Do you give up on a book you cannot get into?

[Maddie]

I have REALLY been struggling with One Hundred Years of Solitude. It has taken me nearly a month to get through the first 100 pages (I usually read 4 or 5 books at once, with the focus on the one that I just can't put down...). I think the only thing that is keeping me going is that I've heard so many great reports about this. I don't want to miss out on something amazing, but I am really having problems keeping the characters straight and immersing myself in the dream-like tone of the book.

[Danielle]

A book has to grasp my attention immediately. I can very easily give up on a book and at every stage; even when I'm halfway. In doubt, I just stop for two days and when I haven't picked it up again within this two days, the book is not for me.

I easily re-read books. Sometimes the second time around doesn't work for me sometimes it is even better. I only keep these books that I have read at least twice.

[Danielle]

Maggie wrote: "I have REALLY been struggling with One Hundred Years of Solitude. It has taken me nearly a month to get through the first 100 pages (I usually read 4 or 5 books at once, with the focus o..."

Read it ages ago and need to re-read One Hundred Years of Solitude. I sometimes make notes while reading. I mostly write down the names and/or story lines. I find it useful when a lot is going on (like in crime stories or thrillers) or when there are too many characters.

[Linda]

As I get older I do tend to give up on books I'm not enjoying. . . Life is too short and there are so many good books out there. However I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude. I find it difficult to concentrate on more than one novel at a time. Maybe try finishing your other books and just concentrate on that one, it is a wonderful read. Hope that helps. X

[Erica]

I've been reading Russka for over 2 months now, but I refuse to give up just yet. I was really looking forward to reading it and have learned quite a lot, but gosh it's such a bore.

[Sandy]

If I like something I can't stop reading. Heart of Darkness took me months to finish. I usually don't give up on a book, just come back to it.

[Frank]

For years I used to force myself to finish a book I started reading no matter what, but I don't anymore. There are simply too many books I want to read to spend time on the books I'm just not digging. Unless it's for school (and i'm a long way out of school) or if I agreed to review a book on my blog, I don't feel obligated to fight through a book I don't want to read.

[Paul]

Welcome to the group Frank. I am the same, I gave up on one over the weekend. It has been a long time since I have done that.

[Frank]

Thanks, Paul,
I kind of felt bad about it when I first made the decision. But, since then, I feel like it was the best decision. It was very freeing and empowering, and I've enjoyed reading a lot more.

[Nicola]

I never used to give up on books, but now I do all the time if I'm not into it. Sometimes I'll put it to one side and try again in case I just wasn't in the mood for it. I've found that a few times, that I'll come back later to a book and enjoy it even though I didn't like it at first.

My friend will never ever give up on a book.

[Sandy]

If someone recommends a book to me I will see it to the end, just to try and see it from their perspective -what made it memorable to them. Maybe I should rethink my strategies. : )

[Elizabeth]

I have absolutely no problems whatsoever in switching off a film or tv programme I don't like, and yet doing similar with a book leaves me with a sense of guilt! It should be the same, and yet it isn't.

My husband is very stubborn when it comes to books. He will see it through to the bitter end even if he loathes every word, just so he can say he finished it :o

[Jo]

I can't stand not finishing a book, however, I have done it from time to time. Not often though, it is a last resort for me and like you Elizabeth, I feel bad about doing it. I have a couple of books I started last year and fully intend to come back to, just timing and mood has meant they didn't get finished at the first time of asking.

[A.L.]

Sometimes. If I am not into it by the second or third chapter I'll give up.I am pretty tolerant with books so it doesn't happen often.

[Arianne]

Yah. I gave up reading Frankenstein :/ I was like, at the middle of book I started doozing off quite a lot. ://

[Bobbi Jo]

It really depends for me and how determined I am to finish the book. I very rarely give up on a book, but there were a few I dropped (Stephen King's The Stand is one). Some books are just slow to start and sometimes I find if I stick it out it gets better.

[Gry]

Elizabeth wrote: "Absolutely no shame in abandoning a book you're not enjoying. Life's too short. Move on to a better book."

