I can’t believe I’m doing this. I don’t think I’ve ever done it on purpose before. I’m actually going to not finish this book.
It’s not that it’s not well written. Really, it is. Clearly the author is either very gifted, or took the time to truly hone her gift. Or both.
But I just can’t read it. Seriously. There are some subjects that just make me uncomfortable, and without any humor to balance it out, I just can’t read it. It’s not really depressing, just one of those subjects that tends to send me into a spiraling depression or causes me to lash out in anger depending on how it’s presented and how my mood is at the time.
This is not a good book for me.
I hate to do it, really. It’s just not in me to stop reading a book on purpose. When they’re badly written, I push on in the hope that it’ll get better. When they’re well written and I hate reading it? I mean, really? I’d actually prefer reading my shampoo bottles (Hey- they’re the ultimate in fiction and pep talks!). And yes, I actually have three shampoos, plus whatever my husband uses and the samples from hotels.
What it came down to is this. I was trying to rush through the book, so so that I could finish it and move on to the next. Not only am I not enjoying my reading time, but it’s spoiling the time that I spend not reading as well. Do I really have 3 more days to waste feeling miserable? Just because it feels so unholy to not finish reading it?
I only learned to stop reading short stories two or three years ago. In general, I hate short stories. There have been a few that I’ve enjoyed, but they tend to be generally depressing. The ones that I actually did enjoy peeved me off because I’d rather them be full novels. Eventually I learned that I don’t have to read it just because it’s there. It’s hard, but I can just walk away from short stories now.
Novels, it looks like I’m just learning. So, does this mean that I’m maturing as a reader and writer (realizing that my limited time can be spent on more productive or enjoyable things)? Or have I just given in to the dark side?
Anyone else ever put down a book just because you didn’t enjoy it? I’m not counting based on bad writing here. I’m talking story/mood/whatever.
(And no- the book is not The Shadow Of The Lion. That’s what I’m starting instead of Book I Hate.)
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You do know that it’s killing me not to know what book you’re talking about, right?
Yeah, I hear you Jerseygirl!! She’s doing this purposely, I’m sure, to make us come back and hope she spills the beans.
Jersey & CJ- *lol* My legitimate reasons are that a friend recommended the book and I don’t want to hurt feelings, and that as a future top author, I don’t want to burn bridges by slagging off a popular author. But yeah… I like messing with people, too.
CJ- I betcha you don’t. Muahahahha!
Okay, you win. I probably don’t. You let the cat out of the bag by saying a friend recommended it to you. Can only imagine!
Normally, by the time I realize I can’t stomach the book I’m reading, I’ve been at it so long I feel I might as well finish the thing. I think I’ve only put down one or two books un-finished, and I don’t remember what they were.
Lolita by Nabokov… I did finish it, but only because it was a group assignment – so if I didn’t finish I felt the whole group would be penalized… otherwise, I’d have never made it through that one…
And Nabokov is brilliant, honestly friggin brilliant. His writing was beauty on the page, but the character of Humbert Humbert and the subject matter in general turned my stomach so bad that I whipped the damn book across the room an average of once every ten pages. My mother’s radiator still has the dents… and the library was none too pleased either.
I have put down other books, though I hate doing it. I think because I am a writer and in my head I keep thinking how upsetting I’d find it if someone was so bored by my writing that they couldn’t be bothered.
CJ- My (finger)tips are sealed.
Wolf- I’ve always struggled with the same feeling. I’m learning to stick up for myself to myself though. I think this is part of the process.
Merry- Lolita is one of those books that I’ve always wanted to read, but always felt that the subject matter would be too disturbing for me. I can’t blame you at all.
Most of the other books that I’ve felt this way about, I had an obligation to finish- just as you did. I think this is the first that I actually was able to let go of.
You made me laugh when you said you worry about how you’d feel if someone put down your book, because I actually think of that when struggling through a novel. I feel like I’d be hurting the author’s feelings, even though there’s no way they’d know.
Merry and WV: I re-read “Love in Time of Cholera” for my book club and a lot of the club ladies took issue with the MC, as a very old man, sleeping with a teenaged girl (the men in my club had no problem with that whatsoever! )
*eye rolling*
But I still say “Lolita” is one of the best written books, ever.
WV, You wrote: So, does this mean that I’m maturing as a reader and writer (realizing that my limited time can be spent on more productive or enjoyable things)?
My answer is: Yes!
I dare you to post a picture of that book! It’s what I do in my “Why I Stopped Reading” posts.
I recently stopped reading a brilliant, classic book because the MC kills a cat. Most times I stop reading because the book sucks. And I feel no guilt whatsoever!
Josephine- *lol* I’ll really have to consider it.
Usually if a book sucks, I keep reading it in the hopes that it’ll improve by the end (it actually did once, which only encourages this behavior).