"Why Leaving a Book Half-Read is So Hard"
What about you?
This is an anonymous poll.
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"Why Leaving a Book Half-Read is So Hard"
What about you?
This is an anonymous poll.
Perhaps it's because half-read books is as good as not reading it at all. I have a few half-reads myself. Do I feel guilty about it? A little, maybe. I do intend to read them one of these days after I'm done reading the books I wanted to read first. And the line is long.
I leave books unfinished and don't feel guilty at all. I don't have time for books that I don't feel are worth it.
Usually it's a quarter finished book, not half. I have lots that I've read 50-75 pages and then abandoned and if it is a classic I do feel guilt.
I rarely leave a book half-read--unless it's a very bad book. By nature, I'm a very curious person.
Once I get into a book, I'm almost always curious to see how it will turn out.
I choose my books carefully - acknowledged classics, Booker prize winners etc, so I rarely have to leave them unfinished. I do sometimes make a mistake (for example, Run by Ann Patchett) and then I do not feel guilty about not finishing. Actually I sometimes feel guilty about wasting my time finishing a bad book, as happened recently with Zadie Smith's NW.
If I start and do not finish a classic, for me usually long poetical works like Divine Comedy, then I feel guilty.
Wow it's eerie how much I can relate to this post mona.Quote:
Originally Posted by mona amon
1.) I choose literature very carefully as well, so it is extremely rare that I give up on something. The last one was a book relating science to philosophy, because it became clear fairly quickly that the author was just spewing bull****.
2.) I too think that finishing a crappy book just for the sake of finishing it should produce more guilt than anything
3.) I am halfway through DC and am in need of motivation :cryin:
It takes a lot to turn me off a piece of work, but sometimes (very infrequently) it gets to stage where reading a certain text becomes a chore instead of a pleasure. It's probably a good thing to stop, but that doesn't stop me feeling guilty.
I an easily put a book down and not finish it in the same way that I can read book as fast as I can to get to the end.
it is all about context and attention span.
Since I abandoned the safety net of reading only acknowledged classics or prizewinners and struck out on my own to discover new writers and make my own assessments of them - that is to say, since I have a little more time to give to reading so can afford to give a little time to making a mistake - I have no compunction whatsoever in abandoning a book that does not hold my interest. I read a few pages and if they grab my attention I carry on reading. If however I cease to care what happens to the characters or a stylistic tic irritates me unbearably, I return the book to the library/the friend who lent it with an apology, 'Sorry, this one is not for me.' There are too many good books out there to waste time on a poor one.
If however it's a book that is widely praised and has become/is fast becoming a classic and is rated by people who know what they are talking about, then I assume that either I am not ready to read it or I am trying to read it at the wrong time for some reason and I may give it another try later: if I get the same response the second time, I know it is just not the book for me.
But - and this may sound perverse - I occasionally put a book aside because I am enjoying it so much, I don't want to finish it..... There is so much anticipated pleasure in the prospect of re-entering a delightful world. It's deferred pleasure - like knowing there is a box with some chocolates left in it at the back of the fridge. :)
I have never felt guilty in abandoning a book that has failed to hold my interest, which rarely happens because I have normally checked out its potential in the media or from personal comments by members of this forum. I don't see any point in persevering with something that is, according to one's viewpoint, not capably written. Knowing the type of literature that I like, I will usually stick with my preferencs ( some might say prejudices ) as experience and money wasted has taught me to avoid buying something out of curiosity or because 'everyone' is reading it. Abandoned books include Kafka's The Trial, Ayn Rand's We the Living and, most recently, Greenmantle by John Buchan.
I did not get through For Whom the Bell Tolls, and I still feel guilty for it. I did like it, but there were other books at the time that caught my attention more. I also abandoned War and Peace after a careless (or malevolent) reviewer spoiled some of the main parts in quick succession.
I have no problem abandoning books - classic or otherwise. As kasie has said, there are so many books and so little time. It doesn't happen too much as I usually check them out as most people seem to do on here. I find a few books in the Saturday guardian that I sometimes follow up - particularly historical ones. I also take recommendations from here - though fitting them in is a task.
I don't really mind not finishing books. If it's a book I love, I'll finish it. If I wasn't really enjoying it, I'm not gonna feel bad about not finishing it. Like David Copperfield. I got about halfway through and realized I really didn't like the main character, so I stopped. I suppose I'll try finishing it one day since it is a classic, but in the mean time there are better things to read.
Well, some people know what to do with their half-finished books.
The Foundation of All Knowledge
I do occasionally stop reading a book part way through, and feel slightly guilty about it. I stopped reading The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, which started off great but became more and more repetitious. I think when the book was first published, the editor cut it down, and he was right to do so IMO. Later the book became a cherished book among the left and was restored to its original length. I finished the first part of Don Quixote, thought it was terrible and didn't bother with the rest. I only got through the first part of Life of Pi and gave up. My friends said I should have persisted because it got better. I gave up reading 1984 when I was fifteen, after I could see from the thinning number of pages that the protagonist was not going to escape, lead the revolution and bring down Big Brother. However, I finished it last year.