Last book you couldn't finish?

corblimey

Title says it all really. What's the last book you read that was just too bad to finish?

For me, it's The Damned United. I just couldn't. Stand the writing. Style.

raah!

For me it's currently Don Quixote. I had it at my brother's house and was half way through, but then after some drinks I broke his table and now I'm not allowed back till I pay for the table. So I can't get it till then.

Also I was unable to finish a Terry Goodkind book 7 books into the series because my brother owned them and took them back or something. Those books were terrible anyway.

Eliot Rosewater

raah! wrote: »

I'm not allowed back till I pay for the table. So I can't get it till then.

Interesting twist on the topic :pac:


I don't think I ever gave up on a book. Recently I was tempted to, reading Jennifer Government by Max Barry. What an awful waste of time. But I got through it anyway! Before that it was Crime and Punishment which I really struggled to get through.

I remember I stopped reading Obama's book Dreams From My Father, but that was because he discussed racism in literature. He mentioned Heart of Darkness, so I got curious, bought that, and never came back to Obama.

D.R cowboy

The confessions

Cyril Squirrel

We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

JesseCuster

Then We Came To the End - Joshua Ferris

Over-hyped rubbish.
I normally hate not finishing a book but in this case I was happy to make an exception!

deelite

Amanda Brunker - Champange Babes

mal1

Shantaram. I actually lie, I did finish it but wish i didn't.

i-digress

The Infinities by John Banville. I should have been clued in to how awful it was when my dad said if I didn't want his copy it was going in the recycling bin.

dioltas

Blackwater - Jeremy Scahill. It was interesting, but just tough going.

My girlfriend bought me Mort, and I just dropped Blackwater. Now I've started the Girl in the Dragon tatoo, so don't know if I'll ever finish Blackwater but I haven't given up hope.

fontanalis

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

kevin_de_big

Cyril Squirrel wrote: »

We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I have that on the go currently; I could understand disliking it.

kevin_de_big

Atlas Shrugged

I started this while I was in fourth year of college. Whether it was due to the looming thesis deadline, the author's style or the length of the book that turned me off is unknown. I think I may go back to it, though I'm not looking forward to it. Cynically, I reckon if I finish it it will be for the mere sake of it.

LenaClaire

Robinson Crusoe. I just could not get into it, the main character made me insane.

Denerick

Closing Time by Joseph Heller. I was genuinely offended by how bad that book was.

emeraldstar

deelite wrote: »

Amanda Brunker - Champange Babes

Whatever about couldn't finish, how could you start?

For me, 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'.

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

Mink

Norwegian Wood by Murakami.

I know a lot of people like it but I found it really boring

susanroth

I cannot finish the historian. I am gonna try again tho itll be my 3rd attempt:rolleyes:
I have friends who couldnt put it down, think my expectations were too high;)

HalloweenJack

I had a lot of trouble with Anna Karenina when I read it. It took me about four months altogether and, ultimately, I felt like I wasted my time.

I also started Doctor Zhivago a while back but I moved recently and left that book at my family home. I don't know when I'll get to finish it.

Anonymous1987

kevin_de_big wrote: »

Atlas Shrugged

I started this while I was in fourth year of college. Whether it was due to the looming thesis deadline, the author's style or the length of the book that turned me off is unknown. I think I may go back to it, though I'm not looking forward to it. Cynically, I reckon if I finish it it will be for the mere sake of it.

Had to put it down too. Heard great things about it before reading it but the one dimensional characters put me to sleep.

uncleoswald

corblimey wrote: »

For me, it's The Damned United. I just couldn't. Stand the writing. Style.

Try The Cold Six Thousand. James Ellroy. Similar Style. Or David Peace's other. Tokyo Year Zero. This isn't exaggerating. Their style.

fontanalis

uncleoswald wrote: »

Try The Cold Six Thousand. James Ellroy. Similar Style. Or David Peace's other. Tokyo Year Zero. This isn't exaggerating. Their style.

Dig. Feature.

kerash

Gave up on Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks - just thought it was awful, didnt like any of the characters and had no interest in anything that was happening.

kerash

corblimey wrote: »

Title says it all really. What's the last book you read that was just too bad to finish?

