I don’t believe in not finishing books, even if I despise them… I’ve carried around books I disliked for weeks until they were finished. Blame the OCD part of my brain, or whatever. It’s the way I am.
SO – In trying to think of books I never actually finished, only a few came to mind.
1. ANNA KARENINA – I just don’t think I was in the right place to be hauling around hundreds of pages of Tolstoy when I tried to read this book the first time. While I remember being interested by the book, I also remember being mad confused by everything going on and everyone having like fourteen names. (Some books are not meant to be read on the CTA. I think this is one of them.) I still own my gorgeous copy, though, and clearly someday I will be in the mood to tackle Tolstoy again.
2. ATLAS SHRUGGED – I wanted so badly to “get” the whole Ayn Rand thing, but.. after a few hundred pages of Atlas Shrugged, I’m not sure I ever will. Maybe I’m missing something, but I was starting the third part of the book when I knew it was just time to put down the book and move on. (I’ve heard rumors of a movie version potentially starring Angelina Jolie. I’d see that. It’s not that I hated it. It’s that.. I didn’t understand why I should keep reading?)
3. ELDEST (aka, ERAGON 2) – So, coming down off the last Harry Potter book rush, I bought Eragon and read it. While I didn’t find it the greatest book ever, it was entertaining enough. So, when Eldest came out, I bought it… and was promptly bored to tears. I not only stopped reading it, I made a special trip to Brown Elephant to donate it and get rid of it. Terribile book.
*Special note. I read the first two books in the Twilight series in a state of “Well, something exciting has to happen soon.. right?” However, after two books that only mildly held my interest, I decided to jump ship on the Twilight series. No offense, rabid crazy Twilight groupies, but it’s not for me.
What books haven’t you finished?
2 responses so far ↓
robertian // June 25, 2009 at 2:34 pm |
Ha. I feel so illiterate when I’m around you, future English grad school teacher genius.
Books I’ve never finished:
Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl (Not clever enough, and the protagonist was an unlikeable snot)
Some Jodi Picoult Book
Another book that I can’t recall the title. It was that unmemorable.
Most recently, Cider House Rules, but that was because I think I’ve forgotten how to read?
RebeccaZ // June 25, 2009 at 3:40 pm |
I’ve picked and put down multiple times:
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pinchot – I think you have to carry a separate notebook when you read this and take very detailed notes because I would pick it up after taking a couple days off and have no idea where I was or who was being talked about.
The Sound and the Fury – I’ve been toying with this for years … same problem as Gravity’s Rainbow minus needing a notebook.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace – I know people like this, but it just pissed me off with its pretentiousness and I put it down pretty quickly.
I know I’ve put more down but can’t think of them right now. I had an english teacher that encouraged reading by saying you should put a book down if it’s not interesting to you in the first couple of pages and just pick something else up.