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Old 02-13-2010, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Sherman Oaks, CA
6,588 posts, read 17,502,964 times
Reputation: 9462

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Admittedly, I read romances, but that genre is so vast that there's a huge difference in writing styles, plots, etc. I had to abandon a book at page 50 or so when a love scene was described with such hyperbole that I couldn't even laugh. There was another book where the heroine won the lottery, but it was so predictable (that the one person she thought she could trust ended up betraying her) that I couldn't motivate myself to finish it. Then there are books where nothing happens between page 75 and 110 or so. I've slogged through those, but wondered why I even bothered.

Oh, and I never finished "Moby Dick" either. I got a "C" in American Literature in 11th grade because I absolutely refused to read that book!
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Old 02-13-2010, 04:17 PM
 
Location: Coastal North Carolina
220 posts, read 280,973 times
Reputation: 321
I always slog on through a book, even if I'm not enjoying it, hoping against all hope that there's a payoff at some point. Inevitably, there isn't. Then when I'm done, I get mad at myself for wasting all that time finishing! The last book I felt that way about was Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt. No payoff for me whatsoever. A few interesting kernels of information, but that's about all. Imagine all that time I could have been reading the next book on my list (Final Salute by Jim Sheeler, which was wonderful and heartwrenching, by the way). But something just makes me see the book through.

If I had a choice during high school, I would have stopped reading The Sound and the Fury after 5 pages. I couldn't stand that book.

I enjoy reading these posts--now I know what to avoid!
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Old 02-15-2010, 12:36 PM
 
93 posts, read 368,120 times
Reputation: 46
I recently gave up on two books, which I hate to do. There are a few books I've read that I didn't like until the end, which is why I hate quitting in the middle, but I couldn't get into Love in the Time of Cholera (which I've heard is amazing) and Wicked. I heard so many good things about Love in the Time of Cholera, but after 80 something pages, I still dreaded picking it up, so I gave up. I was really excited about reading Wicked because I loved the play, but the book is completely different with a lot of political and religious themes...not my idea of a fun read!
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Old 02-16-2010, 02:59 PM
 
Location: Way up north :-)
3,037 posts, read 5,913,711 times
Reputation: 2946
I'm about to give up on One Good Turn, by Kate Atkinson. It was left here by a relative of my SO. I can understand why. I've just finished Ham on Rye by Bukowski, and am hundreds of miles from a decent bookstore.

One Good Turn is supposed to be a 'jolly mystery', something centered around a road rage incident. I'm not sure how that could turn out to be 'jolly'...must be British humor.
Well, the road rage has happened, but too many new characters are being introduced, with too much detail.
Most of all, I don't care about the guy I think is meant to be the main character. Actually, I don't like him at all.
What possessed me to read a British book? Get me back to the U.S of A, now!
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Old 02-16-2010, 03:03 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
29,645 posts, read 34,140,114 times
Reputation: 76673
Another thread reminded me that I never finished Eat, Pray, Love. The "eat" part was okay, but the "pray" part was such self-involved navel gazing that I couldn't finish the book.
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Old 02-20-2010, 07:24 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
10,196 posts, read 17,760,084 times
Reputation: 13903
I may have to give up on a book I'm currently reading - "Sphinx" by TS Learner. I knew from the Kindle Sample that the writing was great but I'm usually willing to excuse that for a good story. But it's just not grabbing my interest at all and I'm 150 pages in - I'll give another hundred pages or so but if it doesn't grab me by then, I'm giving up.
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