Books I didn't like/couldn't finish

[Soujanya Murali]

Point taken :)

[Ahtims]

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorites. I have read it at least 6 times.
May read it again.
I have the last Mughal with me, and now am scared to start it !
Have never attempted Gogol, and will try to read his works just to see how it is

[dely]

Smitha wrote: "Have never attempted Gogol, and will ..."

Of the short stories I have read only Diary of a Madman and The overcoat and liked both.

[Priya]

Chitralekha wrote: "I couldn't complete The last Mughal by William Dalrymple. I wonder how my husband could finish it! I found it so dry and boring that just didn't have the patience to read further after reading may ..."
I thought it was an interesting re-creation of 1857 which we do tend to forget. It is a bit scholarly- not light reading. I think it was also meant to be a historical text. I read it as research, actually. Then it worked as a lighter tome than most research books.

[[deleted user]]

Just out of curiosity Priya, why is 1857 a year in which "we tend to forget?" If I recall correctly, that was the year of the Indian Mutiny. Why is that a year of intentional amnesia...?

[Chitralekha]

See Priya, no doubt the book has a great value for research scholars but ordinary readers have different expectation from a novel. When I read a book my basic requirement is being able to relax. So I don't want to clog my brain with lots of details about facts which may be otherwise very useful.

[Anbu]

Craig wrote: "Just out of curiosity Priya, why is 1857 a year in which "we tend to forget?" If I recall correctly, that was the year of the Indian Mutiny. Why is that a year of intentional amnesia...?"

We do remember many leaders of the 1857 uprising and we consider this as 'India’s First War of Independence'. I am not sure why Priya said we tend to forget this war. She might have referred the people who thinks this rebellion as just a mutiny due to religious issues rather than freedom struggle.

[Priya]

How many books are there- even non-fiction on 1857? It became a topic of interest after Mangal Pandey but there is not much out there. This led WD to go on about it in his foreword! So have we forgotten or is it just textbook stuff? Its good to know some of us remember but neither novelists or historians have tackled the rich material so far.I've only read Zamindar on it. I don't really remember any others. Have you? If it is only my ignorance, then, I'd love to know more.

[[deleted user]]

Thank you Anbu. The three books I've read on the subject were all written by Britons and there's not a lot of information where I live on the subject written by Indian historians.

[Priya]

Craig wrote: "Thank you Anbu. The three books I've read on the subject were all written by Britons and there's not a lot of information where I live on the subject written by Indian historians."
That's exactly what I meant.That it is not a topic tackled by Indian historians or authors.It might not have passed out of memory and it is in school textbooks,labelled as "First war of independence" but perhaps it merits a second look by Indians.

[Saurabh]

"Iron Witch" by Karen Mahoney.........don't ask me the reason.....maybe the story was too slow....or maybe due to the blind similarity it had with the currently popular story-lines???......I couldn't formulate the exact reason even if I was paid super HEAVILY for it....[I'm a DUMBO when it comes to criticizing a book I'd read(even partially).......what I wrote were just some points already made on the book's Goodreads review page].......but I couldn't go ahead of the fourth chapter......

[Sudhang]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Complete OHT.

[Ahtims]

OHT? is it over the head?

[Mansee]

Sudhang wrote: "Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. Complete OHT."

How come?? I think it was a wonderful book...spiritual without being overtly so....

[Shardulvyas]

I could not complete couple of books and left midway through.

1. Gone with the wind
2. The Google story
3. Two states

I chose these books simply because they are popular ones.

all these books seemed interesting in beginning, but soon it seemed like when the hell this is going to end...

[Ahtims]

Liked the first and third book, though.

[Akshay]

The midnight's children, I dont know what author wanted to say... And I wonder why anybody gave two awards booker and booker of booker to that book !!!

[Sujatha]

Alchemist , tried reading it four to five times but gave up. Another book that i left midway was love in the times of cholera..

[Anbu]

Sujatha wrote: "Alchemist , tried reading it four to five times but gave up. Another book that i left midway was love in the times of cholera.."

Alchemist is one of the best books I've read.. May be you don't like philosophical stuffs.. :)

[Suyash]

'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Really struggled with all the characters as their names and personalities passed through all the generations.

[Ahtims]

Suyash, I really struggled to complete it as I was leading the group book reads of that book. And I considered it a great accomplishment as this is one book which I forced myself to read ( and I am not a patient reader, I just leave whatever that doesn't suit me)

[Suyash]

I usually try to finish everything I start reading.
Which reminds of The Fountainhead. I know that it's a very popular book, but never have I had to struggle as much to finish a book as I had to for that one. Finished it on sheer willpower!

[Sujatha]

Anbu wrote: "Sujatha wrote: "Alchemist , tried reading it four to five times but gave up. Another book that i left midway was love in the times of cholera.."

Alchemist is one of the best books I've read.. May ..."

Have read and still do read philosophical stuff and thats the reason why this book was strongly recommended to me , but somehow i have developed a mental block that i just dont progress beyond the first couple of pages..:)

[Anbu]

Sujatha wrote: "Have read and still do read philosophical stuff and thats the reason why this book was strongly recommended to me , but somehow i have developed a mental block that i just dont progress beyond the first couple of pages"

Agreed.. It happened to me also with some books.. May be you can try to go beyond some 10 pages and you'll like it.. :)

[Jyoti]

I've been trying to read Ulysses, but can't go beyond a few pages.

