During my working years I would read maybe 25 books a year more when I was younger and had no computer. Now I am lucky to read 10 or 12. I have no rule about finishing. If I like a book, I will usually finish it in a few days if I lose interest, I don’t pick it back up.
Back in the paper book days, I would generally finish it, even if that meant reading a bit more cursorily than I otherwise might- not quite skimming though.
Now in the Kindle days, I typically just put it down, and try again later. Sometimes I find that past a certain point, some books get dramatically better and I enjoy them- they just start slowly for some reason, and just chugging past the boring stuff in little bites makes it more interesting.
One advantage to reading in the modern era though, is that previously I’d buy a book based on author, subject, cover, blurb, or a friend’s recommendation. If it sucked / didn’t work for me, I’d put it down and maybe never come back.
But now, I can jump on Goodreads, Wiki, or a half dozen different places and get other reader’s views if it -did- get any better or see “I kept reading hoping it would get better, 300 pages later I was utterly disappointed.”
And even then, I can get a story synopsis so I don’t have the ticking in the back of my mind wondering how it did ever end, without the pain of a grudge-read.
You mentioned Frankenstein? I loved that book, how in some ways it was similar to Jurassic Park. My friends and I did a project in high school about design straying from plan. Since they could be said to share some similar themes it was fun to read them both together.
I think the teachers who fostered interest really made the novels pop. I had one who was sponsoring our academic club; the teacher would suggest extracurricular novels that we would have skipped in the library because the titles were bland but the content a thrill to read.
I’m reading one now that I’m on the verge of putting down, even though I’m 70% through it. It’s not well written or well plotted. But it’s a mystery and I guess I want to find out badly enough if I have correctly figured out who did it that I’ll probably finish it.
I’m another one who gets most of my books from the library. My library uses Libby (aka Overdrive) which has an interface I don’t like. And I don’t know who writes the blurbs, or maybe they just get them off the book jacket, but it’s really hard for me to tell what’s going to be a decent book or a stinker. Recently I’ve started looking at Goodreads, but there have been more than a few books that got good reviews that I didn’t like, so that’s not foolproof for me. I have quirky tastes and I’m kind of particular, so groupthink doesn’t work well for me. Which is a long way of saying, yes, I do stop reading books sometimes, usually before halfway.
The one they assigned too early in 9th grade was Bronte’s Jane Eyre. I empathized with her early abuse and her sustained resolve. Her longing after a married guy Rutherford though made me mad at her and I finished it just barely. But rereading it later allowed me to see the book better. It actually changed my life for the better.
I only read it last year for the first time, and loved it as well. It’s just so smartly written. And she was 18 years old!
I’m not a Big Reader, but I normally finish what I start. Especially when it involves Motorcycle travel. Except the Long Way Down (or whatever it was). Just got fed up with the Asshaterey of Ewen and Charlie. They wrote themselves right out of it.
Entitled Pillocks.
I finish what I start, including books. Last year my gf was reading a book she really loved. Since we share a kindle library, I told her I’d read the book. She liked it so much I was eager to start it.
The book was The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Man, I hated everything about the book. The first dozen pages were difficult to complete. But I slogged through it, reading to the end. I will never again start a book based solely on her recommendation.
I finish about 25% of the books I start. I usually make it anywhere from 10-70% of the way through before bailing.
Part of my problem is that I do all of my reading via audiobooks while running on the indoor track at the local Y. That’s a tough test for a book to pass: many good but deep books just don’t work while running. For example, I love reading Dickens, but I wouldn’t read Great Expectations while running.
Another issue is the nature of audiobooks themselves: it’s much easier to skim and flip pages in a paper book to get through boring parts.
The 10-20% ones are the books that just aren’t grabbing me and/or are instantly recognized as being a slog. The 50-70% ones are where I recognize that the author is, indeed, going down a cliche-ridden plot path and I won’t like the ending. For example, I made it two thirds through Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain because the plot seemed unique and interesting. At some point I realized that it was inevitable that one or the other main characters in the two timelines (current day vs. 1940) was going to be sexually assaulted, I decided that I was done with the book.
