Which Books have you Failed to Finish?

[pearl]

Yes, I saw you read Junkie by Burroughs which is the book that least appealed to me out of all his books after having read it. The subject matter wasn't really of much interest and I only read it because it was written by him. Pretty impossible not to finish as it is so short. He certainly was an intriguing character, an example of which is the time he accidentally killed his wife while playing William Tell. I even bought his CD "Spare Ass Annie and other Tales" which is him doing a series of readings over a musical Hip Hop backing.

yes, didn't know about the CD, but think he appeared in the film Drug Store Cowboy?

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Yes, I saw you read Junkie by Burroughs which is the book that least appealed to me out of all his books after having read it. The subject matter wasn't really of much interest and I only read it because it was written by him. Pretty impossible not to finish as it is so short. He certainly was an intriguing character, an example of which is the time he accidentally killed his wife while playing William Tell. I even bought his CD "Spare Ass Annie and other Tales" which is him doing a series of readings over a musical Hip Hop backing.

I've just got Naked Lunch out of the library. Junky will be next.

 

[Buzzer]

I've just remembered another book that I didn't finish. It's called My Secret Life (A Memoir) and is the life story of a well to do, man about town in late Victorian England. The blurb on the back said that it rivalled Dickens in exposing the harsh realities of life for the poor during that time and this is what sold it to me. The author spends much of his time visiting brothels in the poorest parts of town and given his snobbery and contempt for not only the have-nots that he meets but also his peers it is very much a prototype for American Psycho but without the violence.

I suppose it is a useful and interesting window on that time but most of the narrative seems to be around the author's sexual peccadilloes and these are described in great depth. His favourite fetish is watching women pee. There's something like 6 weighty volumes to this collection of memoirs. I lasted about a third of the way through the first.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

Pages and pages describing the main character's exercise routines and cosmetic applications, detailed descriptions of his restaurant visits and absolute consumerism, interspersed with savage and random acts of violence.

It wasn't the violence that made me stop, it was the utter tedium of everything surrounding it. An incredibly dull book.

BEE just gets duller. Never try Glamorama. You get all the American Psycho stuff you describe, plus page upon page of tedious celebrity name-dropping. Made it to the end eventually, but it was never anything less than a chore.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Ulysses.
I'm not an idiot.
However, I'm not a ****

One day I may read it
Close the book
Feel smug

And be a ****

There are audio books of Ulysses - its much easier to listen to (although my version is probably quite abbreviated) especially Molly Bloom's soliloquy at the end

 

[Buzzer]

Umberto Eco: Focaults Pendulum.. Just a tough, tough read..

That's one of my all-time favourite books. Crikey though, Eco was a very clever man and difficult to keep up with.

 

[1234andcounting]

100 Years of Solitude, Middlemarch both of which I persevered with, I will willingly admit, were to dense and complex.

The Da Vinci Code, The Beach, the first Harry Potter. each of these I tried to read because I was told I would enjoy them. Poorly written dross, the lot of them.

My literary tastes are overwhelmingly middlebrow.

 

[blue'n'white]

Quite agree about Shamtaram. Shame it did not live up to it's initial promise

 

[seaford]

Ulysses - had to read it for A level - fail on both
Les Miserables - the title says it all really

 

[Gwylan]

Ulysses - had to read it for A level - fail on both

How cool. Now, that's a great syllabus.

I think Ulysses is wasted on 18 year olds, I read it first at 17 and it didn't make a huge impression on me. I've read it twice since and have been overwhelmed by its brilliance. Think it's time to get around to reading it again.

 

[mune ni kamome]

Catch 22
One Day-David Nichols
All Virginia Woolf books