Posted by MaggieH (admin)
Feb 3, 2009 10:52 am

Replies (44)

Posted by

• Swann's Way, by Proust. I've started it a few times but I've never finished it. I think it's because I like to start reading a couple books at the same time. All the times I've begun Swann's Way, I've always switched over to and finished a different book. Maybe someday I'll finish it!

  Feb 3, 2009 12:38 pm
  by emilyyoung

• Pride and Prejudice. I couldn't make it through the first chapter, it was so sickening!
  I also decided one time to read the entire dictionary (just to say I did). That certainly didn't work out very well, although I now know the definition of an "aba."

  Feb 3, 2009 12:44 pm
  by AndreaNo1

• yay! My question got featured!
  
  Wuthering Heights... I couldn't tolerate Nelly's narrative style nor emphathize with the protagonists. I read halfway through the book, then skipped to the scene where Catherine dies, and the ending. I should go back and reread it, as this is the only book I have not finished.

  Feb 3, 2009 1:22 pm
  by tristiseye

• 1) The Sound and the Fury. I have tried twice and never been able to make it through the first section written from the perspective of the retarded character.
  
  2) Don Quixote. I have tried twice on that one too. I think I might need to Daily Lit that one to make it through. If it can work for Moby Dick it should work for this! I just haven't been able to hit that point where I wanted to keep reading. I was always reading it for the sake of it.
  
  I also didn't finish 100 Years of Solitude. No particular reason - I just didn't get into it but I will try again one day.
  
  I cannot believe you didn't like Grapes of Wrath though Maggie. That is without doubt my favourite book ever. It was a depressing read but very powerful and turned me into a huge Steinbeck fan.

  Feb 3, 2009 2:35 pm
  by cresswga

• I started The Bridges of Madison County and it was so repulsively inane I actually threw it across the room... ergh.. And, American Psycho. I like horror but that was just gross, I got to the part of the animal abuse and that was that. I actually burned my copy.

  Feb 3, 2009 8:48 pm
  by Cattrix

• There were a few but I regret not finishing War and Peace (and I was pretty far along and kinda liking it). I should go back!

  Feb 3, 2009 9:03 pm
  by EDITHJWHARTON

• I have tried twice to get through A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe, but lost interest both times. Although, I loved The Bonfire of the Vanities. I think we all feel somewhat let down when the author doesn't quite pull it off again and again. Btw, I feel the same way about Philip Roth.

  Feb 3, 2009 9:45 pm
  by litrags

• I now have 3 copies of The Scarlet Letter and still have not finished it. My boyfriend keeps buying me copies so I'll read it (he seems to think that my degree in English means nothing if I haven't read this book) so cross your fingers, I'm halfway through!

  Feb 4, 2009 5:55 am
  by kella08

• Moby Dick, this is my second time reading it and I stopped for about 3 weeks. Even the pretty collectors' edition copy I have cannot entice me to go near it.
  
  It is, however, my goal to read it by the end of the year. I think I'm about 1/3 of the way through. Don't get me wrong, the language is beautiful, but every once in a while it does get rather dreary.

  Feb 4, 2009 9:11 am
  by books

• Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. That book was so
  depressing and the characters so unlikeable that I quit half-way
  into the last chapter! I simply did not care what happened to any
  of them.

  Feb 4, 2009 9:54 am
  by annaj312

• undoubtedly - war and peace. the way it switches between the, strangely enough, war and peace scenes frustrated me every single time i picked this thing up. also, you need to keep a list of all the characters just to keep them all straight.
  
  i'll get it one day though. it's in my to-read list (hopefully not forever).

  Feb 4, 2009 11:01 am
  by wsimpson3144

• I honestly can't think of any, but there's been a few that I wanted to quit and kept going and now they're some of my favorite books, like Wuthering Heights and Villette. Right now I'm listening to Lorna Doone on tape and am not getting into it at all... I'm not sure if I'll give up or not!

  Feb 4, 2009 2:34 pm
  by terpsgirl02

• Ah, I thought of one. Wives and Daughters! It just dragged on and on, and since I'd already seen the movie (miniseries?), I knew what happened, so... :)
  
  And actually on Wuthering Heights, I did quit that book the first time I read it, but came back years later. I also threw it across the room the second time, but I finished. I love that book, but it's very frustrating at times!

  Feb 4, 2009 2:43 pm
  by terpsgirl02

• Wow! The Grapes of Wrath? I can't believe you didn't like that one. One of the best. When the "Worst Hard Time" came out, I rushed out to buy it so I could understand the Dust Bowl History. War and Peace was mine. I kept starting but never did finish. Les Miserables was another.

  Feb 4, 2009 4:15 pm
  by kenzo

• @cresswga: It's possible I was I was a little too young for the book and didn't quite "get it." Maybe I will have to take another look one of these days. I do love Of Mice and Men...
  
  @cattrix: Throwing and burning books! Such passion!
  
  @EDITHJWHARTON, wsimpson13144: One of the things we hear most commonly from readers is "If it hadn't been for DailyLit I never would have finished War and Peace!" And you can, too!
  
