The Next Best Book Club discussion
Revive a Dead Thread
>
When do you stop reading?
Wow Ken .....thanks for opening my eyes. Time and time again I have debated over whether or not I should read any of his booksOrson Scott Card's that is , not John's)...that bit about how he feels about the whole gay thing has told me I should not.He is a pretty popular author as well , scary what lurks in the hearts of men ( and women). :)
Sorry to butt in whilst y'all are in the midst of caucus - BUT SOMEBODY PLEASE CONGRATULATE ME! I finished Catch-22! Finally! I can move on to another book!Okay, sorry, get back on track. Ahem.
Congrats and good luck!
Ken, it is the worst book I've ever read. I finished it so that I could be privileged enough to say just that haha.But enough already - I'm on to Deepak Chopra's Buddha!
Thanks everyone (she says, after fishing for all the felicitations teeheehee)Ken, this will be my first foray into anything Buddha - which I'm embarassed to admit since Buddhism is alive and well here in Malaysia...
I just have to say that I find this group to be very friendly. I have never felt any "one-upping". Everyone else has stated their feelings on this very eloquently and I agree wholeheartedly with what's been said.
I didn't know this about Card! I think we have some books of his in the house. They will be going bye bye!
Mod
Ken, and everyone else, I guess I am just an optimist when it comes to the people who post here. I have been known to be wrong and give the wrong people second chances.
I will ask that you all continue to act the way you have, and call out any shady or agressive posters, as I cant be on here 24/7. Thank you for your help here, and seeing as how he hasnt posted back, I think we can all breath a bit easier. If he pops back up again, he will have to deal with me and my quick fingers!!
Thanks again!
Scott, the man may have some reprehensible views (undoubtedly) but his books are definitely worth reading. Well, the first Ender series is at the very least. Great sci-fi of the highest caliber and definitely worth all of the accolades it has garnered. The man himself is a pig, I've heard he's horribly rude to staff at bookstores when he stops in for signings.
I almost never quit on a book I have started on. You never know if it will get better.
Ken, I couldn't have said it better.And Congrats Kataklicik! Here's hoping that a little distance from the book will offer a bit of perspective on some of the book's better qualities (yes, it does have some).
CONGRATULATONS! I held on to that title for many years and finally gave up - you deserve a reward! So what book have you moved on to?PS Thanks for butting in - the topic needed to be broken!
Catch-22 had its moments, Logan, but nooooo... if I wanted moments I'd read the newspaper (muahahaha)Arminius, I too almost never give up on a book, in the hope that it'll get better. I mean, someone's put their blood, sweat and tears into the story, didn't they? But sometimes it just doesn't. The sad thing is, after finishing Catch-22, I'm almost certain I'll never read any other book by Joseph Heller, ever.
I'm halfway thru Chopra's Buddha, Liz. It feels good to be 'reading' again, and not frantically restraining myself from gouging my eyes out...
I'm sorry but I've never laughed as hard as I did during the whole scene with Yossarian censoring the soldier's letters. Few authors can compel me to laugh out loud (Christopher Moore, Tom Robbins, assorted comics) but that scene had me doubled over.
Mod
Kataklicik-In response to: I too almost never give up on a book, in the hope that it'll get better. I mean, someone's put their blood, sweat and tears into the story, didn't they?
I admire your willingness to stick with an author through his/her backbreaking work You must be the eternal optimist. And, to play the eternal cynic, just cause they put their blood, sweat, and tears into the story doesn't mean I have to, too, does it? ;-)
Thich Nhat Hanh - what an inspiration - in the same class as Henri Nouwen! One of my best friends is an ordained Buddhist monk and has been on retreat a few times with Thich Nhat Hanh.
Julianne, I agree, life is too short...But it was a challenge I needed to meet! Yes, yes, my personal OCD definitely :)
I've been thinking about when I give up on a book. I will often put a book aside if I'm having a hard time getting into it with the intention of returning to it later. I rarely drop a book with the intention of giving up on it all together but there are plenty of times when, despite my best intentions, I never return to a book. Basically I guess I do give up on books-but I tell myself I don't!