[Muddle head]

Jyoti wrote: "I've been trying to read Ulysses, but can't go beyond a few pages."

James joyce wallah? I have an ebook I guess and tried hard to go byond the first few pages, in vain!

[Teja]

It's Not News, It's Fark is one book I couldn't persevere to read. I suppose all of you know the website fark.com

[Sujatha]

Anbu wrote: "Sujatha wrote: "Have read and still do read philosophical stuff and thats the reason why this book was strongly recommended to me , but somehow i have developed a mental block that i just dont prog..."

For your Anbu I will try...:)

[Anbu]

Sujatha wrote: "For your Anbu I will try...:) "

Hope you like it.. :)

[Megha]

Has anyone attempted and finished A Suitable Boy? It is so full of details, after about 300 pages I realized I couldn't put up with another 1100+ pages.

[Sujatha]

Shardulvyas wrote: "I could not complete couple of books and left midway through.

1. Gone with the wind
2. The Google story
3. Two states

I chose these books simply because they are popular ones.

all these books s..."

the last two i can understand but gone with the wind is a real classic novel . Maybe times have changed and the level of patience has reduced that it has become less readable nowadays..:)

[Ahtims]

Chintan wrote: "i have not read it ..from what i know it has got a huge family tree with hundreds of characters if i am not exaggerating"

I have read 'a Suitable boy' thrice. And loved it every time. I am a person who likes details. Have read Gone with the wind more than thrice, too.
Maybe it all comes to temperament and what we prefer. I am always put off by books with longwinded description of guns, warcraft etc. as written by Tom Clancy, Wilbur Smith. But I love description of people, food and nature.

[Megha]

Thrice, wow!

[Sudhang]

Smitha wrote: "OHT? is it over the head?"

Over Head Transmission :P

[Ahtims]

:P

[Sudhang]

Mansee wrote: How come?? I think it was a wonderful book...spiritual without being overtly so...."

To put it plainly "I didn't get it"! I suppose I might like it now [I read it years ago].

[Ahtims]

XVI- horrible, derogatory to girls- supposed to be YA dystopia
Divergent- boring, too contrived even for a dystopian future world
Left from Dhakeshwari-melancholic, not fitting my mood, makes me depressed and out of sorts whenever I take this up. I may like to finish it at a future time though, I will choose a time when I am very happy and content and finish it off in one sitting :D

[Nisanth]

gospel according to jesus christ : Malayalam trsnslation ws too difficlt to follow....

[Meryl]

Smitha wrote: "There are a few books which have bothered me by their obstinate nature. I never could understand or finish books like "catch 22", Gabriel Garcia Marquez books etc. inspite of repeated attempts. I w..."

I gave up Catch 22 and Joseph Heller's autobiography after a few pages.
Then came 'Sons Of Fortune'and a host of Jeffrey Archer's novels. I read two or three of his works and found the rest to have the same matter in them.

Chetan Bhagat's 'Revolution 2020' was a major disaster. I only read a page in the middle of the book and tossed it in the trash.
'Mein Kampf', 'The Moor's Last Sigh' , 'Sula' , 'The Master Of Ballantrae, Audrey Niffenegger's 'The Time Traveller's Wife' are a few classic examples of books I would never bother reading.

My first Eoin Colfer, 'Airman' was a typical borrowing of the storylines of 'The Count Of Monte Cristo' and 'Kidnapped'.

I never really enjoyed Meg Cabot, Chetan Bhagat, Jane Austen or Nicholas Sparks. Their themes tend to be repetitive besides having a lot of unwanted detailed descriptions that can put off a reader.

Ken Folett was a little too generous with rape scenes in his book 'World Without End.' That was simply horrible.

[Meryl]

Smitha wrote: " yes you are right"

I have always wanted to read this one. Is it worth a try?

[nytingale]

Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

[Aditya]

The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi..

[nytingale]

Aditya wrote: "The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi.."

Ohhh yes....I forgot that one!!!!!

[Saima]

I didn't finish Midnight's Children, Emma and The Class by Erich Segal, even though I tried reading it twice. I hated MC to the core, never read such a filthy book in my life; and though I am a huge fan of Erich Segal and Jane Austen, I grew tiresome of both Emma and The Class. And yes, a book called Snapshots from Hell. That tops the list of most boring books ever.

[A]

Oh Shit Not Again by Mandar Kokate
If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

[Som]

Dark Angels .....Just don't be brave...You have been warned!

[Uday]

'The immortals of Meluha'...I know that most people might go what!!? but I literally skimmed over many pages because I found all the action plain boring. Creating in a concept is one thing but execution is something different altogether and while I appreciate Amish for what he attempted to do, it's not just majestic or epic enough for me. The language was pretty bad too I remember which just killed the whole feel.

[Njkinny]

"The Immortals of Meluha"..I have had this book since ages but cant bring myself to complete it.. Everytime I pick it up I get bored after a chapter or two and keep it aside.. :(

[Uday]

@Nikita at least I'm not alone in this! That's a relief! :)

[Njkinny]

Uday wrote: "@Nikita at least I'm not alone in this! That's a relief! :)"

Me too.. Atleast there is one person apart from me who felt bored reading the book...:)