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1 Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre
2 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
3 Ulysses, James Joyce
4 Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis De Bernieres
5 Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
6 The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
7 The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
8 War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
9 The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
10 Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Personally I do give up on a book if I have given it a fair chance and I really can't get into it... What about the rest of you?

2007-03-12 03:23:47 · 39 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities Books & Authors

I couldn't finish Vernon God Little or The God of Small Things. I've finished Captain Corelli but its not his best book and I found the plot really irritating.

2007-03-12 03:35:46 · update #1

39 answers

I thought Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Captain Corelli's Mandolin and The God of Small Things were all brilliant reads!!

I've finished Ulysses and War and Peace and I can fully understand why people wouldn't struggle to the end!

Hamish M :O the Stand is one of my favourite books - I've read it about 5 times now! But I agree with El M Tommy knockers was hard going and not very interesting!

I found the Lord of the Rings trilogy boring and I don't think I ever finished the last one I think I was so numb by then that I can't even remember!! I don't much like the films either!

2007-03-12 03:47:25 · answer #1 · answered by libbyft 5 · 0 0

Of those, I own Ulysses, Satanic Verses, The Alchemist, War and Peace and I think Crime and Punishment and the only one I've even started is The Satanic Verses--and nope, not done.

LOL I do sound like an airhead don't I?

Other books I haven't finished: Anna Karenina also by Leo Tolstoy, City of God by St. Augustine, A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz, The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh.

Oh and the one book I gave up on ONLY because it was awful, not because it was hard was The Rising Sun by Michael Crichton. He's a great storyteller but surely the worst *writer* ever.

2007-03-12 08:54:57 · answer #2 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 0 0

Something I don't do. I did start a book about The Stuarts and I don't think I got passed the third page. Better than any sleeping pill. Can't even remember the author.
I gave up on Lord of the Rings when I was 30. Read it later at 50.
Can't compete with the 10. The first 2 I haven't even tried. 4 and 5 - ?
6. Not his best book - but interesting and I read it
7 ?
8 Yes (Twice)- to the bitter end
9. Great
10. Dostoevsky doesn't grab me, but I had no problem finishing it.

Kafka's The Trial was heavy going, and Hitler's Mein Kampf was annoying - because no one had taken any notice of what he was saying at the time, and millions died because the content was ignored.

2007-03-12 04:41:26 · answer #3 · answered by cymry3jones 7 · 0 0

I have never read 1, 4, 5, 7, or 8. I have read and finished the other 5. It took me 7 years to finish Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse because every time I got to a little past the mid-point, the book disappeared, for a variety of reasons (different reason each time -- I moved, someone borrowed it, had to return it to the library, etc). Another book I have never finished is the Complete Works of Hans Christian Andersen. I have been on the last 10 pages of the book for the last 4 years. Iown the book. I haven't moved. Nobody's borrowed it. I just can't seem to finish it. It looks at me everyday from the bookshelf. I try not to look back at it.

2007-03-12 05:46:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anpadh 6 · 0 0

I could not get through War and Peace or God of Small Things. However, I really loved Satanic Verses (it gets a lot better about 3/4 through) and Crime and Punishment. I tend to avoid anything by Hemmingway since it just drags on and on. I also had a hard time finishing any of the Beats. I just don't think that doing drugs and writing a book makes you a literary genius!

2007-03-12 04:41:15 · answer #5 · answered by hotdoggiegirl 5 · 0 0

Well, I don't say I cn't finish them...Just pick up another dozen, two dozen books and finish them in the meantime.

The latest..."long read " for me is "the Discovery Of Slowness".
Had no trouble with The Alchemist, but agree about Cloud Atlas.
Mind you..it took me 2 years to complete The Hobbit...I found that very concentrated, and could only read 4-6 pages at a time.

2007-03-12 11:51:45 · answer #6 · answered by i_am_jean_s 4 · 0 0

I couldn't finish Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner. I didn't even get past page 2. I don't usually give up on a book that fast. I hated Faulkner and Thoreau and Melville in high school, but I thought that now I'm an adult, and have more adult tastes, I should try some of their work again.

What need is there for a sentence that is over a page long? Yuck.

2007-03-12 12:25:11 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I always try to give a book a chance. I will often toil through a100 pages before I give up. I read every day and books are very important to my well being. I have tried repeatedly to read the Herbert, Dune books and I just cant do it. I like all types of literature and read science fiction but I just cant get past the first 70 pages of the Dune trilogy or however many there are. People seem to love Dune. I have tried...cant do it. I also find that Anne Rice is a terrific author but some of her books are ringers. Could not get through Violin to save my soul.

2007-03-12 05:00:09 · answer #8 · answered by juncogirl3 6 · 0 0

The God of Small Things is worth persevering with and Capt Corelli's Mandolin is far better than the film.
I haven't been able to finish anything by Terry Pratchett.

2007-03-12 03:31:40 · answer #9 · answered by fengirl2 7 · 0 0

I didn't have any problem with Harry potter and the goblet of fire, in fact I've read it in 2 languages. Most of the other's I haven't tried but Ulysses!!! oh god yes, I barely got past the first page. Mind you I did have a huge array of books available and a limited amount of time so I didn't want to waste it on a book I wasn't enjoying.

It is rare for me to give up on a book, but there is a writer called Dale Brown (not to be confused with Dan Brown of davinci code fame) who writes books with lots of very detailed technical information in. I have given up on one of them I'm afraid though I did make it through Tinman which I quite enjoyed.

2007-03-12 03:36:27 · answer #10 · answered by gerrifriend 6 · 0 0

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