Books You've Started Reading but Can't Finish?

[Calvin1093]

The Twelth Imam by Joel Rosenberg. That book is just way too long, 1600 pages for crying out loud!!! NO novel is THAT entertaining....... I have no idea what the author was thinking.

[donnaf]

I can add Tess of the Durbervilles by Thomas Hardy to the list. I couldn't make any sense of what the writer was trying to say and thus couldn't follow what was happening in the story.

[mixedcolors]

I recently tried reading Ted Dekker's novel House. I've read a bunch of his other books and loved them, he's a great writer but I couldn't get into that book.

[AsylumSeaker]

The Bible.
I ain't kidding, I started from genesis with serious intent to read from beginning to end. I'm not religious, but I'm interested in it from a scholarly point of view.. and besides, I kind of wanted to see what all the fuss is about.
Anyway, its a terrible read.

[phineasfreak]

glad im not alone with james joyce ulysses, i think when i do finally crack the nut with it it will be rewarding, so i am gonna persevere with it...

[courtney_autumn]

Fellowship of the Ring.

It was excruciating. But I have friends who are obsessively passionate about the trilogy so I thought I should give it a try.

[bumhead]

"shakespeare's london on five groats a day"

it's a cracker

[Storyteller]

"The Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien. Loved the first twenty pages or so, but I couldn't do it.

I also started Josephus' "Antiquities" a couple years ago, only to desert after Abraham.

[salgoud]

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

One of the driest, least captivating books I have ever read. Add to that that it's about 1000 pages long, with pretty small writing, and I don't think I can be blamed for struggling. Don't get me wrong - I normally don't mind long books, quite the opposite in fact, but this particular novel would benefit from losing about 700 pages.

That said, I'm determined to finish it. I've only got about 80 pages to go - I had to stop due to exams starting - and will be damned if I let it beat me.

There's only one other book I haven't been able to finish.. I can't even remember the name of it, unfortunately, but it was utter rubbish. After about a hundred pages I was so fed up with the author's complete inability to form a believable character, never mind a decent plot, that I actually tore the book in half and threw it angrily in the bin. I suppose they managed to stir my emotions, at least..

[A.r.p.]

I passionately second Atlas Shrugged. What a godawful book. I actually did finish it but only because I was determined to write an essay afterward. There was a prize of $10,000. That was barely, just barely incentive enough to finish.

I think that was the worst book I've read. It couldn't have been more idiotic if Ayn Rand had set out trying to win a stupidity pageant. I cringed on every single page.

[richards89]

"Lolita," by Nabokov. It's not so much Humbert Humbert's preferences that detract from the book for me, as the fact that he's a sesquipedalian, pompous ass.

[OrionDarkwood]

Originally Posted by donnaf

I started "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" but can't seem to get into it. The way some of the characters speak is highly annoying to me. I'm sorry but they sound...well, retarded.... I've also tried "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe and "Sense and Sensibility", both of which I put down after a few chapters and never picked them back up. Stowe's portrayal of the negroe slaves made them seem less than intelligent and I couldn't get into Austin's way of writing/storytelling. What books have you found you were unable to finish?

ETA: In Stowe's defense, she wrote this prior to the Civil War and her story reflects the way many people from that time felt about the blacks.

War and Peace LOL

[Redlorry]

Probably 'A Long Way Down' by Nick Hornby because I got my Kindle half way through reading it, and as much as I hate not finishing a book, I am loving reading the stuff I've got on my Kindle.

[JohnConstantine]

Anyone finish Naked Lunch, it was an epic battle but I lost the thing two thirds in and didn't have the strength to get another one. I love Burroughs but Jesus Christ that's a LOT of maddening, rambling, delightfully weird, frustratingly abstract gobbledygook.

[Redlorry]

I'm sure I read that someone in the library was about to read Naked Lunch... again.

[AnyaKimlun]

That is a book I wished I hadn't finished - Queer by Willliam Burroughs.

[TJ_Phelan]

Anything by Henry Hames for sure also couldn't finish The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

[Jim Colyer]

Contact by Carl Sagan

[Chance]

Lord of the Rings, too much detail that makes reading more of a chore than enjoyable.

[Nadja]

Originally Posted by Chance

Lord of the Rings, too much detail that makes reading more of a chore than enjoyable.

My sentiments exactly.

[phaeton]

The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker.

The prologue is amazing, and it's easy to immerse yourself into his world of a gazillion different ethnic groups and languages and interesting philosophies...

...but the philosophy can often deluge. Couple that with his frequent grandiloquence, and enjoyment lasts for all of ten minutes before exhaustion sets in at the constant switch between dictionary and novel.

Don't get me wrong: I love the book. It's just taking me 11 months+ to finish.

[Annaley S.]

I started to read the third book in the Shiver series but I can't bring myself to read it any further. Its a romance/fantasy book but its the romance that trips me up. But perhaps the suspense of what will happen in the end will drive me to read it.

[SeeTheMonkey]

The House Of Night series. Can't remember which book I finaly kicked the habit on but it was my ex that urged me to read them. (The things we'll do for sex). Horribly wrote books that I wish i could purge from my memory, although the completist in me does want to see how it all ended.

[blinky]

The Count of Monte Cristo. It's not a bad book or anything its just so freaking long that I don't have time to finish it.

[ProsperosCell]

Originally Posted by A.r.p.

I passionately second Atlas Shrugged. What a godawful book. I actually did finish it but only because I was determined to write an essay afterward. There was a prize of $10,000. That was barely, just barely incentive enough to finish.

I think that was the worst book I've read. It couldn't have been more idiotic if Ayn Rand had set out trying to win a stupidity pageant. I cringed on every single page.

I remember starting a few pages in high school. I haven't picked it up since. If it wasn't bad enough that all her economic ideals are fundamentally flawed, she is also a very bad writer.

[Marie Hulteen]

Perfume by Patrick Suesskind
Catching Fire by Suzzane Collins (horribly written)
Seekers by Erin Hunter
Les Miserables by Viktor Hugo

The list goes on and on and on. I can't list them all...

[K. Klein]

Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky.
Every character seemed to have at least six separate names or nicknames, and I gave up after about 50 pages when I realized I couldn't keep any of the characters straight and had no idea what was happening.

I read the first couple pages of Twilight, and gave that up also.

Most books I plow through anyway, even if I hate them. I don't know why. It just feels somehow wrong to not find out what happened, even if I sit back afterwards and feel like I wasted my time.

[Ember]

I read the first 3 wheel of time books and really enjoyed them, but for whatever reason, I got distracted while reading the fourth. Now I feel like I would have to re-read the other books to remember what's going on. :/ plus there are like 10 of them and it seems like too much commitment to read them all!

I enjoyed the Hobbit, but I got tired of all the description in LOTR. I will probably try again one day though, because I loved the movies.

I have tried to read Sabriel several times because my friend recommended it. Just can't seem to get into it though.

[Ember]

Originally Posted by K. Klein

Most books I plow through anyway, even if I hate them. I don't know why. It just feels somehow wrong to not find out what happened, even if I sit back afterwards and feel like I wasted my time.

I totally know what you mean! I have wasted my time on many a lousy book. Sometimes if I am really not enjoying it, I will skim a bit just to find out what happens.

[SeeTheMonkey]

Originally Posted by Ember

I have tried to read Sabriel several times because my friend recommended it. Just can't seem to get into it though.

I read Sabriel, many years ago. I also found it hard to get into it at first, but it was worth the effort.