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Post by shadowhawke on Jun 12, 2011 22:03:23 GMT 1
I am sure we all have them. Books we start and for whatever reason you never finished it.
Me??
The Scarlet Mansion, I have no idea who wrote it. Its about the first serial killer in America. Dr. HH Holmes. Really sick guy in Chicago late 1800's..... I got to the last chapter and for what reason, I never finished. Now I can't find the book......
Also, Stephan King's The Stand. Thing I got half way though it......
I am sure there are others....
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Post by Claire on Jun 12, 2011 22:47:51 GMT 1
The one that really springs to mind is Tan and Tarmac by Gillian Baxter. I normally manage to somehow battle my way through boring pony books to the bitter end so I have info on the story for my website, but despite trying about 5 times I have never managed to get past about half way - and I like all her other books a lot. Another horsy one is The Far Distant Oxus, tried this one 3 times and altho I got a little further each time, I ran out of steam before the end. Surprised you couldnt finish The Stand tho, I can't put it down when I start reading it! There's more but they will have to wait until later. Oh one question before I sign off for the night - are any of you folks the sort that MUST read a book when they start it and feel defeated if they dont manage it - or do you blithely chuck it away after a couple of chapters if you can't get into it? Interesting to know a little bit more about people's reading habits....
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Post by shadowhawke on Jun 13, 2011 0:40:54 GMT 1
I almost got though it..... don't know why I didn't finish. I loved It....
It took my forever to get though Lord Of The Rings, the first book) Had to check it out 3 times, and just got the middle of it before I tossed it back. Finally read it after the second movie.
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Post by foxglove on Jun 13, 2011 10:33:23 GMT 1
I always make myself finish a book, even if I don't like it. I feel as though the author has won otherwise. So I've even finished Ullyses.
The only book that has defeated me is Winnie The Pooh. Read the first paragraph as a child, and was confused as to who the narrator and who Christopher was, and thought it looked silly. Never bothered to revisit it, as it sounds mawkish and tiresome.
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Post by Claire on Jun 13, 2011 11:55:18 GMT 1
I always make myself finish a book, even if I don't like it. I feel as though the author has won otherwise. So I've even finished Ullyses. Crikey you deserve a medal for that! I can't be doing with James Joyce or any of those 'modernist' authors. Funny I am the opposite to you foxglove I feel like the author has won if he/she has forced you to continue reading his/her dreary tome! ;D I feel like I have hardly the time to read all the good books in this world so I dont want to waste time reading the boring ones. The exception is pony books which if I havent read before will try to finish so I can add info to my website about them. But adult books, if they don't grab me in the first chapter, I will chuck. If the author's writing isn't good enough to hook you by then the book is probably not worth reading anyhow. Agghh!!! Winnie the Pooh mawkish and tiresome!!! Loved it, especially Eeyore
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2011 12:56:23 GMT 1
I try and finish a book if I can as sometimes I've suddenly got into it and it's grown on me, like recently when I read Lady Rose and Mrs Memory I thought it was boring to start off with but by the end I was glad I stuck with it and quite enjoyed it.
However, a few of the black pony inn series I never finished!
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Post by foxglove on Jun 13, 2011 15:53:09 GMT 1
I also persevere as I feel you can't legitimately criticise a book or writer if you haven't actually read all of it. I really don't like James Joyce at all, but don't want anybody ever saying smugly "ah, but you probably couldn't finish it, could you?"
I knew The Da Vinci Code was going to be terrible from the opening paragraph (describing a character by having him wake up and look in a mirror- how original!), but speed-read it so I could properly argue the case. I once had a very drunken argument on a nightbus with a friend's deeply annoying housemate, who thought Dan Brown was a great writer and even said "perhaps the themes were a bit too deep for you?" The vodka-rage descended.
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Post by haffyfan on Jun 13, 2011 20:48:21 GMT 1
I'm Terrible for this one For starters (ponybooks only for now) The 2nd belinda book (somehow managed to finsish the first) Blue Roan Child Timber Red rocket Mystery horse Minnas's Quest and Dear Fred Royal Crusader Ribbons and Rings (Tan and Tarmac was hard going too but made it ...and alive ...but only just) First Heartland and similiary first TB book The 2nd Blackboirds book (is it mystery trek or trail) CPT - stolen ponies, For want of a saddle Don't know how I did but i did read all the 3 jays - convinced myself they must get better as couldn't possibly get worse...could they ... oh yes!
