I never did get all the way though The Neverending Story.
What?
*** Ponder
I must be a total masochist. I have read, and finished, about half the books mentioned in this thread, some more than once . . . and *Atlas Shrugged *several times.
The two I had to work hardest to finish were *Dahlgren *and *Dune. *Pure torture.
Oddly, I’m reading *Dune *for the third time at the moment. And I’m not even a big sci-fi fan.
My attempt was just a few weeks ago, really slogged on but still only got halfway.
Fallen Angels (Larry Niven et al), tried a few times thinking it would get better but I’d just forgotten. It didn’t.
I’m really surprised at all the Stranger in a Strange Land mentions. I thought it was a really fast, fun read, and I recommend it often. Maybe I should stop that.
I can’t believe I’m only the second one to mention “A Thousand Years of Solitude.” I can finish anything. As a matter of fact, at the ripe old age of 40, I’ve finally decided it is ok to not finish a book. Want to know what inspired it? Me being pathologically incapable of finishing ATYS. TWICE! You don’t understand, I can finish a Harlequin romance novel, I slogged through “The Rules,” I’ve tortured myself with several Mary Higgens Clark books.
I’ve read so many good reviews of “A Thousand Years of Solitude” I am beginning to think I must have the wrong book, or someone switched the cover. I’ve thrown books across the room after finishing them they sucked so bad. But I was able to get more than 50 pages into them.
Ya’ll are scaring me though, I keep hearing how Ulysses is such a fabulous book, I’ve got it on my ebook reader ready to go. I may go cry now.
Psst! If you didn’t like Starship Troopers, try Armor by John Steakley. One of my favs.
For the record, I do read good books, I swear!
Heinlein’s The Number of the Beast. Tried twice, about ten years apart. There will not be a third attempt. I know, I know… it’s a parody of pulp space opera, it’s supposed to be cheesy and ridiculous, but it still sucks.
Interview with a vampire Tried to read it to see what the fuss was about. Got about twenty pages in before chucking it in the trash. I normally never destroy or throw out books, and when I start something I like to read it all the way through, but in this case I made an exception on both counts.
Diamond Age Made it about two-thirds of the way through before I gave up trying to find a plot. I didn’t throw this one out or even consciously decide to stop reading it; I just put it down at one point and never got around to picking it up again.