  @kellao8: Is it for love? Or is it so he'll quit bugging you? Either way, I hope you can get through the book soon!
  
  @terpsgirl02: Villette is one of my very favorite books. So glad you stuck with it!
  
  It's fun to see what other folks have abandoned, no? Keep them coming!

  Feb 4, 2009 4:16 pm
  by MaggieH (admin)

• I'd have to go with Robinson Crusoe. I started it with daily lit, but goodness I couldn't get through the fourth day. BTW, Moby Dick--I spent a year in rural Mexico--no tv, no english radio, and that is the kind of situation you need to be in (NO OTHER ENTERTAINMENT). In fact, that was the situation when I also finally read A Tale of Two Cities(in high school, I did the cliff notes thing). Turned out to be a great read. Maybe many of the classics, especially those written before say, 1930, are so tough for us moderns as all our technology and other venues are too distracting.

  Feb 6, 2009 10:00 pm
  by changolote

• Oh my god. Robinson Crusoe, definitely. I had to read it for Children's Lit at college, apparently CHILDREN used to read it! I highly doubt it because I died of boredom halfway through and haven't looked back. I don't think I missed much, although it inspired the new show "Crusoe."

  Feb 6, 2009 11:58 pm
  by kella08

• Mine would have to be Huckleberry Finn. I just kept skimming through pages in High School and never really got the hang of it. The vernacular, phonetic dialog was hard for me to follow.

  Feb 7, 2009 3:11 am
  by femmebot

• I feel for all non-finishers of Gone With the Wind - I started it at least five times before just forcing myself to read the whole thing, always losing momentum at the starvation part. And Les Miserables took over 4 years to slog through, it's so excruciatingly long! I finished Wuthering Heights on the first try, but still loathe it.
  Perhaps I'm weird, but I dearly love Huckleberry Finn and nearly all Mark Twain, Jane Austen, and most of Faulkner. The Grapes of Wrath was hard to read, but I think because it's almost too powerful and moving. I even found Don Quixote and Moby Dick reasonably interesting. Finnegan's Wake defeated me, though. After skimming it years ago, I decided I never could understand it, and did not care. Ulysses was all right, but obscurity for its own sake or whatever Joyce had in mind is boring and annoying - life is too short, with more books I really want to read than I'll ever have time for.

  Feb 7, 2009 2:21 pm
  by llfrederick

• Robinson Crusoe for me. I've started it several times - once with an abridged copy, even - and never managed to make it more than half-way. I don't know why I have such trouble with it. I mean to have another go at it through DailyLit, though. I'm sure I can make it if I really try...

  Feb 8, 2009 4:29 am
  by EmeraldGreen

• I just Stumbled this site...
  
  I very rarely don't finish books, but here are two that I just couldn't get through:
  
  JD Salinger - Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. I got through RRTRBC no problem, but I thought S:AI was so boring and repetitive that I just could not get through it. And Salinger is one of my favorite authors, too.
  
  Jane Austen - Emma. I've started it... three times? I've gotten maybe to the middle of the book, but I've never managed to finish it.
  
  I've also got 200 or so pages left to go in Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers. I'm planning to finish this one eventually, though.

  Feb 8, 2009 7:43 am
  by MysticalChicken

• I have yet to be able to get through more than a few pages of any of Norman Mailer's books. If I ever reach a state of complete equanimity, I might try again...but probably not. Also Dickens, I've started most of his novels, but have never been able to finish any. Except A Christmas Carol of course. But I like his stories, so I'm not sure why -- I probably get interrupted by some major life event and never get back. At one time I pretty much had the beginning lines of David Copperfield totally memorized. It's been awhile though - maybe time for another try? Better check my calendar to see what's coming up.

  Feb 8, 2009 5:21 pm
  by literatus

• I think a lot of the books I've 'read' for high school I didn't actually make it all the way through. Song of Solomon jumps to mind on that front. I faked my way through that book because I got so annoyed with the first few chapters.
  
  I've tried reading Little Women a few times, but can't get deep enough into the story to become enthralled with it. Lately, I've tried to read Around the World in 80 Days, and I think I'm just not getting through it because I'm trying to read it at work, and my head just isn't into it.

  Feb 8, 2009 11:29 pm
  by butterflybaisers87

• I am surprised at how many people said Robinson Crusoe. I was worried that I would find it boring but I liked how he got himself set up on the island and made a life for himself. The only problem I had was with Crusoe's actions at the end.
  
  Perhaps if I had sat down to read it as a book I would have had more problems so thanks once again to this site!

  Feb 9, 2009 8:47 am
  by cresswga

• @Mystical Chicken: As a newly converted Salinger fan, I recommend going back and reattempting Seymour: An Introduction. Although I had trouble with it at first, reading S:AI has filled in the gaps as well as raise new questions about Seymour and the Glass family while reading other stories about the Glass's.