For me, it's The Damned United. I just couldn't. Stand the writing. Style.

Really?! I thought the Damned United was written brilliantly, it really brought Cloughs character to life...

allprops

Brooklyn by Colm Tobin was truely awful. He is an amaxingly over-rated self-hyping waste of paper. Very smug self satisfied style. I submitted a less than glowing submission to the IT book club and it was not put in.

tHE vAGGABOND

under the dome by stephen king..

Normally a fan, but hated the story and his 'verbose' style just annoyed me

MickShamrock

Revolutionary Road. Just a real struggle.

smallerthanyou

The Constant Gardener. I think there's something I'm just not getting. Might come back to it another time.

ZorbaTehZ

"Brain matters" - Katrina S. Firlik
I couldn't adequately express in words how ****ing rubbish it is.

the_monkey

Dracula --- The undead .... absolute twaddle ....

Malari

Atlas Shrugged

It belonged to a girl I was living with and she moved away :pac: I was about 3/4 through it and just never bothered to buy it again. That was 5 or 6 years ago and I know I'd have to start it again but I don't think it was compelling enough. Maybe one day.

The last one I actually put down myself (and before I finished the introduction!) was Pity the Nation by Robert Fisk, around the same time. I just felt overwhelmed by how much I really didn't know about the situation in Lebanon. I should give it another go.

BarbaraAless

jujibee wrote: »

Robinson Crusoe. I just could not get into it, the main character made me insane.

Oh, I thought it the most annoying character ever...then someone at the masters in lit asked the professor if there was a political message in there and she shrugged her shoulders and changed the subject!

BarbaraAless

I could not get into 'Midnight Children' (Rushdie) at all, could not stand that writing style...

HereIGo

Amy Hubermans book (can't even remember the title). Ugh, pure rubbish.

JaneHudson

Nightwatch by Sarah Waters. I loved her other books so I was really disappointed at how boring it was. Got good reviews though.

JesseCuster

JaneHudson wrote: »

Nightwatch by Sarah Waters. I loved her other books so I was really disappointed at how boring it was. Got good reviews though.

I'm halfway through The Night Watch at the moment and quite enjoying it!

Admittedly it's not as good as Fingersmith and it does take a while to get going, but I am find it quite gripping now and can't wait to find out the rest of the story.

monkey9

Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

Just bored me senseless. It was so bad it annoyed me tremendously

Amazotheamazing

smallerthanyou wrote: »

The Constant Gardener. I think there's something I'm just not getting. Might come back to it another time.

No, it's a crap book, I didn't bother finishing it either. I was reading it on a plane and it was so bad I actually put it down and stared at the back of the seat in front of me for two hours, far more enjoyable.

Tiddlers

Mink wrote: »

Norwegian Wood by Murakami.

I know a lot of people like it but I found it really boring

I agree that this book is tedious at times.Been a while since I read it.I love Murakami but compared to his other books this was very boring and lacking the 'weirdness' which makes his books stand out. Maybe if I read it before I read anything alse by him I might have a different opinion.

FouxDaFaFa

i-digress wrote: »

The Infinities by John Banville. I should have been clued in to how awful it was when my dad said if I didn't want his copy it was going in the recycling bin.

God, I found that really tough going but had to finish it for college. It was actually painful getting through it.I understand what Banville was trying to do, just couldn't get into it.

fontanalis wrote: »

The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

Ditto!

markw999

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I just COULDN'T. The style of writing was so unenganging.

ANd Truth and Lies in Murder Park: A Book about Mr Luke Haines. I was so looking forward to this novel, but I really couldn't finish it. Went nowhere. Said nothing. Boring, even.

RacoonQueen

corblimey wrote: »

Title says it all really. What's the last book you read that was just too bad to finish?

For me, it's The Damned United. I just couldn't. Stand the writing. Style.