I agree. If the book`s purely entertainment, I can`t see any reason for forcing myself through pages of boredom for no other reason than to have finished the book.
What bugs me, is when there`s some kind of a topic related book, where the theme is really interesting, but the authors way of approaching it, is like a chain of Zzzz`s (lol)

[Tricia]

I always used to finish books that I couldn't get into, especially if the critics rated the book. Now I give up. There are too many books out there that I will like to persist with those that I don't.

[Jen]

I have finally removed Anna Karenina from my "currently reading" I started it in November 2012 and stopped reading it 25% through in December 2012 and haven't looked at it since, felt a bit of a fraud to have it still listed there! So I think I can safely say I've given up on it.

[Debbie]

I agree with Tricia, I used to persevere as I was worried I was missing something. Now realise there is not enough time to read everything I want to, so if I really can't get on with a book, I stop reading.
I have to thank the late, great author Iain Banks for my change in attitude. In one of his final interviews before he died, he commented on the sadness he felt at the pile of books on his bedside table he would never get the chance to read. made me cry and think. RIP Iain. xx

[Dominic]

well I gave up on the information by martin amis half way through boy did I try

[Jason]

Never given up on a book yet often I will put the book down and come back to it later. Really struggled with the Anne Rice vampire chronicles, but battled through it and I really like the novels.

[Toyah]

I hardly ever give up on books. The exceptions so far have been: Vikram Seth - A Suitable Boy; JD Salinger - Catcher in the Rye and currently having a break (of a few months so far) with my Charles Dickens. I was a bit bored with all the politics in A Suitable Boy, but the love story was really great. Catcher in the Rye I just could not get into, i think I gave up after the first chapter. It doesn't happen often, but with these I just could not enjoy them.

[Toyah]

Ooh and I gab up on the first Vampie Diaries book. I bought it because I actually enjoyed the first series of it on TV. The books I just could not get into, and I stopped watching the TV series. I will sometimes start reading something and then realise it's not what I want to read right then, so I stop and grab something else to read.

[[deleted user]]

Linda wrote: "As I get older I do tend to give up on books I'm not enjoying. . . Life is too short and there are so many good books out there. However I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude. I find it ..."


Linda
We sound exactly the same on this. As I get older, I have less patience with books I'm not enjoying . Life is too short to waste it trying to force a book on yourself that you really don't like . There are a ton more waiting out there for me to read ,so I move on !

[A.L.]

I recently gave up on a Steampunk book for another group read. It looked interesting but I read a couple of chapters and couldn't get into it. Don't catch me in the first few chapters then I'm off, sorry.

[John]

If a book isn't gripping you or it is just plain boring, why keep reading, life's too short and there are too many books.

I rarely read fiction, as I have too many other books on the go, mostly brushing up for the current book I am writing, which at the moment is on Magna Carta (Google Spellcheck please note I have spelt it correctly along with the word spelt).

Dragon Tattoo came into the load of old bilge and chucked away category, whilst Wodehouse's Jeeves are always worth a revisit.

[Jo]

I had this today, I've not given up on Never Let Me Go, but I think the audio version didn't work for me. No particular criticism of the narrator, but the book itself doesn't lend itself to being read aloud, so I will return that and try on Kindle instead. And if that doesn't work I WILL give up.

[Anna]

I read that Jo. Actually read the whole book, didn't enjoy it what so ever. Kept reading as I felt at some point it had to get going!!!

Just given up on a book, realised I hadn't picked it up in several days, and had no desire to either!!

[Jason]

I don't think I have ever given up on a book, I have read a couple of crappy books but so far been pretty lucky and enjoyed most of what I read.

[Paul]

I do feel a certain obligation to read the fiction and non fiction choices on BV, but I do have 50 pages and out as a rule normally. Too many other books that I want to read, rather than waste time on a bad book

[Trine]

I havn't given up on one yet - but I do tend to read plenty on the side if they are baad;o At some points all books must be good, yes? :/

[Emma]

I will give up on a book if I can't get into it. It's just a waste of my time otherwise. unless someone lends me a book then I feel obliged to finish it :)

[Catherine]

I rarely give up on a book if I can help it, I think it is book OCD. The two that come to mind that I did give up on are Jude the Obscure and The Owl Killers. The Owl Killers I actually got three quarters of the way through before I said good riddance to it.

