Books you could never finish..

[pedro]

Noticed a poll in the news today listing books people could never get into or finish.. Wondered DYR members would list?

I've usually tried to read any book to the finish( except school books) but started Lord of the Rings 5 times before completing it(still think there are much better fantasy novels outthere) a couple of D Vinci code rip offs latley were pretty bad and could never see anything in Shakespear.

[Grackle]

Re: Books you could never finish..

Gotta agree with LOTR - the furthest I made it was about page 100.

The length of the book doesn't matter to me - if I'm reading any book, short or long, and the story doesn't grab me (though it doesn't happen often) I don't finish it. There are too many good books waiting to be read to waste time on bad ones.

Back when I was in college, my best friend would sometimes insist I read her "favourite" Mills & Boon books... never finished one, she usually took them away from me after about 10 pages because I always started laughing at them

[ceg56]

Re: Books you could never finish..

I'm an avid reader, but the hardest book I have read (didn't think I would finish it!!) was "Beautiful Mind".

It was about a maths genius (John Nash) who won a noble peace prize for his work and also had the misfortune to suffer schizophrenia. The film that was made from this book was a very shortened version of the book and left out many facts about his family, including that he actually had 2 sons he named John, from 2 different women.

The book seemed to have used at least 1/2 of it covering his main work and needed the reader to have a degree in maths to understand it.

I did manage to finish the book and with any book that has had a film made out of it, the book will always gives more detail, which I like. Beautiful Mind was an excellent film, however, I could never recommend anyone reading the book.

[pedro]

Re: Books you could never finish..

I like Beautiful Mind as a film but would imagine the book as hard work.
Alaister Mclean is another author I gave up on. Some of his well know books are ok but other stuff is IMO total pants. In one book he had the British spy caught by those nasty KGB facing the worst torturer in all of the USSR only to find out that nasty Ivan was a double agent and let him go. Once ok but three times during the book streching it a bit

[ceg56]

Re: Books you could never finish..

I like Beautiful Mind as a film but would imagine the book as hard work.
Alaister Mclean is another author I gave up on. Some of his well know books are ok but other stuff is IMO total pants. In one book he had the British spy caught by those nasty KGB facing the worst torturer in all of the USSR only to find out that nasty Ivan was a double agent and let him go. Once ok but three times during the book streching it a bit

Lol Pedro

Afraid I am not into spy books, daughter bought me the De Vinci Code and a couple of other books by Dan Brown a couple of christmases ago. Tried the Devinci Code (only because she had bought them for me - definitely wouldn't have bought them myself), only read a few chapters and haven't picked it up since, the other 2 books haven't even opened them!!
I will try and get through them eventually, but not looking forward to it:cry:
She normally buys me books I am interested in, not sure what happened there, she probably thought she would convert me.

Carolyn

[andria]

Re: Books you could never finish..

Lol Pedro

Afraid I am not into spy books, daughter bought me the De Vinci Code and a couple of other books by Dan Brown a couple of christmases ago. Tried the Devinci Code (only because she had bought them for me - definitely wouldn't have bought them myself), only read a few chapters and haven't picked it up since, the other 2 books haven't even opened them!!
I will try and get through them eventually, but not looking forward to it:cry:
She normally buys me books I am interested in, not sure what happened there, she probably thought she would convert me.

Carolyn

Don't know if you have this but try Angels and Demons by Dan Brown first, it's easier to get into than the Da Vinci Code, i thought. Plus it's the prequel.

[ceg56]

Re: Books you could never finish..

Don't know if you have this but try Angels and Demons by Dan Brown first, it's easier to get into than the Da Vinci Code, i thought. Plus it's the prequel.

Hi Andrea,
Thanks for that, that was one of the other ones she got me and also Digitial Fortess (have you read that one?).
I will try Angels and Demons first.

Carolyn

[andria]

Re: Books you could never finish..

I've just bought Digital Fortress but havn't read it yet, I'm reading shop-a-holic and Baby at the min.

[andria]

Re: Books you could never finish..

Back when I was in college, my best friend would sometimes insist I read her "favourite" Mills & Boon books... never finished one, she usually took them away from me after about 10 pages because I always started laughing at them

My Nana used to read Hundreds and hundreds of Mills & Boon books each week, the woman from the library used to bring them round. I used to pinch the Hospital ones to read, but they were bad:cry:

[sixtyten]

Re: Books you could never finish..

Moby Dick!

[koukou]

Re: Books you could never finish..

Catcher in the Rye...... I was going through a phase of wanting to read 'classics'. Didn't get very far.

[ceg56]

Re: Books you could never finish..

I've just bought Digital Fortress but havn't read it yet, I'm reading shop-a-holic and Baby at the min.

I've a book on the go at the moment, but will start Angels and Demons next. Is Shop-a-holic a recent book? Had a feeling I had read that, a while back, just checked, but cannot see it amongst all my other books (and there are loads lol). Read The Devil wears Prada - that was quite good. Read loads of books, but am hopeless at remembering Titles and Authors unless I know someone who would be interested in the same book and can lend it on. (Excellent book to read but, hard going at first is "We need to talk about Kevin" - lent it out and can't get it back )

Bought Iris Murdochs "A Life" ages and ages ago - that was one I couldn't get into, thought it was going to be more indepth about the problems she had leading up to the diagnosis of Alzheimers and the life she had with it.

[ceg56]

Re: Books you could never finish..

The Bible - somehow don't think I wil ever finish it. Bet no one else has...

[MommaMystique]

Re: Books you could never finish..

The Bible - somehow don't think I wil ever finish it. Bet no one else has...

Wrong... brought up in a Catholic household and had to read out loud every night before bed...... what a thing to do to a child.... all that smiting and blood shed, demons and war.... worse than any so called video nasty I have seeen since

Books I havent finished... the last Colin Forbes because I know there will never be any more. RIP Mr Forbes.... your works guided my family safely round Amsterdam and Bruges.

[ceg56]

Re: Books you could never finish..

What an achievment!!

Many apologies and I think that maybe reflected the era's we were born in to an extent. We did have to do as our parents said most of the time, especially when it came to schooling and religion.

Carolyn x