Books you picked up and quit because you hated it.

[Iceglow]

Ok as the thread title says what books have you picked up, tried reading and just hated so much you had to put it down and never pick it up again? Why did you quit reading it?

I recently tried reading the historical fantasy fiction book Viking: Odin's Child by Tim Severin. I thought the idea of a book about a viking warrior would be awesome. However the book's central character is a scholar who grew up a viking before somehow becoming a christian monk who used church materials to write his memoirs and you're reading his memoirs where he goes on endlessly about how his mother was big and bear like. I ended up so bored by the first 100 pages I just had to quit reading it. This is the first time I figured a book would be enjoyable and then hated it.

[Rye]

I usually try to see books to the end, even if I dislike them. So I'm having trouble bringing some to mind...

I absolutely HATED Heart of Darkness. I was supposed to have read it fully, since it was for my British Lit class, but I really didn't. It was just... awful.

[Aurey]

Only one I can think of is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I don't think that it was a terrible novel, it was just taking a long time to get into, the plot didn't seem very interesting, and I had a list of other novels I wanted to read. So I just said screw it. I think I quit right before the whole thing got juicy, too. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

[champagne supernova]

Only one I can think of is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I don't think that it was a terrible novel, it was just taking a long time to get into, the plot didn't seem very interesting, and I had a list of other novels I wanted to read. So I just said screw it. I think I quit right before the whole thing got juicy, too. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

Read it. Agree with you totally. Classics are hard to get into. But it is still a great novel. Reminds me a lot of my ex strangely.

Ulysses! Tried to read it and gave up. Going to give it a go after I've read the Iliad and the Odyssey.

[Flying Arrow]

^ If you're hoping that the Greek epics will help shed some light on Ulysses for you, they most certainly will not - or at least not to the extent that most people hope they will. Nothing is really analogous between the two, and the references, allusions and structuring go so far beyond throwbacks that unless you've read and studied Ulysses thoroughly, you'll be just as lost as if you've not read them. That being said, read Iliad and Odyssey just for the hell of it! They're a ton of fun and even occasionally moving. If you can, get a hold of the Robert Fagles translations.

Recommended reading for the poor soul attempting Ulysses is Joyce's 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.' Stephen Dedalus' story in 'Portrait' will, if anything, at least give you some familiarity with the character, his family, and his situation - which in the end take up about a third of the main 'action' of Ulysses anyway. I also recommend Shakespeare's tragedies. Several sections of Ulysses are quite striking (the graveyard bits) when considered in context with Hamlet (or the death-obsessed poetry of a large number of English Renaissance poets).

As for myself, I generally see books through to the end unless I'm really struggling to get through them for whatever reason (boredom or general busyness). Lately I've put aside Chuck Palahniuk's (sp?) 'Diary' because I flat-out become bored by his characters about half way through all his novels. A lot of people love the guy, so maybe I'm just missing something. I feel bad because the book was a gift, too. Also, I returned China Mieville's 'Perdido Street Station' to a friend after 10 pages. In this case I just didn't feel like delving into and familiarizing myself with a completely new fantasy world - I find it exhausting.

[The Man]

The only book or series I can ever actually remember quitting reading due to how much I disliked it is Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, which I quit midway through the first book due to how thoroughly inept I felt the characterization was. I even tried to re-read it and had the same reaction, and I tried a later novel in the series (Faith of the Fallen) and wound up being just as disinterested, although for somewhat different reasons (the constant nonsensical political rants didn't help my appreciation of the book). I won't give Goodkind a fourth chance.

That said, I stop a lot of novels in the middle just because I pick up other novels. I work in a book store so I have the literary attention span of a kid in a candy store.

edit: oh, I also couldn't finish The Turn of the Screw in high school because I hated the Victorian dialogue. I should probably give it another chance one of these days because the concept still intrigues me.

[Jessweeee♪]

Ehh, when I started reading Twilight I was into that sort of book. (I was 14, okay?!) Anyway all of my friends were starting this House of Night series or whatever one day and I picked up the first book at the library. About halfway through it I was starting to realize why the genre sucks horribly.

[Spiffing Cheese]

I've picked up A Suitable Boy to read about eight times and I always end up tossing it aside after a few pages before I throttle myself just to abate the boredom.

I've also tried to read a few Charles Dickens and just given up.

[Rye]

Oh! I tried to read Wuthering Heights because everyone said it was good, and I just hated it. I have the most difficult time getting into books of that period.

[Madame Adequate]

Dickens. Any Dickens. Aside from page 1 of Bleak House, which I find to be fantastic beyond compare.

[BarelySeeAtAll]

I loved the style and all, and most of the characters and I guess it may be a silly reason atm to have quit reading Shadow's Edge - Brent Weeks, I found two of the characters got together and for some strange reason I must be one of the most opposed people to this. It's kind of a personal issue too, to me, for various reasons I won't go in to but whatever - until I cool down and get over the (stupidly foreseeable) idea, I shall not be picking it up for a while.

[Breine]

Oh! I tried to read Wuthering Heights because everyone said it was good, and I just hated it. I have the most difficult time getting into books of that period.

Wuthering Heights is a good book - Heathcliff is such a great character. I suggest you try and read it again. What didn't you like about it?

[Iceglow]

Well the thing that started me thinking on this was the fact that I have never prior to this book quit reading anything. I never particulary liked James Joyce's work everyone went on about how great it was but having studied Dubliners, I found it incredibly boring.

[Cuchulainn]

the bible. Lotta Awl e.

[rubah]

Acorna