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Books you want to read but are afraid to?
I have found that what I read strongly affects my dreams, particularly if the author has a writing style that tends toward long, flowing sentences and strong imagery. I've given up on Cat Valente's Palimpsest.
Alright, this one's funny. I suppose a lot of you should be familiar with Haldeman'sThe Forever War. It was an AMAZING book, and I loved it. It's still in my top 3.Its "sequel" Forever Peace (and mind the quotes) was much less interesting, but I had grown too attached to the characters to simply drop it. I read it, but it simply wasn't as pleasant to read as The Forever War.
The edition I had bought included these two book and one more, Forever Free. It had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the first two. I knew that, and I also knew that the reviews about it were mostly negative, but I just chose to read it for the sake of it.
The book was (in my opinion) awful. I won't spoil anything, but in the middle of the book the author takes away the only thing that pushed most of the people to read it. Moreover, he also did one of the things I hate the most: halfway through the book he pulled out of his magic hat a plot element which had absolutely nothing to do with what had been said in the first half. Said element became the main plot element, without even being mentioned in the first half of the book.
It was a chore to read, and at a certain point Haldeman chose to depict some seriously messed up torture/rape scenes, which totally came out of nowhere.
Now I am not a person who's easily disgusted, but I just had to put down the book. I guess it was a mix of reasons: I was reading the book just for the sake of it, but when it became REALLY disgusting, I just saw no reason to keep going.
It didn't give me nightmares, and it's not like I am "afraid" to finish reading the book. I think I am more "disgusted" to finish the book.
The Dresden Files. The first book gave me such nightmares as I have never seen. People's whose opinions I really respect love the series, but I simply cannot read it. And, because of this, I tend to avoid all UF books with demons. Somehow, demons in other types of fantasy books don't bother me.
Machiavelli wrote: "It didn't give me nightmares, and it's not like I am "afraid" to finish reading the book. I think I am more "disgusted" to finish the book."Don't finish it.
Not because it's disgusting, but because if you already found it awful, you will at least not find out that the book ends even worse than it already is in your mind.
It was the only Haldeman book I ever disliked. It's ending is simply inexcusable: one of the worst deus ex machinas I've ever read (and I've read a few in my time).
I'd recommend everyone just forget this book was ever written. That coming from an ardent Haldeman fan (I think I've read like 19 of his novels).
The only books that ever gave me nightmares were Whitley Strieber abduction books like Communion. But I was consuming a lot of alien abduction stuff back then (late 80s), so Strieber's work didn't help.
Casceil wrote: "I have found that what I read strongly affects my dreams, particularly if the author has a writing style that tends toward long, flowing sentences and strong imagery. I've given up on Cat Valente'..."I don't read Valente for other reasons. I think that she overloads her books with concepts which she never really develops properly. She could write fifty books from the concepts she introduces in one. She frustrates me immensely. Every time I think she might be writing a continuous narrative and actually developing one concept, it turns out to be just as discursive as everything else she's written and I have to abandon it.
What don't I read because I'm afraid to read it? I avoid horror completely because I live within a book while I'm reading it, and I can't live within a horror perspective. Since Stephen King doesn't always write horror, I have read a couple of his books under the mistaken impression that it isn't a horror novel and suffered the consequences. I am now much more careful about Stephen King. I need to read reviews of his books beforehand.
No, I read no Stephen King. I read I believe one page of CARRIE, and realized that I would not enjoy it.
Snarktastic Sonja wrote: "The Dresden Files. The first book gave me such nightmares as I have never seen. People's whose opinions I really respect love the series, but I simply cannot read it. And, because of this, I tend t..."If you ever want to try Dresden again in a form less likely to give you nightmares, there is an excellant series of audiobooks narrated by James Marsters (the actor who played Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He reads very well, and really brings out the humor in the books, as well as the suspense.
I have found with some books I can get so anxious that I can no longer read it. Terra Harmony's books Water and then Air were very hard to swallow as in the first book there are scenes of rape which are quite sickening and in the second book the story was hard to read due to the investment you put in to the character and how you felt for them. I couldn't even get half way through the second book but hope to pick it back up soon. I think I have left enough time for the intensity of the first story to past!! Amy Cross's Dark Season was another one that comes to mind.
