I'll Finish It Later

Last Thursday I was listening to "Talk of the Nation" when the topic turned to that difficult decision to stop reading a book before it's done. Why is it so hard for so many of us? Indeed, I can count on one hand the number of books I actually stopped reading without ever intending to go back and finish up. The guest, Julia Keller, wrote an article in the Chicago Tribune on this topic, and she got many dozens of impassioned replies.

Many people gave up on Moby-Dick; I was lucky enough to read it senior year in high school with a teacher who somehow magically got us all to love it (thanks, Mr. James!). Others waved the white flag over War and Peace or Ulysses (neither of which I have so far even attempted). A few mentioned Infinite Jest, which, as my regular readers know, I not only finished but finished triumphantly.

But a couple of people did cite my most painful, shameful half-finished book: One Hundred Years of Solitude. My God, but I wanted to love that book! I adored Love in the Time of Cholera—I even went so far as to name it to my all-time Top Ten list—so it's certainly not a question of my not being into magical realism. I just couldn't get through it. My main problem was that I couldn't keep track of all the characters with all their similar names. Friends told me I didn't need to keep track of them; I should just roll with it, but I don't roll that way. I'm feeling a similar pang of remorse over Angle of Repose, which you may have noticed languishing over there in the sidebar for some time now. I adored Crossing to Safety, but I found this one positively dragging. If you notice that it vanishes from the sidebar and I don't review it, just assume I gave up, and please don't mention it.

How about you? Do you force yourself to finish books you don't like? If so, have you ever abandoned any? Which ones?

Comments

[Margaret]

My older daughter loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I've never attempted it. I am embarrassed to admit that I wanted to see what the craze was all about over Twilight, so I tried to read a couple of pages. (but I couldn't do it!) The writing was TOO awful.

[Joel]

I don't force myself, no. I can say that I have tried on several occasions to read the celebrated 18th C. novel "Tristram Shandy" and have gotten nowhere. I went through a love affair in my late 20s with Central/S. American and Eastern European novelists, and I think it is was an age/headspace thing that allowed me to open up to those ideas - Isabelle Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Milan Kundera - and for some reason I got through them all, and with pleasure. The last book I put aside though was a relatively easy one - "The Italian Secretary" by Caleb Carr. I usually love his stuff, but this Sherlock Holmes revival was just not on. Should've been an easy read, but ugh. Give "Solitude" a 2nd chance!

[TrnsformEditing]

I never force myself when reading for fun--I did that too many times with assigned reading for school. I've given up on countless books, usually because I don't care about the characters or something about the narrative voice or dialogue seems forced or false. Sometimes I sort of like a book but don't feel as if I need to read it through to get the essence of it.

When I really like a book, I will finish it as quickly as possible, generally in 24 hours or less, unless it's unusually dense.

[Nancy]

After hearing all the raves about "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," I actually bought the damn thing. (I usually get novels from the library, but there were about 45 holds on this title.) I couldn't make it through the first chapter. What a snooze -- or perhaps just a wretched translation.

[Kelly]

I abandoned "Atonement." I usually muddle my way through, but could not get through that one.

I started (never beyond the first chapter) and stopped "Never Let Me Go" untold times. Finally finished it last week.

I just feel guilty, like I am letting down all 4 of my phenomenal high school English teachers, if I don't finish a book I start.

[Sharon]

I wad in a classics phase for a while and I had to give up on As I Lay Dying. It was killing me. I did make it through Moby Dick though.

[Laura]

Yeah, I'm usually a slave to the Finish the Book rule (also burdened by the Clean Plate Club rule). But I did cast aside Susan Orlean's book of essays, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup. I can take her essays in small doses, but a whole volume of them immediately lost its appeal.

[Frume Sarah]

I used to be devout adherent to the Finish the Book rule as well. I felt that if the author had invited me on the journey, I owed it to the author to stay on til the end.

At some point (maybe 5 years ago??), I finally realized that there are just so many damn books in the world. I'm never going to read them all. Not only that, there are so many titles that I would really enjoy. Slaving away just to say that I completed a book is a waste of my time and prevents me from getting on to a book that has more potential for me.

"Eat, Pray, and Love"

The whole world went ape-shit over this one. I found the author self-absorbed and narcissistic. And could not finish it.

[Wendy]

I have a 100-page rule. Belonging to a book group of non-like-minded souls forced me to institute it, after slogging my way, with ever-mounting irritation, through 400 pages of *Youth In Revolt*. That said, I regret that I have never been able to finish *Midnight's Children*. I wish I could, but I just sputter to a stop.

[Stephanie]

I have a 100 page rule too, after I finally learned I didn't have to finish every book I picked up unless it was assigned reading. Lately I've been lucky, I haven't given up on a book recently. I do remember reading the original Bourne trilogy last winter and wondering why I had bothered when I was done.

[Rachel]

One Hundred Years of Solitude is my husband's favorite book, but I couldn't get through it myself. I've always felt like such a loser about that. Now I feel so validated and vindicated! Thank you!!!!