Do You 'Give Up' On Books?

[barry1010]

I used to be very reluctant to give up on any novel but I find myself doing it more and more often, I totally lose patience.
I gave up on a book I had been looking forward to reading three quarters of the way through last night. I think my concentration is not what it was. It was translated from Norwegian and I couldn't remember if characters were male or female and kept mixing them up.

Or maybe it's because books are so easy to come by these days I always have a few queued up to read.

[ichkeria]

We’ve been through this before ad nauseam - somewhat bizarrely - but I’ve found all Richard Osman’s books unputdownable. I think it’s his TV programs I can’t be doing with.
I must be illiterate or something.
Books I haven’t finished: Finnegans Wake, The Unnameable, and some book on Alan Turing.
And possibly others: it’s in the nature of these things to be forgettable.
There was also As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee - but that’s because I had to put it back reluctantly as it was in someone else’s house. And I vowed to get my own copy: decades later I have still to do so.

[naomi24]

One book I read in recent years that really should have been on my ‘classics’ list in my student days is Catcher in the Rye. Not to everyone’s taste but I found it quite extraordinary. Unique.

[ToraToraTora]

normally no, I'm brutal with books, I love books, I read them all even if they are a struggle I just do it slower and in smaller chunks.

[Milvus]

Very rarely. But the one I have been stuck with over many years is The Geneva Trap by Stella Rimington, ex MI5 boss. I keep having a go but can't get through it and I have read and finished The Prophet Armed by Leon Trotsky. I have to say, not too many whimsical moments there, but I'm sure Gulliver, Hymie and Gromit, would find it a relevant tome in the socialist library

[Ken4155]

I am an avid reader of Stephen King books but there is one that i just cannot get into, and believe me, i've tried and tried and tried. The book is From A Buick 8 and it is described as a 'slow burn' horror novel. 'Slow burn' is quite the understatement as i often get to about halfway through the book and nothing has happened. That's the point where i usually give up.

[piggynose]

Has anybody read or tried to read ' The Scarlett Letter ' by N.Hawthorne?
I tried reading it countless times, and in the end i gave it away!!!

[10ClarionSt]

I've never been a book reader because I don't have the patience. The last book I read was back in the 70's called Raise The Titanic. The book was much better than the film, btw. I know someone who reads a couple of books a week. She's a speed reader.

[piggynose]

Isn't reading an age thing? I say this because I remember reading all the Lord of the Rings books over 40years ago. At that time i found every book a page turner. But when i tried to read them again a few years ago, I just couldn't be bothered, and gave up after a matter of days!

[piggynose]

Thinking back to the late 70s+ early 80s, there was a radio serialisation of the books+ an animated film, so I guess this might have helped me!

[Old_Geezer]

I find no time for many books these days, which is why I have a massive pile of unread books that looked interesting at the time. Fiction or non-fiction, the same. What with TV, radio, Internet, occasional magazine, etc. I just don't find the enthusiasm for them any more. I'm unsure if the changing environment, or whether it's changes in me that caused it. When I used to read books more, I rarely didn't finish them. I can only think of two where, when I put it down I found it impossible to pick up again. Although perhaps there were more I've forgotten.

[barry1010]

I don't think it's an age issue but will give that some thought.

I've never read The Scarlet Letter, piggy.

This thread has certainly gone me some books to add to my reading list, so thanks for that.
Wish I'd kept a database of all the books that I had read, with brief notes.

[barry1010]

OG, maybe we need to sit in a quiet garden with few distractions, enjoying the warmth of the sun and a good book

[Ken4155]

As an insomniac, my 'reading hour' (or two) is when i am in bed. I often read myself to sleep, the problem being, i usually have to re-read a few pages the night after as i haven't taken in what i had the previous nght.

[vulcan42]

One book I've always enjoyed reading is Jerome K Jerome's 'Three men in a boat' but I've yet to Finish its sequel, 'Three men on a bummel'. The first is a classic but the second most certainly isn't. An interesting aside, three men in a boat has never been out of print since it was first published in 1889.

[barry1010]

Three Men in a Boat is a classic I can read again along with Wind in the Willows, which I sometimes read without a child as an excuse.

[Togo]

I confess that I stick with them till the end. But a couple that stick in my mind to be avoided for ever are, The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin and Tropic of Capricorn by Henry Miller. I almost fell asleep typing the titles.

[Arksided]

'Fat by Rob Grant (Red Dwarf) and Tom Sharpes books I do re-read

[Khandro]

I just recently gave up on Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses', I could though perhaps return to it one day.
In it's place I'm reading for the third time in my life, 'The Magic Mountain' by Thomas Mann.

I've also btw got Howard Jacobson's 'Coming From Behind' on my bedside table.

[Untitled]

if i give up on a book i usually do it near the beginning if i don't fancy it... once i have started i usually force my way to the end

the last time i gave up on a book was about a year ago... "the mysteries of ufolpho" by anne radcliffe... i got through the main plot but felt exhausted with it