If a book has been recommended to me, I'll usually try a bit harder to finish it.I used to hate leaving a book part-way through but, now, I figure: There's so many books out there that I actually want to read; why should I waste my time on one I don't?
I tend to take a lot of time picking my books out in the first place. So, fortunately, I don't tend to end up with too many that I can't finish. I usually read the synopsis and the first chapter in the bookstore before I decide to buy it.
If it doesn't grab me in the first chapter, it gets put back on the shelf.
I feel guilty about not finishing a book too, but I soon get over it *lol* There are very few left unfinished, because I usually buy books that I know will like. Among the deserted ones are "Vanity Fair" - the writing, characterization and plot are interesting, but it's far TOO LONG. I mean, 350 pages in, it lost my interest. What can the author possibly have to say in 700 pages??? This is why I didn't pick up "Moby Dick". And the other notable one is "Uncle Tom's Cabin" which is not so lengthy, but has too many slave talk for my comprehension. I can barely understand what the main character is saying *lol*
Symbol:Interesting that you read the first chapter in the bookstore. Nice way of weeding out the trash before you bring it home!
In one way it may be easier to let go of a bad or long/draggy book when you have to physically read the book, then when you are listening to the very same book. Atonement is a book that first comes to my mind. I tried to read it a couple of times and could not. Then I forced myself to listen to it and once over the slow beginning it became a treasured "reading" and an understanding why the minute detailed beginnings was so crucial.The beauty with GR is that if people who's reading you compare with have rated a book very high, you might want to take a second look at the title to find the same enjoyment.
Yesterday. I finally put down Dubus GARDEN OF LAST DAYS when my copy of Beth Groundwater's "A REAL BASKET CASE" came in the mail!Beth, if you see this: I could barely put it down last night...
Peace!
I give a book 100 pages. If it's not doin' it for me, and I feel like I'm re-reading the same sentences over and over. I'm done with the book. Or if I would NOT recommend it to anyone - that's a "here's your sign" too.
:)
Poor Catch 22; it was one of my first true loves of literature. I have recommended it to many people and coached several through the slow bits. Personally, I devoured it (this isn't an attempt at one upsmanship) and still revere it as one of the funniest books I have ever read. Tell me: Am I a monster for putting my friends and loved ones through the trial by fire that is Catch 22? I am horrified to think that I might have inflicted this kind of torture on untold hundreds of unsuspecting folks.
Laura,Don't sweat it. Ideally, if people didn't like what you had to recommend, I would hope they would stop reading, too.
Or, you could send out "I'm Sorry" letters to everyone you think you might have recommended the book to, on the off chance they may have tried it and didn't like it! ;-)
Congrats, Kataklicik!I usually give books 100 pages before I give up on them.
If a friend reccomended it to me, I usually try to finish it.
But life is too short to be spending time on books I don't enjoy.
Thanks Allison!But has it crossed anyone's mind that if we don't finish a book, we can't give it a proper review? And then the book ends up with effusive reviews by those who actually liked it!
And we read the review, be mislead, go out and buy the book, only to chuck it out later.... :)
The pros and the cons to finishing a book I guess. But there are books out there that just escape me - Tolkien's the Silmarillion for example. I couldn't get past the first couple of pages even!!
That's why I usually do try to finish them. So if I hated it I can explain why...
I read mostly during my breaks and lunch at work, and on the train ride home. so I stop when my break is over and I am at my train stop. I also read while I exercise on my tationary bike
I am feeling that with Oscar Wao...I started reading it and hated it, so stopped and now there is all this praise, so I feel like I missed something. Like if I would have just read a little further there would be the pay-off. But, it isn't enough right now for me to pick it back up...there are just too many other books out there and right in here (my house) that I want to read.
I give a book 25-50 pages in printed form, one disc on CD.
