Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
#1
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Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
Been having trouble selecting a book to read today.
I started with Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, but gave up after 30 pages, unable to figure out how such remedial writing could still be so confusing. I give up.
Then I picked up a book called London Blues, which starts off with the narrator watching a video of Get Carter. No big deal, writers often reference a scene from a movie because it mirrors something in the book... only he's not describing one scene, he seems to be giving a synopsis of the entire movie! Then Get Carter is interupted by a porno film and he spends the next ten pages describing THAT scene by scene. I can think of few less interesting ways to start a book then by describing what an unknown person is watching on TV for 15 pages. I give up.
What's the fastest book you ever bailed on?
I started with Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, but gave up after 30 pages, unable to figure out how such remedial writing could still be so confusing. I give up.
Then I picked up a book called London Blues, which starts off with the narrator watching a video of Get Carter. No big deal, writers often reference a scene from a movie because it mirrors something in the book... only he's not describing one scene, he seems to be giving a synopsis of the entire movie! Then Get Carter is interupted by a porno film and he spends the next ten pages describing THAT scene by scene. I can think of few less interesting ways to start a book then by describing what an unknown person is watching on TV for 15 pages. I give up.
What's the fastest book you ever bailed on?
#3
Moderator
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
I have a rule to give a book 100 pages to hook me before I decide to bail. I've quit several books though can't seem to remember any offhand.
#4
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
Less than a paragraph. Wanted to read a Tabitha King book just for the celebrity factor but she gave me the vibe that she wrote to sound smart and I just can't get into that style of writing.
#5
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Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
So now I'm gonna start giving books a shorter window. If they don't hook me in my first sitting, I'm out of there. Hopefully, this new system will have me reading more books I enjoy this year.
#6
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Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
#10
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
Yeah, that's the one I read. The re-written version is The Ninth Configuration, which was published in 1978 and then Blatty wrote and directed the adaptation in 1980.
#11
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max - I dumped that thing in less than 10 pages. A couple people I knew thought it was great, I thought it was awful. What a piece of shit, even if he is lying about his stories.
#12
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
I've given up on a couple of free Kindle Books after just looking and noticing that the formatting was a total mess - paragraph breaks in the middle of sentences and stuff like that. Of course I then have left a "Kindle Formatting Problem" review of that book!
#13
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. Couldn't finish the first chapter; the style of the writing made it a chore to read, even though I have read and enjoyed Pynchon's other novels like Gravity's Rainbow, V, and Crying of Lot 49.
#14
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
The fastest I've given up on a book is maybe 2 chapters in. No books in particular, it's happened a few times for different reasons. Sometimes the writing style s annoying, or it was way too boring way too early on, and sometimes I realized I'm not in the mood to read that particular type of book at that time.
#15
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Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
I stopped reading The Satanic Verses after about 30 pages. I know I meant to pick it up again, but that was about 10 years ago.
#16
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#17
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
In recent memory, I gave up on JK Rowling's THE CASUAL VACANCY after about 50 pages.
I stayed with Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE for about a quarter or more of the novel...but gave up about 50 pages after the 'time jump'. One of the few books I've ever read that went from pretty good to really bad all at once.
I gave up on Stephenie Meyer's THE HOST half way through...but it serves me right for picking it up at all.
I stayed with Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE for about a quarter or more of the novel...but gave up about 50 pages after the 'time jump'. One of the few books I've ever read that went from pretty good to really bad all at once.
I gave up on Stephenie Meyer's THE HOST half way through...but it serves me right for picking it up at all.
#19
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#21
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Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
Misery ... It took me three attempts to read it. The first two times I couldn't make through Stephen King's attempts at writing a romance novel so I quit shortly after that part started. Finally I skipped those parts and read a pretty good book.
#23
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
WWZ by Max Brooks. I read the intro on Amazon and got bored on the first few pages. I'll be giving it another try.
#24
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
Infinite Jest.
I love David Foster Wallace's non-fiction, but I just couldn't get past the first dozen pages.
I love David Foster Wallace's non-fiction, but I just couldn't get past the first dozen pages.
#25
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Fastest You Ever Gave Up On A Book
I think that I've only given up on two books - The Emperor of All Maladies & American Gods. I just couldn't get into a good flow with either, but I think that I was at least halfway through on both. A lot of it probably comes from mental state, etc at the time of reading the books. I could see myself going back and starting Gaiman's book again, but if I went back to EOAM, I would pick up where I left off (if I could remember).