[Misc] Books you gave up on

[The Fits]

Thought Life of Pi was absolutely stunning. Tend to avoid hyped modern stuff but slim pickings wherever I was- couldn't put it down.

 

[Cordwainer]

This is exactly where I am. In fact I’m re-reading Bring up the Bodies again right now as there is just so much in it that it deserves a second read.

I have a copy of the Mirror and the Light but have delved into it yet…

Friends that have stuck with mirror have all said it’s fantastic so will endeavour to give it another crack..good luck!

 

[Vin]

But are highly rated

Ulysses, Wolf Hall, Paradise Lost and Captain Corelli‘s Mandolin for me

Yes I know I am a peasant/philistine

I know some people who NEVER give up on a book, my wife is one of them, you?

Bloody Southerners

 

[chickens]

If you have ever lived or worked in the countryside (by that I mean 'countryside work', like a week in the rain hedging, walking home to an open fire in a cottage and a steaming mug of tea type of thing) then Hardy is so evocative of a way of life that existed in the past. Just his descriptions of walking the highways and fields makes me wish I was back outside doing 'proper' work again.

I really like Hardy - although as you say, they are not the easiest read. The Woodlanders I loved, even though it's one of the saddest. I picked up a copy in a second-hand shop, then found that it was part of a library that travelled with the Strathcona's Horse (Canadian Mounted Army) on their voyage to the Boer War in 1899 on the SS Monterey. I found this picture online of the journey - one of these fine fellows may have read my book!

I agree with every word of the first paragraph, and yes, The Woodlanders is probably my favourite of Hardy’s novels too, despite it not being a cheery read.

As to your edition of the book, that’s incredible. The history of where it’s been and what its readers have seen would make a novel in itself.

 

[Gwylan]

Many years ago, a couple of old drinking pals of mine had a copy each of Being And Nothingness by John Paul Satre. They'd both failed to get anywhere with it and devised a wager: if one of them managed to read the entirety of the book (and could prove they'd understood it to some degree) the other had to eat their copy as a forfeit.

We had to read it for uni - I don't blame them in the slightest

 

[Bry Nylon]

- couldn't put it down.

Same thing happened to me with The History of Glue

 

[The Clamp]

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.

Really wanted to like this and tried a few times to read it. Always thinking I would “get it” this time. Well there’s either nothing to get or I am just not seeing it.

 

[jimhigham]

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you’ve had no contact with Society of the Snow then move on… NOW.

I feel a bit guilty for this one…

I generally read non-fiction. I bent my own rules and got a copy of Society of the Snow after having seen the film.

The film was excellent. Harrowing, obviously, but excellent. A tale beyond imagining and a straightforward narrative arc. Then I got to the book. It was just too…florid? Too existential.

So I ditched it. Which seems a bit rude, given that I was essentially binning off the experience of survivors forced to eat their fallen fellow travellers.

I can only conclude that I am a bad person.

 

[chip]

A friend gave me Jude the Obscure because I reminded her of Jude, didn't finish that.

On the road

the electric kool aid acid test

Sometimes a great notion - got through catch 22 but this a step to far.

And, of course, Ulysses

 

[chip]

And Cloud Atlas was a struggle

 

[OzMike]

After reading The Hobbit and LOTR trilogy as a teen I tried The Silmarillion.
It was too hard and I gave up on it.
I read it 2 years ago, understood it much better when older, but still class it as the hardest book to read, so complicated.
I seldom read a book twice, though did make ecxeptions for Time Enough For Love by Robert Heinlein and Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith.

 

[The Clamp]

I struggled with Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books.

Rather enjoyed many of the screen adaptations but the books left me cold .

 

[Seagull58]

I've only failed to finish two books in my life:-
War and Peace
The Canterbury Tales

 

[OzMike]

Tried Far From the Madding Crowd, never got past Chapter 2.

 

[Gwylan]

A friend gave me Jude the Obscure because I reminded her of Jude, didn't finish that.

You got lucky - it's the most harrowing end of a book I've ever read.

 

[chip]

You got lucky - it's the most harrowing end of a book I've ever read.

I don't recall the start being that great either. I got as far as the children on coat hooks ...

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

100 Years of Solitude - ever single character seems to be called Jose Arcadio and that makes it impossible to follow the story.

 

[The Clamp]

If a book I’m reading has a complicated name in it, I’ll read the entire book having never bothered to read or learn that name.

“it was only then that Flavinski Ro…” oh yeah, him again.

 

[Professor Plum]

Delighted that I’m not only one to have struggled with Ulysses - I’ll try the audio version

The trouble with any version of Ulysses is that every paragraph, in fact almost every sentence, contains references — cultural, religious, political, literary, historical —that need or deserve exploration and explanation. This complexity and richness is largely why it’s considered a masterpiece. It’s staggeringly 'intellectual'. The reason I’ve struggled to make inroads into Ulysses is that I’ve always felt I can’t just skate over all of these hidden meanings. I need to understand them.

There’s a truly great, if unfinished, podcast series called 'Re: Joyce' by Frank Delaney in which he reads out Ulysses line by line and explains everything. Unfortunately Delaney died a long way before completion, but he left behind 368 episodes to enjoy. They’re only 5-10 minutes each and are a real joy to dip into.

This is all making me think it’s time I had another crack at the book.

 

[Mundays Right Foot]

As a matter of principle, for most of my life, once I started a book I always made a point of finishing it, even if it was shite.
Then I tried to read 100 years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Just no. Couldn’t understand the intent, and all the characters have the same names. I really wanted to finish it, but there was no hope.
I still try to finish books, but now know it’s OK to admit defeat.