I never finished Foucault's Pendulum – it was interesting but I didn't really get what the point was, maybe it was a language barrier thing or I was too young.
Currently trying to read Wuthering heights but oh when does the good part start??
What books did you put down and could retake just having another reader's reassurance that it's worth it?
by AffectionateRecover2
14 Comments
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Got about 40% through it and never picked it up again.
I never finished the Bill Hodges series. I’m into the last book too.
Dropped The War of the Worlds about a quarter of the way in. I’m sure it’s great, I was just not feeling it at the time and was being drawn away by 10 other books that seemed infinitely more interesting. Might come back to it one day. Same deal with Dark Archives by Megan Rosenbloom. The subject matter is right up my alley, just dropped it for other books.
On the obverse, I picked Piranesi by Susanna Clarke up again after putting it down for a year due to boredom and loved it on the second attempt. My unfinished books do make it out of purgatory (sometimes)!
_The Unwomanly Face of War_ by Svetlana Alexievich. I was suffering from low moods and never got back into. It’s staring at me from my shelf. 😅
A Thousand Plateus by Guattari and Deleuze. I wanted to understand it so bad but idk what the hell they’re talking about!
I have two books on my list to re-read because I abandoned them before finishing (not exactly an intentionally DNF, I just never went back).
*Brideshead Revisited* I plan to re-read this year (it’s waiting on my Kindle as we speak).
The other is *All The Light We Cannot See*, which I probably won’t re-read. It was good, but I read the bulk of it, and I don’t feel motivated to start over.
Stoner, by John Williams. I will get back to it eventually but it was bad timing and wrong season.
Cloud Cuckoo Land – The story wasn’t keeping my interest but it is more literary and these often end well.
The Snow Child – It’s a slow burn but had a certain atmosphere I would like to drop back into.
The Fireman – I loved how sympathetic the fireman was but it was just so long.
I very rarely DNF, and I’ve never DNFed anything that I felt had literary merit. HOWEVER, there HAVE been books it’s taken me many false starts to finally finish (for example, the first time I tried to read In Search of Lost Time, I was in middle school. I started it probably 20 times and didn’t actually read the whole thing until I was in my 30’s. But I’ve read it multiple times since, and I love it. It took three tries to read Jude the Obscure. There have been several I’ve put down long enough that I had to start over).
OP, you are right that Foucault’s Pendulum and Wuthering Heights are worth reading. I hope you are able to eventually finish them both.
Ulysses by James Joyce is sitting on my bookshelf judging me.
King Leopold’s Ghost
The beginning chapters delve deep into historical background before the events of colonization that I found overwhelmingly dull, and just couldn’t continue reading. The narrative was more academic than I expected.
I know it’s a good book and an important read. But I just haven’t had the patience to slog through the slow parts that just are not written in an engaging way.
I had to give up a book recently because it was just too dialogue heavy. I want to go back to it later but for now, it’s just hard to concentrate on.
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I LOVE what I’ve read of it, but the length and complexity are daunting
Demon Copperhead. I’ve heard enough reassurance that I know I’ll finish it eventually.