Thanks for all the responses. So good to know I'm not alone with my book anxiety.
I remember reading a book (wish I could remember the name) that was historical fiction. The author was so good at getting me inside the characters heads and making me feel their emotions that it affected my own emotions. And this was a BIG book. Several weeks of extreme highs and lows were hard on my family, so even though I adored the book, I couldn't bring myself to pick up the next ones in the series. I have enough emotional drama in my own life to be going along with.
Micah wrote:Don't finish it.
It's ending is simply inexcusable: one of the worst deus ex machinas I've ever read (and I've read a few in my time)."
Sadly I've taken a peep at the ending and you are right. I hate it when authors come up with deus ex machinas that have absolutely nothing to do with the story.
Haldeman did this in Forever Free too, but it wasn't as bad as in this book.
Another author that came up with and awful d.e.m. was, to my surprise, Arthur Clarke, in The City and the Stars, which is a shame since I was really enjoying the book...
Kim wrote: "Not myself but my wife won't finish The Hot Zone even though it's a fascinating book."I love that book. But it is scary thinking what could have happened in Reston if it affected humans
I don't read horror at all but the books I tend to be afraid to read are the ones that cover the end of the world in some way. I do the same with films. There are several I'd like to watch but I know I'll be terrified if I do. The ones that terrify me the most are those involving pandemics or epidemics. As someone who's been studying health and disease, I find the possibility of a disease spreading terrifyingly likely, so I tend to avoid the books like that.
Interestingly though, it was the third Harry Potter book that was the book I remember giving me nightmares. I've read it since but it took a good couple of years to go back to it!
I'm not sure I'm afraid, per se, but I sort of want to read the rest of the Millenium trilogy (i.e. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, et al), but the first book - aside from the boring parts - made me feel like I needed a shower.Not really wanting to endure more of that.
I bailed after the first book. There are too many books out there that I really want to read, to spend any more time on that series.
I am with you Colleen and the "Girl with the ..." books. I enjoyed the movies but am afraid that the books would be trash. Kinda like Dan Brown books.And as with Casceil there is just too many books on my shelved to be read so I think I will live with the knowledge that the movies were pretty good
When I begin a series I have a hard time finishing the last book - to the point where I usually have to painfully force myself to do it. Or I begin five different books all at once to avoid doing so. I am not afraid of what's in a book, I just don't want it to end even if I don't like it.
I've been steering clear of the Mistborn series for now but not because I'm not interested. I know it sounds a bit silly but I feel like I'm not yet ready to take on such anticipated awesomeness just yet. I'm saving it for when I feel the time is right hehe.
Ken wrote: "I am with you Colleen and the "Girl with the ..." books. I enjoyed the movies but am afraid that the books would be trash. Kinda like Dan Brown books.And as with Casceil there is just too many boo..."
I've thought about watching the movies. I saw the first one - the original, not the American version - but never got around to the others. I'd probably watch them over reading the books... though I haven't decided if I'll even do that much, yet.
I found Stephen King's The Tommyknockers a huge disappointment, but while I was reading it, I had one of the worst nightmares I've ever had. I woke feeling terrified, remembering nothing of the dream, but I could not even think about going to back to bed until the book was no longer in my bedroom. I hadn't seen the "Friends" episode where Joey puts The Shining in the freezer, so all I could do was carry it warily to the opposite side of the house. Still think it's a dumb book.Another book I couldn't finish, but for a very different reason was The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. I had no idea that people's brains could be "broken" in so many different ways, and it absolutely horrified me.
I also took months to read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, but for a very different reason. I lost it maybe twenty pages from the end and then had to request it from the library.I found it fascinating. It was my introduction to Temple Grandin.
I enjoy but avoid Mercedes Lackey because she's way too prolific. If I restart reading her, I will only read her and I don't want to do that.
Colleen wrote: "Ken wrote: "I've thought about watching the movies. I saw the first one - the original, not the American version - but never got around to the others. I'd probably watch them over reading the books... though I haven't decided if I'll even do that much, yet. "Movies are very good, both the Swedish and American versons. I see lots of movies and usually end up looking for the unusual and off the beaten path movies. Stumbled on the first Girl movie and that's all she wrote.
There are some cringe-worthy scenes, namely between Lisbeth and her State care-person.
