wish I could say that I finished every book I started, but that is not the case. Sometimes I just have t give up on the book. For example I recently started reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is considered classic so I thought It was worth a try. It was so unpleasant I had to give up on it. It just made me think that sometimes boys can be complete jerks!
Last Edit: Jul 26, 2019 17:15:56 GMT -7 by Deleted
I wish I could say that I finished every book I started, but that is not the case. Sometimes I just have t give up on the book. For example I recently started reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is considered classic so I thought It was worth a try. It was so unpleasant I had to give up on it. It just made me think that sometimes boys can be complete jerks!
Personally, I would challnge you to pick it up again in college or early adulthood. Your perspective on it may change. It's exploration of society, power, greed, and classism is far nore universal than just boys/men. In fact, I think if you first read Things Fall Apart by Chenua Achebe and then try Lord of the Flies again, you may get a much deeper sense of both books and their relation to cultural socioeconomics.
Post by secretromancejunkie on Jul 26, 2019 21:37:07 GMT -7
Unfair question! I am fundamentally incapable of DNF'ing a book. That being said, I do remember one spectacularly bad book that I binned around the 3rd chapter.
Cradle by Arthur C. Clarke with Gentry Lee. This was his first co-author venture with Gentry Lee. A more insipid piece of poorly written tripe is hard to imagine. I think it was more disappointing because he was my favorite sci-fi author. A bad book from a lesser author would not have bothered me so much.
BTW, when I say I binned it, I mean I slam dunked it from across the room. Good thing kindles hadn't been invented yet.
To be honest, I used to be quite proud of the fact (snobbish even) that I always finished a book, the plot or writing style might not have appealed but I would keep trucking and get her done. Not anymore. I was reading a book this week where the hero's father was a life long copy. If the book was edited for spelling they used spell check and didn't read for content (war/wore, new/knew, there/their). One paragraph was about 10 lines long. Not a comma, period, semi-colon in sight. To top it off in the middle of the paragraph was a he said but I wasn't sure what he said. Disclaimer: I know I'm not always grammatically correct but I'm not a writer.
Don't get me started on the plot holes that were so big you could drive an 18 wheeler through them.
I finish most books, but not all. Bad writing I can tolerate for the most part. I'm dyslexic myself, after all and unlikely to notice anything but the most heinous spelling mistakes.
I'm more likely to abandon books if they get emotionally too much, very angsty, unhappy, violent or disturbing, and even that is very dependent on the writing style.
I still have Disasterology 101 on my kindle, which I might force myself to finish at some point, but Stockholm Syndrome might just be a lost cause. And then there is Fun with Dick and Shane, which everyone seems to love. That was just too unhappy and rambly for me.
I DNF many books. I feel like there are lots of good books out there waiting for me, and being a certain age, I don't have time to read something I'm not enjoying. Sometimes I give up on a book that I'm just not in the mood to read. For instance, I started the Valerie Bowman's No Other Duke But You which seemed okay, but I just didn't feel like reading about all these young people and their young problems. Then I tried May McGoldrick's Highland Crown, but, although well-written, it seemed like there was going be more agony in it than I felt like reading at the time.
ETA I almost forgot a book I recently started and DNF, The Pursuit of Lady Harriett by Rachael Anderson. I really disliked the h, Harriett. She seemed like an immature brat to me. First time that's happened in a book I read, or tried to.
Last Edit: Jul 27, 2019 10:54:29 GMT -7 by bonnieg
I DNF many books. I feel like there are lots of good books out there waiting for me, and being a certain age, I don't have time to read something I'm not enjoying
I'm the same way. Tons of books and not enough time!
Don't feel bad about Lord of the Flies, FourEyedGirl. I read both it & Chenua Achebe's Things fall apart as agreads suggests, both of them required reading in college and she's right, so much more than a bunch of boys going feral. Loved Things Fall Apart, HATED Lord of the Flies. There have been quite a few "classics" in literature over the years that I really didn't enjoy, and I have a bachelors in English, literature emphasis. So you know I had to read a lot of them.
I realized that what's great for some isn't always great for others. Some of the Shakespeare plays that my sister loves, I don't care much for, and vice versa. We REALLY don't read the same things. And there are just so very many books out there and so little time to read them. when you throw in trying to keep up with visual media such as tv shows & movies and audio (I'm way, way far behind there!!!, esp. since I like to listen to the 60's & 70's a lot!) and any other activities, you finally just go with reading what you want & to heck with the rest! (after you finish the stuff required for education or work, of course)
Currently, I have a lot (really a lot!) of books I've started, gotten side-tracked from & haven't gone back yet. I keep most of them, I will go back eventually, probably. There have been a few that I've DNF, but like SRJ, I really have trouble with that! I'm currently trying to reread Nora Roberts "The Reef". When it first released I didn't like it, but it's a NR so I kept it. I wondered if I'd like it more now so am retrying. We'll see if it works. Has worked on some other titles for me. Good Luck!
Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce. I gave up on this book in tears. My dad loves James Joyce's so I want to read something by my dad's favorite author. This book wasn't for me.
Post by Banana Boat on Aug 7, 2019 12:49:22 GMT -7
For me it's out of sight out of mind. There is only one book that I can think of off the top of my head that I didn't finish, Lady Gallant (Ladies) by Suzanne Robinson (Mass Market Paperback). I remember reading about it in the old grovel thread on the Ammy forum. Everyone raved about it so I gave it a try. I hated it.
Last Edit: Aug 7, 2019 12:55:34 GMT -7 by Banana Boat: eta
Out of 1400+ books I haven't finished 10....that's not too bad. The most recent was a Deborah Martin (aka Sabrina Jeffries) book, By Love Unveiled. I did make an attempt though, made it all the way to 40%. I felt the heroine had no backbone or self-respect. The hero is constantly pawing and mauling her. After awhile it got old. Personally, I have too many other books to read, so there are times I simply have to move on.
I used to finish every book, no matter what. As I get older I've decided I'd rather spend my time reading books I enjoy then struggling with those I don't. If a book doesn't grab me in 2-3 chapters I move on. I only bother with DNF reviews if I've made it more than 50%.
I DNF many books. I feel like there are lots of good books out there waiting for me, and being a certain age, I don't have time to read something I'm not enjoying. Sometimes I give up on a book that I'm just not in the mood to read. ...
Here, here! I routinely put books aside if they do not grab me.
When I was younger, I would always finish books. That changed with pregnancy (reading was difficult due to nausea) and parenthood (reading time became more scarce).
I routinely put books aside if they do not grab me.
Yes! And sadly, it happens more often these days. And, like Banana Boat, out of sight out of mind. So, the books that I do remember not finishing... - War and Peace. So many battles. - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. - Georgette Heyer. I've tried, but I just can't get into her "voice". English is not my first language, so I never had to do The Lord of the Flies. Fortunately. Sometimes I feel that all the "literary greats" have such a negative view of human nature. As if that is the best we can aspire to. I prefer to end a book feeling happy thank you very much
I routinely put books aside if they do not grab me.
Yes! And sadly, it happens more often these days. And, like Banana Boat, out of sight out of mind. So, the books that I do remember not finishing... - War and Peace. So many battles. - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. - Georgette Heyer. I've tried, but I just can't get into her "voice". English is not my first language, so I never had to do The Lord of the Flies. Fortunately. Sometimes I feel that all the "literary greats" have such a negative view of human nature. As if that is the best we can aspire to. I prefer to end a book feeling happy thank you very much
I haven't attempted War and Peace yet, but when I was in eighth grade I attempted Anna Karenina. I gave up on it but still plan on trying it again.
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