# What's the Longest It's Taken You to Finish a Book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072 "2007-01-15T15:27:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/21 "2007-01-15T21:53:04Z")
I’ve been reading **Winter’s Tale** by Mark Helprin for a few months now. It isn’t because it’s tedious or difficult – it’s actually a gorgeous book, so far. In fact, it’s one of the few books I can dip in and out of without losing the threads of the plot. Problem is, I own the damn thing, it’ll always be there, unlike the time sensitive library books that keep coming in for me. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/22 "2007-01-15T22:08:04Z")
I’ve been reading a page or two of \*The Odyssey \* every night at bedtime. I’m almost finished after about six months. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/23 "2007-01-15T22:19:21Z")
**Rats, Lice and History** It is a delightful history of the black death (the plague) and how rats and lice enter into it. True story - I began reading it in 1972 and didn’t finish it until 1978. The locals on the island where I was a Peace Corps volunteer used the last 70 or 80 pages of the book for cigarette papers and smoked them, and I had no way to get another copy until I returned to the States which turned out to be six years later. Even then, it took me about a year or two before I could find it and finish it. I had to have the Denver Public Library do an inter-library loan before I could finish the book. I remember the first part was better than the last. Probably because the last did not live up to the anticipation of finally finishing the book. TV ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/24 "2007-01-15T22:20:11Z")
Pity you had that “no starting over” clause. I started _The Two Towers_ in late 1989 and didn’t finish it until 2001, but I started over, so it doesn’t count. I’ve been reading _Stranger In A Strange Land_ for a couple of months and I have gotten less than half way. I like the book, I want to know what happens, and I want to have read this acclaimed work, but I can’t seem to get through it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/25 "2007-01-15T22:26:54Z")
Many times it has taken me several months, even occasionally more than a year to finish a book. I’m always reading at least a half dozen books at once. When I read _Cryptonomicon_ by Neal Stephenson over a period of about eleven months, I was giving monthly updates on my progress (several pages a day) to a science fiction group I’m in. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/26 "2007-01-15T22:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] I’ve been reading _Stranger In A Strange Land_ for a couple of months and I have gotten less than half way. I like the book, I want to know what happens, and I want to have read this acclaimed work, but I can’t seem to get through it. [/QUOTE] Try finding a copy as it was originally published. Most of the recent print-runs have been an “extended” version that supposedly doesn’t add anything useful. I wouldn’t know because I’ve only read the extended version, but this is what I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/27 "2007-01-15T22:53:24Z")
I have a book that I started in the early 80’s, which I haven’t read more than about 20 pages (of 300). I don’t know if that qualifies. I don’t expect to ever pick it up again. It ttok me forever to get into Harlot’s Ghost by Mailer, mainly because of that fucking alpha-omega prelude. I think I was working on it for a couple of years, until a friend adviced me to skip that part and get on with the story. I did. It’s a great read, but I still haven’t read the prelude. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/28 "2007-01-15T23:50:29Z")
Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_ took me at least a decade. I identified with the monster, and it was deeply depressing. I had to stop. Then I saw _Young Frankenstein_, which was more loyal to the original than most of the movies were. It also took the monster’s side, which was refreshing. After that, I could finally finish the book. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/29 "2007-01-15T23:50:46Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] On a related tangent, has anyone ever read the _entire_ John Galt speech? [/QUOTE] Yes…\ but only the first time through. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/30 "2007-01-15T23:56:17Z")
I’ve been reading _Rememberance of Things Past_ off and on for about 12 years, and I’m not close to finishing it. I know if I want to understand the novel as an art form, I have to read this, but, man, after about a dozen pages I just can’t keep going on. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/31 "2007-01-16T00:04:49Z")
[QUOTE=PoorYorick] I’ve been reading _Rememberance of Things Past_ off and on for about 12 years, and I’m not close to finishing it. I know if I want to understand the novel as an art form, I have to read this, but, man, after about a dozen pages I just can’t keep going on. [/QUOTE] Fortunately, if you just want to enjoy the novel as a form of entertainment, this ain’t a requirement. Thing hit the wall after about 80 pages. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/32 "2007-01-16T00:55:29Z")
I bought a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in high school from a thrift shop for about, as I recall, fifteen cents. Over 15 years later, I still haven’t finished it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/33 "2007-01-16T02:23:57Z")
_Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898_ I started this when it came out in 1998. I have it in hardcover, which means I can’t take it anywhere. This bad boy is over 1380 pages! I keep it by the bed and read a few pages whenever I don’t have another book to read, which isn’t very often. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/34 "2007-01-16T04:16:15Z")
26 years and counting. I started reading _The Silmarillion when I was 15, and got bored with it and put it down. I almost never do that – I can recall only a few other books that I have done that with, and I almost always come back and give them another shot. I’ve found myself slogging through books that I thoroughly dislike, just so I can f__ing finish them and move on… and I love the Trilogy and have read it multiple times. But_ The Silmarillion\* just bored the crap out of me, and I have no interest in even trying, at least so far. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/35 "2007-01-16T06:27:26Z")
Ulysses…I started reading it in about 1977 after a friend raved (he read it about 10 times.) I still have the book on my shelf - I am on about page four. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/36 "2007-01-16T07:44:06Z")
I don’t read a lot. Some of the ones listed here I have read or put down. Several, like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, all 4 LOTR, several Stephen Kings, I read in marathon sessions in just a day or two. _The Silmarillion_, I got thru about 5 pages and never tried again. I had to read _Quo Vadis_ in Latin class, back in high school. I can’t remember if I actually read it all… but it took me all semester to get thru enough to pass. The one that took me a long while, but kept my interest, and that I got thru (several times actually) was The Bible. About five months the first time. Several chapters or books a day. The first time I started on the New Testament and then went thru the Old. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/37 "2007-01-16T08:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=thelurkinghorror] Gravity’s Rainbow. I finished in September or October, and probably started late 2005. It was tough going at times; I could get in the swing of things and read large sections at once, and then spend the next day staring at one page and rereading paragraphs. [/QUOTE] Hah! I borrowed this from a guy in 1974 and spent two years working on it, and then pretty much gave up, except every five years or so I try again. I do NOT start at the beginning, I pick it up and try to find someplace I haven’t read yet. I usually read pretty fast. ---
**Author:** ![Dubious\_Weasle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b782af/32.png) [@Dubious\_Weasle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dubious_Weasle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/38 "2007-01-16T10:54:33Z")
_The Unnameable_ by James Joyce I picked up the trilogy packaged together in a single volume about 10 years ago. I sped through _Molloy_, slowed down a bit for \*Malone Dies \*but when I got to _The Unnameable_ things really began to get difficult. I enjoy James Joyce and I’ve always had a bit of a thing for stream-of-conciousness but that one just did me in. I made it through about half the book but after that fatigue set in too deep. Over the years I violated the OPs rule a couple of times and started over but I figure since I’ve never actually gotten all of the way through it still counts. Nowadays I’ve stopped starting over and just slog through a page or two every few months when the mood strikes me. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the entire “stream” part of stream-of-conciousness so it’s a joyless effort. I fly across the Pacific fairly often and I keep telling myself that I’ll take it along but even when I do I just end up watching the movies or reading some schlock I pick up at the airport. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/39 "2007-01-17T10:22:19Z")
Dubious Weasle writes: \> The Unnameable by James Joyce Samuel Beckett, actually. A lot of what people are mentioning aren’t really cases of taking a long time to finish a book. They’re examples of giving up on a book. I’ve done that a few times, but I wouldn’t include this in this thread. I also wouldn’t include the times when I started a book, gave up on it, and years later began again and finished it. I only count the books I’ve read over a period of months, alternating reading it with other books. I’ve done this many times. I am always reading several books at a time and often take months to finish a book. Quite a few times it has taken me more than a year to finish a book. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072/40 "2007-01-17T15:40:29Z")
[QUOTE=Asgardking] Octavia Butler’s **Parable of the Talents**. I got too emotionally involved in the characters. When they were attacked, it hurt me so much I couldn’t keep reading. Picked it up a couple months later and finished it. [/QUOTE] I felt that way with Stephen R. Donaldson’s _Chaos and Order_ when I stopped reading half way through in spring of 2004. The suffering that he inflicted on his characters was so severe that I had to quit. I finished it in fall of 2006. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-its-taken-you-to-finish-a-book/388072.md?page=3)