Ken wrote: "I am with you Colleen and the "Girl with the ..." books. I enjoyed the movies but am afraid that the books would be trash. Kinda like Dan Brown books."The Stieg Larsson books are nothing like the Dan Brown books. Brown's are masterpieces by comparison.
Seriously, in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Larsson goes on interminably about political minutiae and ridiculous things like comparisons of different laptops, almost like he just added his shopping notes to the book to fill it out. There's about 90 pages of story in it... which is just about the length of a movie.
I read Martian Time-Slip once and it just about sent me into full-blown depression. I still have an old paperback copy and want to get a better trade paperback version to complete my collection of all of PKD's SF novels...And I keep telling myself I've got to read it again sometime. But, I'm not sure I can face it again.
Why read it again? I'm sure there are a few other books out there you haven't read that would be less depressing and a good use of reading time.
Well, I pretty much love everythign PKD wrote even when I can see its flaws, and it was a long time ago when I read it. And I have to ask myself whether my first read was accurate, or if my reaction was more flavored by what was going on in my life at the time.
Okay, I can understand that. I've reread books years later and found them much less scary or depressing that when I was young. But some I refuse to give a second chance, like Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. I read it for a college class and I consider it a major contributing factor to one of the blackest depressions of my life.
Without saying that every book a person reads should push the limits, isn't reading books that disturb us and make us think outside of our comfort zones one of the very reasons we should be reading books in the first place? It'd be pretty boring if every book we ever had a chance to read was so bland that it didn't cause a reaction of some sort.Were the dreams actually about the book you'd been reading? I'd imagine that you'd be safe to go back to the Avalon book now that we've survived 2012. Hopefully your subconcious has been paying attention. Hopefully the only reason you'll need to stop reading it again is if you discover that you don't like it.
It's interesting to me that a person can actually dream about a book they've read. I've had some wake-up-screaming nightmares in my life, as I imagine most people have had, but I've never attributed any of them to a movie, show or any actual event that happened to me, much less a book. I might be missing that gene.
The only book I ever read that gave me nightmares was Pet Semantary by Stephen King. I was a kid at the time I read it.I love this thread, I like scary books, and would love to read some of these nightmare inducing books. Will surely look into them for my next read. Guess I'll try Dresden files, I might get the audio book and listen to it while commuting to work.
After I read Matheson's I Am Legend, I had a lot of issues with driving in the dark for a week or so....I had to think about it and realize I was being silly every time!
Angelof wrote: "I've been steering clear of the Mistborn series for now but not because I'm not interested. I know it sounds a bit silly but I feel like I'm not yet ready to take on such anticipated awesomeness ju..."I totally do that. Similarly, I will leave my birthday cake in the freezer for weeks because I don't want it to be gone...
Peggy wrote: "Another book I couldn't finish, but for a very different reason was The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. I had no idea that people's brains could be "broken" in so many different ways, and it absolutely horrified me. "I didn't have that reaction - loved the book - but I understand where you are coming from. I still get shivers thinking about Koontz's The Bad Place and how someone's body could be "broken"...
Rich wrote: "Without saying that every book a person reads should push the limits, isn't reading books that disturb us and make us think outside of our comfort zones one of the very reasons we should be reading..."I think that is a good question and is why this thread topic caught my eye. As readers, particularly scifi/fantasy, we are used to pushing against what is "comfortable", so it may surprise us when we run up against something we feel afraid to read.
On the one hand, I think it is worth looking at where the fear is coming from, to see if it is a growth opportunity. If I'm afraid of reading books about death, maybe I have some grief issues to work through, for example. On the other hand, I may just not want to read about torture. I'm not sure how much growth I'm going to get out of that. I'm thinking a good comparison is strength training, which requires discomfort in order to strengthen muscles, but trainers always say to stop if it feels like "pain". Your body may be telling you something!
Anything by Michael Crichton or Clive Cussler.
Trike wrote: "Ken wrote: "I am with you Colleen and the "Girl with the ..."The Stieg Larsson books are noth..."
I'm also afraid to go back & reread all the Dragonlance books because I loved them so much (Raistlin & Caramon) when I was younger & don't want to mess those memories up.
