Books you just could not finish...

This is not something that usually happens to me. I have to read something through even if I'm not really enjoying it. But there have been a couple of books I just could not finish.

The first one was Tess of the D'Urbervilles, although I was only 15 and had more important things on my mind!

And the last and most recent was `The Ill-Made Mute' by Cecila Dart-Thornton. I gotta wonder how some things ever get published, seriously!

How about you guys?

I love to read, and I hardly find books that I won't finish, but not too long ago, I borrowed a book from my school library called "Kissing the Rain" and I never finished it.. it was just too hard to understand because the words weren't written like in other books.. I don't know how to explain it, but I just never finished it..

War & Peace. Started it, then decided to never finish it as it was boring me to death, LOL!

"Middlemarch" by George Eliot

This almost never happens to me either, but I read 10 pages of this book and wanted to bang my head on the floor, so I stopped. It is one of my friend's favorite books, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Snow Falling on Cedar. I started that book b/c I heard it was really good...read a couple of chapters, and that was it. I kept falling asleep during the book so I gave up.

A series I never finished was the Vampire Collection by Anne Rice. I guess I'm just weird..I don't like the way she writes (please don't hurt me Anne Rice fans)

Oh, and I never finished 1The Long Walk' either, Nelson Mandela's autobiography. And I LOVE that kind of thing, usually eat it up. To be fair, I did try six times, but uggh BORING!!! Sorry Nelson - you're the man - I just couldn't read your book!

The Da Vinci Code, I couldn't finish it and couldn't see what all the hype was about.

I made it all the way through "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand, but couldn't make it through "The Fountainhead." Someday I will.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

War & Peace. Started it, then decided to never finish it as it was boring me to death, LOL!

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Ha! I'm reading that right now. Yes, it is difficult to read, but I'm determined to get through it. I guess it would help if I picked it up every once in awhile to read, eh?

I am determined to read that, too. I haven't ever started it, but this year is the year for me to finally abandon my block-headed devotion to fantasy and start reading some real classics. I mean, I've read lots that isn't fantasy, just not enough!

I started reading middlemarch too and never finished even the the PBS series was good!! I never finished reading Lord of the Rings.
Sometimes book seem too wordy. If one reads books that were published say in the 30's or 40's some just seemed more wordy (or descriptive) than most novels not published.

I couldn't finish The Lord of The Rings the first time I tried, because I got to the part with Tom Bombadil and couldn't bear him and a plot that going no where, at a snail's pace.

A friend later suggested skipping those chapters (as he only appears at the start of the book, and it has no bearing on the later plot), I did that and I was able to read the whole thing.

Similarly for War and Peace, I've heard it suggested to just skip the battles, and enjoy the love story - also that it helps to read Anna Karina first (unrelated, but you can ease yourself into the style). Alternatively, try a different translation - some of them are probably more beautiful than others.

I'm still reading it intermitantly but "Canterburry tales" it's old english and rather poetic, you have to wrap your brain around it. I may finish it eventually but for now is a can't finnish.

Oh I absolutely love Lord of the Rings, everone should read it once in their lives. I read it every year or so, I never get tired of it. He has a unique style of writeing but once you get into it, it's amazing how much you get involved.

"The Life of Pi" tried and failed twice. I don't know why, because it's not boring or badly written, I just couldn't get into it.
I've forced myself to finish "Moby Dick" - mainly to get one up on my friend who simply couldn't do it; and "One Hundred Years of Solitude" - one of my sis's faves, yet I almost cried with desperation for it to end.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my all time favorites. It's a bit of a bear to get through, but both the writing and the story are amazing.

It took two attempts for me to finish The Grapes of Wrath, but it now ranks in my top 20 list.

Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell. Normally she's one of my favourite authors but this book was horrible.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell. Normally she's one of my favourite authors but this book was horrible.

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I did actually finish that one, but I have to agree with your assessment, Linda. Had it been my first experience of her writing, it would have been my last, too. Good thing it wasn't -- I really like her stuff.

For me, it's Dorothy Dunnett's House of Niccolo series. I got through the first five, and they are good, but the detail gets thicker and thicker, and I finally bogged down about a third of the way into number 6, "To Lie with Lions". One day I may go back and have another go, but by then I'll probably need to go back to the first volume and remind myself of all the intricacies first.

Originally Posted by lunasmom

Snow Falling on Cedar. I started that book b/c I heard it was really good...read a couple of chapters, and that was it. I kept falling asleep during the book so I gave up.

A series I never finished was the Vampire Collection by Anne Rice. I guess I'm just weird..I don't like the way she writes (please don't hurt me Anne Rice fans)

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I agree!

I think she is too overly in love with Lestat (based on her husband Stan. Lestat was actually a typo, his name was meant to be LestaN)

And i hate the way his charachter does a complete u-turn in the later books.

The Beauty Bible by Paula Begoun....

Seriously, though...most of the beauty products she mentioned aren't even in production anymore.

"Frankenstein"- mary shelley- worst book i ever tried to read- uhhhh...Although i like the newer movies of it. The book was just boring to try and read.