[Paul]

The most I have got to is half, before calling it a day

[Pat]

When I was 18, a trillion years ago, I read a lot of the classics. I realised that most needed 100 pages to set the scene and so, since then, I have tended to do first 100 pages then give up. There have been occasional exceptions where I have given up before, but rarely. Our book club now has same rule. Although, wisely, we all do as we want rather than stick to rules. I have read some great books whereby first 100 pages were hard work. I read a book club book that was awful until much longer but was worth reading in the end. Some were not.

[Pat]

Btw. I read Mr Garcia Marquez twice. Neither book had any interest for me. So sorry...

[Paul]

I have read one of his. Never again.

[Jason]

Not tried his books yet. Will soon seeing as it gets rave reviews here.

[Paul]

Good luck!

[Annika]

I used to hate giving up on books, but now I figure that life is too short to stick with a book you're not interested in. I have given up on a few even this year.

[Arefin]

i force myself to finish the book that i've started. Many a times i eventually ended up liking a book which i didn't like that much at our first encounter. It's a bliss when you discover treasure from a place you never expected to. But most of the time i have to force myself to finish the book because i can't stand the feeling of an unfinished job. I just can't concentrate on a new book before finishing the previous one.

[Pat]

Many people love Mr Garcia M. He writes beautifully. He bores me. As does Dickens.

[Jacqueline]

I will give up after 50 pages if I don't like it. I do, however, have a rule. I "read" only three books at a time. The first is a regular book, the second is an audio book that I listen to while exercising, and the third is the Bible, of which I read a couple of chapters per day. I will not allow myself to put a book down for awhile to start a new one. Why? Because I rarely, if ever, get back to the discarded book. I know many people who successfully get back to books, but I'm not one of them.

[Dominic]

just gave up on new york trilogy by paul auster half way through didnt understand it hard going am I alone

[Tytti]

Nowadays I try to finish the books I start. Simply because I spend years starting books and never finishing them. It wasn't because they weren't good, I just never picked them up again before starting another one that sounded more interesting at the time and then I finally had to return them or had already forgotten what had happened. Usually I only finished mysteries because I wanted to know who the killer was.

But then again I don't really expect to "like" the book, that's not why I read them in the first place. If that was the reason I probably wouldn't finish many of them. I try to read different kinds of books and some that challenge me, so in a way I enjoy them on an intellectual level, even if I don't like it much. I also am very careful about the books I start, I rarely even want to read books that don't stand out somehow for me and often they are controversial and are good for conversation, even if you don't like them.

In order for me to not finish a book it has to be poorly written, usually, like Da Vinci Code, or maybe too childish like the first Harry Potter. I couldn't get past the first chapter with those two. But I did read Possession and I did appreciate the writing even though I can't say I enjoyed it much and it took a long time. That is where GR is helping me, it reminds be of the books I haven't finished, so I don't start new ones that easily. (Expect now I am struggling with everything and broke my own promise.)

[Sam]

I will not waste my time on a book I'm not enjoying. There are so many other books out there to discover. Still, "not enjoying" is hard to define sometimes, and you have to experience bad books as well to form an opinion on what makes a good book for you.

[Saffron]

I am reading Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimen. I am not enjoying it at all and I have loved the Neil Gaimen books I have read, dark and clever. I remember trying to read a Terry Pratchett Discworld book many years ago and abandoning it with disgust.

Am I the only person in the world who finds the jokes tedious, the footnotes even more so. It's like reading the script to a Naked Gun film. I just don't think I can put myself through all 300+ pages.

And as for Cloud Atlas don't get me started on that!

[Paul]

Thought that Cloud Atlas had some really good bits and also some dire parts.

The first time I read Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch I didn't like it because there was too much Gaiman, and not enough Pratchett. I have since discovered how good Gaiman can be, and when I listened to it again recently really enjoyed it.

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse]

I give a book 100 pages to impress me. If it cannot make me want to keep reading up 'til there, then I discard it and get a new one.