I thought the 'Dragon Tattoo' books weren't horrible but whenever asked the standard reply is to skip the first 150 or so pages, then the actual point of the book starts.
Also keep starting & stopping 'The Wizards 1st Rule' & the sword of truth series, it started off well then it skewed off into this story about mud people & I totally glazed over, I like the author, I'm thinking of maybe just skipping that book?
Rich wrote: "Were the dreams actually about the book you'd been reading? I'd imagine that you'd be safe to go back to the Avalon book now that we've survived 2012. Hopefully your subconcious has been paying attention. Hopefully the only reason you'll need to stop reading it again is if you discover that you don't like it.It's interesting to me that a person can actually dream about a book they've read. I've had some wake-up-screaming nightmares in my life, as I imagine most people have had, but I've never attributed any of them to a movie, show or any actual event that happened to me, much less a book. I might be missing that gene."
The dreams weren't actually about the book, just they triggered nightmares about 2012 and apocalyptic cataclysms similar to what was in the book. I do plan on forcing myself to face the book again, I just need to finish reading The Fall of Atlantis first which takes place before Ancestors of Avalon. I know the title of the first book is a bit confusing since the end of Atlantis doesn't even take place until Ancestors of Avalon.
I'm not sure if I'd ever had any dreams other than this that were caused by a book, but I get dreams that are triggered by TV shows and movies all the time. Often the dreams don't have much if anything to do with the movie or TV show episode, just the characters make an appearance in my dreams and the dreams are usually pretty weird, but don't tend to be nightmare material.
I sometimes don't want to read the last book in a series I've loved, because then it's OVER.
Actually I am afraid to start reading Moby Dick b/c I am afraid that I will find it dull but then feel obligated to finish it anyway because it's considered one of the best American novels ever and the key to understanding so much other stuff. Eventually, I will make myself read the whole thing, but it will take-like- six months. Then my head starts to spin around and I get stuck in an anxiety loop about what my responsibilities as a reader are. Yikes.!
Armband in not 100% with the responsibility as a reader thing but then I do feel obliged to read the classics and like to read some of the big book of the moment but honestly there are so many to read that I don't feel there is enough time to read books I don't like or enjoy. I can see this causes you some anxiety but I would at least delay until you are "in the mood" for it.
I can't say I've ever felt afraid to read a book.It seems like such a foreign concept to my mind, I can't really understand it.
Melinda wrote: "I sometimes don't want to read the last book in a series I've loved, because then it's OVER."This. A million times this.
I have put off reading the last book in a series for weeks just so that I can keep feeling like there is more to the story because once I read it, it's over.
Totally agree Kenneth. After all as the reader you are in control of the book. I enjoy horror books because I am in charge of how far I let my imagination travel. On the other hand I can't watch horror movies because then I have to cope with actually seeing things I don't want to see.
The Stand was one book that infiltrated my dreams. But not to the point that I was afraid to keep reading. Similarly I've also dreamed of AMC's "The Walking Dead".
Elsie Chapman's Dualed actually gave me nightmares. Which is weird. I think it's because this horrible world wasn't fixed by the end. Later I found out there's a sequel and I'm putting off reading it. I need to see that awful world end, but I'm struggling.Otherwise, I agree with the people who have said that they put off reading the last book in a series. I also drag my feet on a particularly cherished book that I've been dying to get my hands on. I need to savor those.
Armand wrote: "Actually I am afraid to start reading Moby Dick b/c I am afraid that I will find it dull but then feel obligated to finish it anyway because it's considered one of the best American novels ever and..."That is the experience I had with Ben-Hur. Couldn't finish it.
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Snow Angels (other topics)Let the Right One In (other topics)
Room (other topics)
Let the Right One In (other topics)
Doomsday Book (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Mercedes Lackey (other topics)Temple Grandin (other topics)
I guess as much as I really want to try reading the book again, I'm afraid I'll start having nightmares again. The destruction of Atlantis was really only the first part of the book. After that it was mostly about the survivors forming a new settlement, so I'm not sure why I kept getting nightmares the first time around once I'd gotten past the scary stuff.
A big part of me feels like I need to force myself to read this book and get over it, but another part of me just wants to keep reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld books because they are "safe".
So has anyone else ever avoided reading a book they wanted to read because of nightmares or some other reason?