  Feb 9, 2009 3:10 pm
  by tristiseye

• Thanks to everyone for sharing! Very interesting how many people couldn't get through Robinson Crusoe.
  
  Look for a new question to be posted tomorrow...

  Feb 9, 2009 4:39 pm
  by MaggieH (admin)

• I could never finish "Moby Dick" or "Billy Budd." Perhaps I just hate Herman Melville's style of writing? The first time I tried to read "Wuthering Heights" I gave up...but then, I was 12. I read it (all of it) when I was in my 20's and it finally made sense.

  Feb 9, 2009 5:59 pm
  by CherylsPearls

• I never finished A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul. I never felt any kind of caring for the characters, who seemed all very manipulative, selfish,and sometimes cruel and detestable- I enjoyed the discussion with our book group, but the book itself has three or more chapters I'll never bother to finish.

  Feb 10, 2009 11:08 am
  by PennyLyon

• The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I loved The Hobbit, and I'm a HUGE fantasy fan, but I fall asleep every time I try to read those books! Maybe I'll watch the movies and THEN try to read them.

  Feb 10, 2009 3:15 pm
  by nkengaola

• @nkengaola: I had almost the same experience. I really enjoyed The Hobbit, but I really struggled through the Lord of the Rings! I did finish them eventually, although as I've mentioned here before, I actually thought the movies were better.

  Feb 11, 2009 5:09 pm
  by MaggieH (admin)

• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
  I was really looking forward to this book, as it has many fans and is it suppose to be a really historically accurate work, but neither my husband, nor I could get past the first chapter!

  Feb 14, 2009 9:35 pm
  by emiletic

• Forgot Villette. Couldn't get through it! Can someone please tell me to finish it so that I can morph my Catholic school upbringing, hit myself on the knuckles with a ruler and finish that darn book!

  Feb 16, 2009 11:23 am
  by EDITHJWHARTON

• I was really looking forward to reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers. Right up until the time I got to page two. I don't know why, but I never finished it. Then there's "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder, which a friend told me was my kind of book. Hmmmmmm...maybe I'll try them again.
  
  Oh, and I hated "The Grapes of Wrath" when we read it in high school. Maybe I'll try it again too.

  Mar 21, 2009 12:55 am
  by Christycat

• I could never finish "I For Isobel" by Amy Witting if anyone is familiar with that book.
  Also Great Expectations by Dickens gave me a hard time. I've read a lot of dickens but that one i always put down for some reason.

  Mar 21, 2009 5:53 am
  by amorelle

• ohhh also D.H Lawrence - Women In Love.
  I put that down never to be picked up again.

  Mar 21, 2009 5:53 am
  by amorelle

• I have the tendency to not finish a lot of books, especially if they're really good, bc I don't like it when it ends :)

  Mar 23, 2009 9:42 am
  by fredsmilek

• I am a big fantasy fan but cannot get through "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Every detail is so excruciatingly thought out and detailed that I find myself getting bored even in pivotal battle scenes. I loved the movies and hope that will help me get through them before I die. I've started and stopped reading them for around 30 years now. First I gave up on "The Fellowship of the Ring." I thought that perhaps he'll have warmed up by the second and tried "The Two Towers." Nope. My introduction was "The Hobbit" even though I couldn't completely force myself through it either. I think my issue with the series is the lack of female characters that I can identify with. I don't have problems reading with fantasy with strong female characters. For the most part Tolkien females have traditional roles. I'm not knocking Tolkien. He was a product of the times he lived just as I am a product of mine. I enjoy Marian Zimmer Bradley for example.

  Mar 27, 2009 6:54 pm
  by truthsayer62

• Yeah, I have to agree with truthsayer62; Lord of the Rings is better viewed in a movie.

  Mar 29, 2009 11:31 pm
  by emiletic

• There are several books I tried when I was younger and gave up on, but I never leave a book unfinished anymore.

  Jun 16, 2009 10:27 pm
  by saturntv

• Gone With the Wind - Probably because I found Scarlett O'Hara to be an insufferablem self-centered bore. Not saying it's not a good book; my friend loves the the book for the same reason I hated it. Couldn't keep reading.

  Jun 18, 2009 7:09 pm
  by Dellastr

• I just tried to read the new book "Sag Harbor" and couldn't finish. I couldn't find a hint of a plot, just the everyday events in a boy's summer in Sag Harbor.
  I originally gave up on "War and Peace" but went back to it after I realized if I skimmed through some of the long-winded descriptions I could do it.

  Jun 19, 2009 4:25 pm
  by tin0002

• USA by John Dos Pasos. I haven't gotten past the first 100 or so pages because of the accent of one of the characters. I can't remember which now, I gave up on it a while ago.

  Jun 19, 2009 4:26 pm
  by Clay1279

• Who has finished "The Sound and the Fury?"

  Jun 19, 2009 5:52 pm
  by Crystal32

• Me, me! I finished The Sound and The Fury, (But then it was required for a class for my master's degree. :-)
  
  I could NOT finish Catch-22.

  Jun 19, 2009 6:38 pm
  by barbryt