Books You've Never Been Able to Get into or Finish

Hex said:
So many...

Greg Keyes Briar King, GRRM's books, both of them for the same reason -- the blood and guts and general nastiness were too much and I didn't dare care about anyone in case they got killed.

Time Traveller's Wife -- not sure what it was, the voice just repelled me.
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I actually really liked Greg Keyes' Briar King, Book 1 in the Kingdom of Thorn and Bones series. Mind you I also like GRRM's work..... :) I tend to gravitate towards 'gritty' and dark works but I also like a well written, subtle 'romance' story...I'm a Gemini...so that may explain some things...:D

Time Traveller's Wife I agree...not good.
 
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Hex said:
So many...

Greg Keyes Briar King, GRRM's books, both of them for the same reason -- the blood and guts and general nastiness were too much and I didn't dare care about anyone in case they got killed.

Time Traveller's Wife -- not sure what it was, the voice just repelled me.
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I just mentioned Time Traveller's Wife in another thread. I think it's like any 'voicey' one (Catcher in The Rye is probably another). If you can't take to the style and voice you'll never get along well with it. In fact, I think it's one of the big risks of first - if people don't dig the character, it's over....
 
AscribedPurpose said:
The Windup Girl. At one point it feels like it doesn't know where it's going.
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I soldiered on through it. Some very interesting ideas regarding the fate of the world after environmental and natural resource catastrophes. Some interesting characters, some of whom needed the whole story to be told in order to reveal themselves. Some met a deserved fate. Others didn't. But sometimes a tad ponderous, I admit.
 
"The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night".
Gave up after 50 pages, just could not get into this one.
 
The Malazan series for sure. It was thousand of pages with no payoff for me.

Robin Hobb's Soldier Son series was another one I couldn't get into. I loved her other books but this series was so bad I'm not even sure she really wrote it.
 
I've just counted 22 books on my shelves that I've started and given up on - but I'd like to try and finish one day, namely because I think I should. Mostly it's from trying to push my boundaries by reading as widely as I can, mostly in fantasy/historical fiction novels.

With so many books on my TBR, if I find a novel starts to drag, it gets demoted from "my evening read" to my "read in the toilet". If it still fails to interest, it just gets pushed aside when anything else attracts my interest.

I tend to especially struggle with older fantasy fiction, where character immersion and pace don't easily feature - even if classic SF lacks character, it tends to be at least written for pace.

There are some modern fantasy authors that retain that sense of self-indulgence, whereas others seem to be all about volume - quick, but shallow. I guess the challenge for any individual reader is to find stories that find a right balance between indulgence and pace according to personal preference.

Waffle, waffle. :)
 
The latest Lestat book for me. Lots of meandering and characters telling each other stuff as exposition instead of it happening within the narrative.

I once did an exercise in
'what not to do' by reading the Merry Gentey series (up to book 5 I think). One book spent three-quarters of its storyline in front of a magic mirror talking to different characters. I think I deserve points for perserverence!
The first Honor Harrington book is proving a slog, and I just couldn't go on with the Iron Druid books after putting the second one down halfway through.
 
Generally if I start a book I will finish it (unless it is dire) but often I take a while to return to it.

Suzannah Clarke: Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - I found the conversational and gentlemanly narration very difficult to stay with, the general lack of economy of words and the length of time it takes the author to say anything is frustrating. Although I did like the treatment of magic and have been told the book is very weighted for action towards the end. I am about 35% through and this is in my almost non existent "to be finished" pile. I found this a shame as it came recommended from another forum I frequent.
 
I've had a few I've not finished recently:
Wetware. Rudy Rucker - It was filled with the most implausible plot turns driven by the most unlikely character motivations.
Reamde. Neal Stephenson - Probably the worst edited book from an established author I've ever tried to read. And the story was terrible too.
Radix. A A Attanasio - Even for an ex/aged hippy like me the new age twaddle in this book was just way too much.
The Steel Remains. Richard K Morgan - I like Morgan's SF but this was simply dreadful.

And one I wish I'd given up but for some inexplicable reason I read to the end: The Vacant World. George Allan England - supposedly a classic, seriously, do not go near this one unless you are totally tolerant of patriarchal verging on misogynistic writing, rubbing shoulders with the most bigoted racism I've come across in a novel... possibly ever.
 
GOLLUM said:
I also know Thomas Pynchon's Gravity Rainbow has received a few gongs in previous discussions we have had here on this topic. I have the book but am yet to read it. Anyone here complete this novel?
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Yes I read it in about a week and I'd still say it's in my top three best reads of all time. Really clicked with me.

However I can understand why some may not like it. I know I like quite a few other authors that others have negative views on (Umberto Eco and M John Harrison spring instantly to mind) so you may judge where my taste is perhaps using them!

However I think I was lucky that I hadn't really come across any discussion of Gravitiy's Rainbow, particularly that it was supposed to be 'difficult' read, so just picked it up and ploughed through it like a hot knife through butter. Now that I am more learned about all books, I'm not sure I can wonder in naively into something big and tough, say like Finnegans Wake, anymore. Which is a shame.
 
SilentRoamer said:
Generally if I start a book I will finish it (unless it is dire) but often I take a while to return to it.

Suzannah Clarke: Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell - I found the conversational and gentlemanly narration very difficult to stay with, the general lack of economy of words and the length of time it takes the authu or to say anything is frustrating. Although I did like the treatment of magic and have been told the book is very weighted for action towards the end. I am about 35% through and this is in my almost non existent "to be finished" pile. I found this a shame as it came recommended from another forum I frequent.
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If you sort of imagine you're reading a book actually written in that era, I think you can get into it a bit more. Clarke even spells things in archaic ways, like 'shew' instead of 'show'. Stick with it and I think you'll love it.
 
I just saw this thread. It's funny because I really liked The Name of the Wind, loved Time Travelers Wife, really dug The Briar King and series, and didn't mind Hobb's Soldiers Son..it was far down the quality from her other books but the story was alright. I did read the Windup Girl and didn't really enjoy it...made me feel kind of dirty and not in a good way.

There have been a few books I couldn't get into...I actually was excited to read my first Koontz book this month and had to give up after 100 pages..just terrible. It was Strangers. Wowzers.

Other than that, one of the only books recently that I recall putting down was Redick's The Ruling Sea. I actually liked the Red Wolf Conspiracy but couldn't get into the sequel, no matter how many tries I gave it.
 
David Doherty-Jebb said:
If you sort of imagine you're reading a book actually written in that era, I think you can get into it a bit more. Clarke even spells things in archaic ways, like 'shew' instead of 'show'. Stick with it and I think you'll love it.
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Haha - the same sentiments as the guy who recommended it. I think I will go back and finish it at some point this year (I hardly ever leave anything unfinished for too long). It is obviously not badly written just something in the tone catches me off.

Do you mind me asking your nationality? It seems more popular outside of the UK which might be to do with the very English conversational tone.
 
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