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Post by kunuma on Jun 14, 2011 0:31:01 GMT 1
The Three Jays - awful, very few pony books have I read only once, but they would be among them! I pretty much speed read everything first, then read them properly if they are worth it. Rather a lot never get past the first read. I'll read a really good book three times straight away, the test for me to see how much I enjoyed a book is if I start reading it again straight away! Perhaps I have got literary OCD!!
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Post by Claire on Jun 14, 2011 10:04:46 GMT 1
I once had a very drunken argument on a nightbus with a friend's deeply annoying housemate, who thought Dan Brown was a great writer and even said "perhaps the themes were a bit too deep for you?" The vodka-rage descended. Haha love it hope they got what they deserved! ;D Talking about the 3 Jays has reminded me of another book I oculdn't finish, The Swiss Mystery also by Pat Smythe, makes the 3 Jays series seem riveting! I'm much more lenient with pony books than others, I have even read Heartland, TB and Chestnut Hill, tho must admit gave up after the 1st couple of the latter. What about books you hated but were forced to read at school/uni? Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf springs to mind. Talk about wading thru treacle! There was also one at school we had to read every week it seemed to go on forever, forgot what it was called , I think it was about smuggling or something, quite a well known chilrens book. Hmm maybe it will come back to me.
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Post by shadowhawke on Jun 16, 2011 1:18:02 GMT 1
Also... there are a few other crime books....
The White Mansion I got bored with. Also about HH Holmes...
And another about him that I can't think of.
I find serial killers facsinating, and love reading about them, but have hard trouble with Dr. Holmes.....
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Post by tintin on Jun 17, 2011 16:49:51 GMT 1
I am one of those people who feels duty bound not to let a book defeat him. Only a handful have won.
Fu Manchu and Bulldog Drummond. Yet they are classics.
"The End of War" and "War of the Rats" by David L Robbins are two of my worst defeats. Bought two for one at WH Smith years ago. Horribly bad yet if you asked me why I could n't tell you. You just did n't care what happened.
I have two at the moment "The Enigma of Evil" - which just annoys me, because its such poor scholarship and "The World's Toughest Cops", which I bought because the lack of background detail on the TV series frustrated and I naievely thought the book would fill in the gaps. Unfortunately the book is possibly more superficial than the programme.
My Dad had a western he could n't finish because it was verging on the incomprehensible. We looked at the small print in the front, trying to see if the guy had been able to con the publishers twice to find the revealing script "translated from the original Hungarian..."
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Post by garej on Jun 17, 2011 19:17:53 GMT 1
Brick Lane by Monica Ali. Bored me to death.
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Post by susanb on Jun 18, 2011 14:24:34 GMT 1
speaking of serial killers, I couldn't manage to finish Gone Baby Gone by Denise Lehane (and have never picked up another book by him)
Red Rocket, Mystery Horse by Judith Berrisford (zzzzzzzzz)
I have finished the Three Jay books that I started, but I have the whole set and think I've read three.....
I did finish the Da Vinci code and resented every second it stole from my life (I want restitution!!!!!)
As a child, I did feel like I had to finish every book I started.....as an adult, with a little more awareness of the fact that I'm not going to live to read all the books I'd LOVE, I have no qualms about tossing aside something that just doesn't do it for me. I just donate it to the library booksale and think...."off you go....maybe you'll be just the right cup of tea for somebody else".
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2011 14:50:54 GMT 1
There were a couple of Black Stallion books I never finished I've just remembered...
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Post by garej on Jun 18, 2011 16:22:23 GMT 1
Oh and another one I didnt manage to finish (and you're all going to kill me for this because you are all dying to get your hands on it) is Sea Ponies by MM Oliver/E Ducat. Not because it is boring, but last time I tried I dont think I was in the right frame of mind.
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Post by Claire on Jun 18, 2011 20:09:35 GMT 1
Just been talking to my dad about this subject (he also reads loads) and he is exactly like me, will not try to finish a book if he doesn't get into it. Whats more, both of us have agreed we have actually sometimes given up books almost all the way through, as we've suddenly lost interest in them! Has anyone else done that?
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Post by shadowhawke on Jul 5, 2011 0:40:05 GMT 1
Yes. The Stand......I am right at the end.
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