As a massive LUFC fan I bought and read this just out of curiosity and at the time I was reading pretty much every book about LUFC as it was published. Rubbish book, badly researched and many people seem to forget that it is a work of fiction, sorry felt the need to point that out.

susanroth wrote: »

I cannot finish the historian. I am gonna try again tho itll be my 3rd attempt:rolleyes:
I have friends who couldnt put it down, think my expectations were too high;)

Exact book I was going to mention. When I worked in Eason years ago this book was a best seller, I got a little over half way through and it's still sitting outside my room years later with the bus ticket I was using as a bookmark sticking out. It is a good book and a good story but it's very hard to read.

alanatoday

The Road--purchased it about 6 months ago. Maybe I just needed to be in a different mindframe but I just didn't get it.

MickShamrock

monkey9 wrote: »

Diary by Chuck Palahniuk

Just bored me senseless. It was so bad it annoyed me tremendously

The first time I tried this I couldn't finish it either. Gave it another try a few months later and it grabbed me.

Sephiroth_dude

laced with magic by barbara bretton,what a pile of rubbish,got to page 260 and just could'nt stand it anylonger.

mackthefinger

markw999 wrote: »

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I just COULDN'T. The style of writing was so unenganging.

Absolutely agree. Read twenty pages and got a headache that lasted three days. Hated the writing style.

The one I remember most is 'Look homeward, angel' by Thomas Wolfe. I hate not finishing books, and it doesn't happen very often, but this 'American classic' got bounced off a wall. I know that sometimes there's a certain book for a certain time, but I hated this. It was just so overwrought and full of endless flowery ornate prose.

Lucifer31

Denerick wrote: »

Closing Time by Joseph Heller. I was genuinely offended by how bad that book was.

I also couldn't finish this book, and I started it twice! Got on to this after reading Catch-22, which really had an impact on me..

Also didn't finish Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Got bored with it.
Hate not finishing a book though.

randomguy

markw999 wrote: »

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I just COULDN'T. The style of writing was so unenganging.

I love Infinite Jest, but it does take a fair while to get into it - when you do get into it a bit the writing will blow you away. It becomes very readable too after a few 100 pages, unlike say Ulysses. I do think Foster wallace's style is deliberately unengaging, like Bolano's 2666 (which I've read the first book of, and haven't gone back to yet, but I will eventually, I think)

Black List Section H by Francis Stuart wore me down, I gave up when he got to his early 20s. So dry.

My Name is Red (Orhan Pamuk) - I've tried it three times, never gotten past page 30, and still don't know if there are multiple narrators or if i'm just missing something.

I find with some books you can try a few times, giving up each time, but then you try again and get past a certain page and they suddenly click - I remember Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey took me three or four attempts over a few months to get passed the beginning, but turned out to be unputdownable once I got into it.

mackthefinger

randomguy wrote: »

I love Infinite Jest, but it does take a fair while to get into it - when you do get into it a bit the writing will blow you away. It becomes very readable too after a few 100 pages, unlike say Ulysses. I do think Foster wallace's style is deliberately unengaging, like Bolano's 2666 (which I've read the first book of, and haven't gone back to yet, but I will eventually, I think)

Black List Section H by Francis Stuart wore me down, I gave up when he got to his early 20s. So dry.

My Name is Red (Orhan Pamuk) - I've tried it three times, never gotten past page 30, and still don't know if there are multiple narrators or if i'm just missing something.

I find with some books you can try a few times, giving up each time, but then you try again and get past a certain page and they suddenly click - I remember Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey took me three or four attempts over a few months to get passed the beginning, but turned out to be unputdownable once I got into it.

Ok, maybe will give 'infinite jest' another go. Loved Bolano's 2666 and ulysses, so maybe I'll get there. I do think that the wrong book at the wrong time can put you off an author forever. Orhan pamuk's 'red' i finished eventually and was glad to. Never engaged me, though it was the same for 'midnights children'. These books i finished but it took it out of me.

Surpised no one has mentioned 'on the road' yet. Exhilirating and of its time but deathly dull and pretentious. (awaits condemnation).

I love my Doestoyevsky and Tolstoy, so don't mind an exhausting and challenging read. But I do wonder if a poor translation has put many people off?

tyler71

I really liked Infinite Jest as well, but a warning - the book just stops. I felt cheated for weeks afterwards. From what I've read of him, his books don't really conclude very well, I think it's deliberate but not too sure why.

Pynchon's 'Gravity's Rainbow' took me years to finish, not really worth it in the end either.