Books highly prized you couldn't finish

DWSTXS

Mr Mojo Risin...
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Catcher in the Rye - I know, I know....it's supposedly a 'classic'.....but I tried and tried, and, for the life of me...I just don't get it.........it's poorly written, and just.....stupid.....
 

Dragon-lady

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A deep dark secret here--as a fantasy writer this will get me yelled at. I have never managed to finish a Douglas Adams book. Hitchhiker didn't seem so much funny as stupid to me. Sorry. :(
 

flowerburgers

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I have tried to read both Age of Innocence and House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and failed miserably (although I did make it more than halfway through the former). I gave up on Moby Dick after a few hundred pages too, but I actually really liked it and want to revisit it at some point when I have more time.
 

Kitty27

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The Lovely Bones

I tried. I really did.

The Historian. This book almost broke my will. I am one of those people cursed with the inability to not finish a book. Lord.
 

crazynance

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That would have to be Dune. And I was told that I gave up too early on it, having only read about 100 pages.

tri

I loved Dune... My brother foolishly brought this book on a family camping trip and we took turns stealing it from each other. :D

I am mid way through about 5 books at the moment, does that count? Eating Animals is taking a long time because the information is so raw (pardon the pun) on the nerves.

Maeve Binchy books. My mum was so excited for me to read one and I was unable to relate AT ALL. Poor Mum.
 

BenPanced

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I gave up on Moby Dick after a few hundred pages too, but I actually really liked it and want to revisit it at some point when I have more time.
I had no choice in reading Moby Dick. It was required when I was back in high school. All 25 of us in the class were passing around the Cliffs Notes. It. Was. EXCRUTIATING.
 

Priene

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I had no choice in reading Moby Dick. It was required when I was back in high school. All 25 of us in the class were passing around the Cliffs Notes. It. Was. EXCRUTIATING.

It's easier when you're allowed to skip the Whaling Encyclopaedia sections.
 

YeonAh

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Da Vinci Code — Hype was better than the book, imo. So glad it was a library book and I didn't buy it, I would have wanted my money back!

I have the third book in The Inheritance series (Brisingr) in my closet, and it's been there for....two, three years now? I got so lost a third into the book, didn't know which way was up.
 

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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. First third or so was fantastic and then it became, for me, a boring slog.
 

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Tess of the D'Ubervilles
Crime and Punishment

I might have another go at Crime and Punishment at some point. Tess, I'm never touching that book again.

I forced myself to finish Midnight's Children, but it was a painful experience. I wish I hadn't bothered.
 

Wind Ann Wise

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Lord of the Rings. They were introducing too many characters and too much was going on. I barely even finished the first chapter.

Farenheight 411. I had to read that in school. It was about burning books and I didn't like that. Never read it again.

Pride and Prejudice. It was boring. I had to force myself to finish it.
 

cmi0616

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This is probably blasphemy, but I couldn't get past 200 pages of A Prayer For Owen Meany. After he rambled on for 100 pages about the chirstmas pagent and his pseudo-crush on his cousin, I was done. Everyone else I know has loved it though. And I'm a huge John Irving fan too, but I just didn't get it.
 

WildScribe

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Twilight? I read the first chapter and had to stop when my brain cells threatened to mutiny.

The Bible. I tried. Multiple times. Apparently normal people don't just start at the Old Testament and go forward, but I didn't know that at the time, and now I just don't care.

I'm going to finish the Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson, but I feel like the little engine that could, chugging my way up a steep, steep hill. I want to know what happens, but I am starting to glaze over during descriptions of the landscape. Badly.

I also barely finished Mistborn. It's about a third longer than it has to be. I liked the story, but still...

There have been others, including many classics (I HATE Jane Austen!) but none I can think of at the moment.
 

LJD

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This is probably blasphemy, but I couldn't get past 200 pages of A Prayer For Owen Meany. After he rambled on for 100 pages about the chirstmas pagent and his pseudo-crush on his cousin, I was done. Everyone else I know has loved it though. And I'm a huge John Irving fan too, but I just didn't get it.

Someone mentioned this book on the first page of the thread, actually.

I remember liking it, though I read it a very long time ago.
 

LadyV

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I had to read Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison in high school. I actually decided it was less painful to fail the quiz than read that book. I couldn't get through four pages at a time without nodding off.
 

Nick Rolynd

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I tend to flip flop on a lot of authors. I loved King's The Shining (and I hate horror, so that's saying something), but I couldn't finish Salem's Lot to save my life. I've only ever finished one John Grisham book, and that was -snort- A Painted House. Oh, and while we're on classics, I was forced to finish Adam Bede for an English class. If I'd had a choice, I would have thrown it in the trashcan after page one.
 

Gilroy Cullen

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Kevin J Anderson - Hidden Empire

You know, I hear rave reviews over this book, this entire saga, in fact. Can't get past the first twenty pages. Horrid. Just not worth my time.

Robert Jordan - Wheel of Time Series

I forced myself to read the first five books. The long drawn out passages of prose, with little to no activity, I just can't handle them. I felt like I wasted months with those books. I could place them and ignore them for weeks, and not care. This is not a sign of a good book to me.

*tries to find a lean to so he can avoid the lynch mob now.*
 

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I read Gone with the Wind and was suprised that I really liked it, so I thought I'd try Pride and Prejudice. For me, it was dull.
 

ExitTheKing

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A Confederacy of Dunces. I really wanted to like the book, but I just was never able to finish the thing. Everyone kept telling me how great a book it was, but I had to stop about halfway through. Granted, this was when I was eighth grade, and I've been thinking about going back and tackling it again.
 

BenPanced

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A Confederacy of Dunces. I really wanted to like the book, but I just was never able to finish the thing. Everyone kept telling me how great a book it was, but I had to stop about halfway through. Granted, this was when I was eighth grade, and I've been thinking about going back and tackling it again.
The main character reminded me of too many people I've met and known that I can't STAND to be around any longer so I had to quit. This was about four years ago and I'm not compelled to pick it up again ever.

Just last week, I tried to start The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon and...just...couldn't...finish it. I stopped in the middle of the third chapter; there was a lot going on but NOTHING WAS HAPPENING. Three chapters in, and I felt like the story was still being set up.