As an example of a quick “bail out”, I had read The Terminal List by Jack Carr, and I enjoyed it, though there were some distracting flaws. About 10% into the new book I realized the author’s tics and quirks from book 1 were being repeated, and the author didn’t have a good balance of “knock the hero down” vs. “throw him a bone.” I moved on. By the way, the gold standard for me in this genre of book would be Frederick Forsyth–Jack Carr fell short of that ideal.
Yeah, that was a tough one. I usually finish books that I start. The big one that I never finished was Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, but I was in high school and it was just too much of a slog. My wife is reading in now and is about 200 pages from finishing. Oh yeah, Wuthering Heights was another flop for me.
Rochester. And she didn’t know he was married!
I’m glad you liked it though. I love Jane Eyre. I’d be interested to hear how it changed your life for the better.
Reading is my fun time. If I’m not having fun, I’ll drop it like a hot rock. Sometimes that only takes a couple of pages. Sometimes I’ll be near the end and realize I don’t care anymore. I got within a few pages of finishing Heart of Darkness before recognizing that nothing could happen that would redeem it for me.
I also have dealbreakers; the main one being animal abuse. As a horror fan, I see Stephen Graham Jones’ writing being recommended a lot, but I tried to read The Only Good Indians, and right away there was an animal death that just hurt me. I don’t need that shit.
I get my audio books from Libby (library). If the story hasn’t grabbed me within 15 minutes of listening, I quit and move on to another book. If I’m reading a book and have read about 20% and it hasn’t grabbed me and it starts feeling like homework, I’m out. I figure I will never run out of books.
I nearly always finish a book, but im blessed with speedy reading. I even finished books1-2 of 1Q84 out of morbid curiosity. But I do remember devouring Dune but abandoning the next one after about six pages.
This is why I never contemplated reading Infinite Jest, Atlas Shrugged, The Bible, The Koran, War & Peace, and a few others.
Frankenstein came up a few times. Much of it seems interminable, I wanted to finish it to see how it lined up with movies and the legend, and forced myself through in a way that with other books is actually pointless as I don’t remember any parts read in that forced mode. As I think about it, I haven’t done that with any book for a long time and it would be a reason never to finish one.
I check out books on Hoopla and Libby. I like that Libby provides written and audio samples, but I prefer the simplicity of Hoopla’s format. Though I can’t enlarge the type in hoopla which is an issue when reading on my phone.
There are several books I intend to finish but I have to keep checking them out from the library. Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel is one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to but I’m nearing the conclusion and I find I’m completely sympathetic to Cromwell and I just can’t go through with it. I know he’s been dead these 500 years! It’s read by Ben Miles who played Cromwell in the pbs series such a nice voice. But I’ll check it out again maybe start it over.
Still listening to the Count of Monte Christo started that months ago in addition squeezing in others.
Plenty of books I’ve checked out but never pick up again.
Dung Beetle, I’m glad you liked Jane Eyre too. I think it helped me see the other students and look up to them. I can remember seeing a classmate as human without her having to share too much. When I reread it as an adult, it reminded to give books and other pastimes at least a second chance.
When I was built I think they inserted a completest chip inside of me. I virtually always, finish a book or movie once I’ve started it. I recognize that this is probably not the way to go, but I can’t help it.
I’ve slogged my way through “Ulysses”, “The Satanic Verses”, and a couple of Thomas Pynchon novels. Even “The Da Vinci Code”. Just recently, I held my nose through the awful “Stranger in a Strange Land” (discussed briefly in another thread somewhere).
Book that I remember not finishing:
- “Watership Down” (this was back in high school)
- “1963” by Stephen King (two attempts)
Can’t think of any others at the moment.
mmm