I have a short attention span when it comes to a boring or slow book, I'm sorry. If I am not feeling it by the second or third chapter then you've lost me on it. That is why when I am writing my own books I try to make the best possible hook possible to keep readers entertained from the beginning. You gotta keep them wanting to read more.Some authors don't understand that the hook is what's important because they are gonna run into busy readers like me who want things to take off the ground before the middle of the book, LOL. I am way too busy to sit around with a book that's not holding my attention so I toss it aside around the third chapter (sometimes sooner if I don't like the author's style or if it's just too boring). I make acceptions for Kay Hooper and Linda Howard because these are my favorite authors so even if I find a book from them to not be that good, they are hardly ever draggy.
It's the draggy, boring books with the endless narration that I just can't stand. I'm like "Get on with this already! Life is too short!" LOL, hey I am an author and I am very busy. Maybe if I had more time I'd be more patient but I don't have patience for boring or draggy movies either so that's just the way I am. I like things to get started and I don't like books with filler that's not needed.
What turns me off the most is when a book starts when the character's a child and you know the character will end up 40 before you finish. It's like, "Oh, goodness, look at all this long, drawn out stuff I'll have to read." If the book is long it better definitely be interesting or I'll put that sucker down after ten pages. And I do not feel guilty about that. I just move on, LOL. You can tell when a book will improve or not and if a book starts out slow it usually stays that way.
By the way, head over to my page and read a sample of my first chapter of Melody and you'll see what I mean by trying to find the best possible hook to gain interest in the story. Also, I'd love it if some of you take a look if you like mysteries and thrillers.
When I write my books I think of how I would feel reading it, and that helps me. I get rid of as much filler as possible. Filler is stuff you do not need in a story and most books these days are forty-fifty percent filler. But if the book's good, oh I'm gonna finish it, LOL.
Best Wishes!
I can't remember not finishing a book......then again my brother would say I can't remember a lot of what I do every week :).....I do have to admit that if I reach a section of a book I skim over it until it picks back up, if it dosen't I just glance over the pages till I get the general idea then read the last couple of chapters and put it down.
I can't do it. I can't leave a book unfinished. It's like it follows me around and haunts me until I get through it... unless, of course, it's a library book that's due. Then, I can escape the haunting. If it absolutely must be returned to the library, the spell is broken. If I bought the book, I'm stuck. There's no escape- not even giving it to Goodwill.
The only reason I'd abandon a book would be if it was gratingly bad -- that is, just plain incompetently written. But I try not to read anything incompetent, so it doesn't happen often.Just plain bad (as opposed to gratingly bad), I will finish. So I waded through Jerzy Kosinski's Being There and Hemingway's To Have and Have Not. I think you have to soldier through these things so that you can have an informed opinion of their worthlessness.
And then there are books that didn't grab me the first time through, but that I loved on re-reading. McGuane's Nobody's Angel and The Great Gatsby were like that for me.
I usually give it to page 50, if it doesn't pick up by them, I leave it. I can't waste time on something I think is trash, I could be reading something I enjoy. If I know I won't enjoy it, I can't see why I would waste my time? However, that doesn't often happen. I think in the last 2 years, I couldn't finish 3 books.
I've just gaved up on my current reading- beyond the narrow gate by leslie changi tend to be very masoquistic when I start a book its very hard to quit. I'm more then halfway throw this one, but I'm just done whit it. I'm in a very bad mood today and a bit depressed - I think that helped me whit this decision. Its a book I've got trow bookcrossing and it was perfect for the "read a book by an asian or asian descent" task on the fall challenge. but argh!
I'm sorry your in such a depressed mood bnoir.I too get that way lately and with winter just around the corner i will be like that alot.I get winter blues really bad.I hope your day gets better though.
thank you aliciabasicly its work related stress thats getting me down. hopefully I'll chear up during the weekend
I also use the 100 page rule. I just can't justify reading a book I don't look forward to picking up when I look at my "to read" shelf and see 15 others that have the potential of blowing my socks off. When I graduated I swore to myself that I would never slog through a book again. The only time I ever make myself read a book start to finish is for a book discussion, otherwise, I'm to the point where I feel absolutely no guilt putting down a bad book. Like a fellow poster said, it's liberating when you finally decide not to keep torturing yourself.
The Next Best Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Breaking Dawn (other topics)Avempartha (other topics)
"Top Readers Should Actually Have READ the Books" thread (Goodreads Feedback Group)