Put it down, or muddle through?

[dwndrgn]

I've aboutseven or eight books on my shelves that I've read part way through, then set aside until I'm really desperate. The irony is, since I've no temptation to lend them out, but can't take them to the second hand shop, because they're not finished, they're amoung the books that stay with me longest.

I got a smile from this, Chris. It is irony at it finest

 

[GOLLUM]

I agree that you often know very soon whether you're reading tripe or not... but I think it depends on how large the book is before I decide where I call the line on whether or not to carry on.

I pretty much agree with that Green but unlike your good self and some other members I didn't mind Irvine's writing, especially his first tetraology, which is the one you're referring to. I agree Shadow On The Glass was fairly average but the remaining books if you persisted, improved plus I treated these as a more lighthearted read rather than anything serious and found myself liking the story and Irvine's worldbuilding and enginerring concepts. There was enough in there for me (particularly the worldbuilding and concept of 3 seperated worlds and individual species and societies) despite the fairly basic prose to keep me interested in reading further. It does improve with the remaining books I can assure you but of course he's no Wolfe, Calvino, Harrison, Vandermeer, Erikson etc...

 

[Green]

It did seem a promising series from the blurb.. but gah!

 

[hedgeknight]

dump it. life is too short to force yourself to read something that doesn't click.

Amen, faery queen!
Life IS too short and I'm not gonna waste it reading or watching drivel. Green, I almost started a similar thread a few days ago and just got busy and never came back to it. In the last three months I've started and put down at least a half a dozen books. Like Gollum said, after about 50 pages if it doesn't grab you, toss it aside.
And I don't leave 'em sitting around clogging up my shelves and reminding me of something I didn't finish. I trade 'em in at the used paperback store for something else!
Don't torture yourselves, folks! Clean out the rough and start fresh!
-g-

 

[Sibeling]

I usually try to finish reading the book I've started just because there might yet be something valuable in the most boring book. However, if it gets absolutely untolerably boring, I don't read on. I can't say that I have a definite page number at which I stop reading a boring book - when it is just too much, I put the book aside.

And series is also a difficult question - sometimes the first books is good and all the others are good, and sometimes only the first book is good, and you have already wasted money on bying the whole series...

 

[ravenus]

Ravenus' rules for reading:

NO series

NO 1000 pages sagas (unless heavily recommended by trusted sources)

Unless it's by an author whose previous works have earned my interest and respect, I woudn't go more than say 15% of a book before deciding whether it was worth continuing.

 

[kyektulu]

If I have started a book I mostly continue untill I have finished it.

There have been some books which I couldnt force myself to read... they were to dire.

 

[Adasunshine]

It depends, I did put WoT down at a quarter of the way through book 6!

Apart from that and The Dreamers, I've not left any book or series unfinished and I do intend to finish The Dreamers!

I don't often pick books I don't like though so I'm quite fortunate and I don't come across this problem very often atall!

xx

 

[GrownUp]

So - if a book or series is a bit dull, or it's not living up to your expectations, do you battle on and hope it gets better, or do you dump it quicker than a three-eyed woman with athlete's foot?

I'll seldom give up - but "The Da Vinci Code" is an exception. I couldn't stand it more than three pages/chapters. And I struggled that far.

On the other hand, if I was dating a three-eyed woman with athlete's foot I would try to make the relationship last. I would never be able to find a woman like that again.

 

[Green]

That's true. You'd probably have to find a three-eyed woman and then make her hang around dodgy swimming pools Maybe a veruca would be the best you could hope for.

 

[Saeltari]

Let the book go. Allow it to flow onto someone else in this great world. Someone who feels it is not despicable, but a unique treasure.
I do this because if it is really bad I tend to throw it through the nearest window, this becomes costly after awhile.
I have no problem leaving a movie in the middle. Better I do that than ruin it for every body else with my snores or shouts of disgust.

 

[Rosemary]

I'm usually quite careful about the books I chose to read. Still, there have been some which do not seem to have been written as well as I thought they might. No matter...I always have to finish a book once started!

 

[GrownUp]

That's true. You'd probably have to find a three-eyed woman and then make her hang around dodgy swimming pools Maybe a veruca would be the best you could hope for.

If I did that, wouldn't she get upset? 3-eyed possible veruca would be saying
"You're only going out with me because I remind you of that other three-eyed woman you used to date".

It's one thing discarding an unwanted novel for another. I'm not going to mess with people's lives though. No way.

 

[StevenSavile]

I used to force myself to finish every single book I bought. The first one I ever failed with was Hans Bemann's big chunky Stone & the Flute book, which I only managed about 20 pages. Struggled with Peter Morwood's Horselords books at the time but reread them 10 years later and really enjoyed them. I find it can be as simple as my own frame of mind. I am well passed worrying about not finishing a book though, as my To Be Read stack reaches up up up into the sky. So many books, so little time. Last book I failed to finish, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which was lush and gorgeous and all of that... and still couldn't keep me immersed.

I think I am becoming something of an ADD reader. I want this to occupy my brain...

 

[beenorthern]

"Everything that is not forbidden is compulsory". We may read about brave new worlds, but choosing to live in one is another story ...

Lucky me! I've got some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, but fortunately these don't include *having* to finish a book I'm not enjoying! I can put that book on the back-to-library pile or into the trade-in bag without reading the whole thing!

Whether it's a piece of junk or an excellent novel that's just not to my taste, there is no reason to continue reading once I realize I'm not enjoying it.

Books started and abandoned this week: 4

 

[Nokia]

Books started and abandoned this week: 4

Is that average/normal for you??

For me, if I'm reading a series and a book in the middle gets boring, I'll muddle through - that's what happened when I was reading Serpentwar Saga, but if I'm reading a standalone book and it gets boring the middle and I'm not particularly attached to the characters I'll put it down. There have been cases where I'm attached to one party of travellers and not the others so I read on only reading about the party I'm mostly interested in. I feel like I'm cheating the book when I do that though.

 

[polymath]

I'll make the effort to finish a book but if it's that bad I'll toss it away.
Sometimes I'll go back though. There was one book that I just couldn't seem to get into after 30 or 40 pages so I passed...when I went back I saw it through, and it's one of my favourites ever - that was 'The Difference Engine', which is brilliant.
OTOH, The Celestine Prophecy managed to waste my time up until page two, at which point I was forced to hurl it violently away. Goddamn hippy babble. I hope some species of pulp-gnawing tick gained benefit from it, I can't imagine anyone else would.

 

[genisis2]

I have to carry on. I dont know exactly why but I have never left a book unfinished. There have been sooooooo many that Ive thrown against a wall. Now in the case of Jordan I believe he didnt know how to end his series. His last book was alright.

 

[jackokent]

I've read so much rubbish because I am not capable of giving up on a book. I know life is short and I know it might be compulsive, but it becomes a personal challenge. If it is really bad it becomes a loo book (should this be on another thread) and only gets read at the obvious intervals. I also have a personal rule that I can have no more than 3 books on the go. One for each loo if necessary, and one other (hopefully one I am actually enjoying). I envy all of you with with the will power to just stop reading. Maybe we should have a worst book you've ever read thread. That might be contentious, but I've probably read most of them.

 

[Reader]

I putted down the book "Stronghold", i was bored to death...shame, because it had such a nice cover to the book.