Anything you're forced to read at school. (excluding An Inspector Calls)
Why do they choose such crap books for students to read?
I think we were lucky with what we had to read in school. Of Mice and Men, Pride and Prejudice, Skellig, Granny the Pag, Room 13, Lord of the Flies and Emma plus the plays A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, An Inspector Calls and The Crucible.
The highlights were Of Mice and Men and Emma and the only one I remember not really being into was Lord of the Flies. I didn't finish The Crucible as I left school after half a term in sixth form and the copy I'd been reading belonged to the school.
i recall it being about 800 pages. read at least 700, then gave up.
I liked Dhalgren when I read it about 8 years ago - it was enjoyable enough to convince me to retry and finish Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand, which I'd started and given up on about 20 years ago.
I'm currently about 30 pages into Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, and loving it so far.
It took me about 10 months to get through Joseph Heller's Closing Time, but that's not because it's hard to understand - more because I found it really boring.
The only book I've started but not managed to finish is William Burroughs' Naked Lunch, but one day I'll manage it, dammit!
The only.book I've given up on recently was the 3rd book in the dragon tattoo series. So many anderssons and fredericksons and sonsofsons. I just got confused and realised I didnt care anymore! Lol!
X
The hardest book for me was In the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, but I was 15 at the time. I had to read it with a dictionary beside me, so many words I didn't know! I don't think I finished it, but will give it another go now that I'm older. I don't like giving up on books so I always come back to ones that I didn't finish - I just don't like them sitting on my bookshelf unfinished, it's like I've been beaten! :P
A 4 pages of "The Name of the Rose" my brain started to hurt.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, it is in the pile almost finished but I have found it such hard work. I bought it over 6 years ago!
I felt like this when I first read it also vampires and the supernatural isn't really my 'thing' but by the end of the book I loved it and have read it quite a few times since.
There are about 70 pages in the middle when it is a real fight.
I also gave up on 'Life of Pi' three times before I stuck with it, I was so glad I did in the end.
For me it was the sort of book you can't just read you have to be prepared to become a bit involved, and when the 'payoff' comes at the end you get the reward.
I had been really looking forward to Life of Pi, but found it really hard goin gand gave up early on. I may give it another go though. The Lacuna (or is it La Lacuna?) is another I am struggling with, theres so much about it that I like so I keep going back to it.
A series rather than a book, but I eventually gave up on The Wheel of Time series around book eleven. Eventually the insignificant and repetitive details drove me mad and distracted from the story.
I really struggled to get to the end of the first two Harry Potter books as they were so twee and badly written. Didn't bother with the rest.
Even though I'm a huge Stephen King fan (The Stand is one of my favourite books) I can't get to grips with The Dark Tower series. I found Duma Key and Lisey's Story really hard going too.
Not into the ideology of the author but this book changed history so much, albeit in the most negative of ways.
...Couldn't even manage a couple of chapters!
Some say it's because the german doesn't translate so well, but then again others say the original is like trying to swim in custard too! No wonder people ignored these rantings!
My GCSE history teacher read it in German and said it was the worst book she'd ever read.
For me, it's War and Peace. Started it, read 100 or so pages and haven't found the will to go back to it yet.
Comments
I think we were lucky with what we had to read in school. Of Mice and Men, Pride and Prejudice, Skellig, Granny the Pag, Room 13, Lord of the Flies and Emma plus the plays A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, An Inspector Calls and The Crucible.
The highlights were Of Mice and Men and Emma and the only one I remember not really being into was Lord of the Flies. I didn't finish The Crucible as I left school after half a term in sixth form and the copy I'd been reading belonged to the school.
I liked Dhalgren when I read it about 8 years ago - it was enjoyable enough to convince me to retry and finish Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand, which I'd started and given up on about 20 years ago.
I'm currently about 30 pages into Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, and loving it so far.
It took me about 10 months to get through Joseph Heller's Closing Time, but that's not because it's hard to understand - more because I found it really boring.
The only book I've started but not managed to finish is William Burroughs' Naked Lunch, but one day I'll manage it, dammit!
The only.book I've given up on recently was the 3rd book in the dragon tattoo series. So many anderssons and fredericksons and sonsofsons. I just got confused and realised I didnt care anymore! Lol!
X
A 4 pages of "The Name of the Rose" my brain started to hurt.
I must have read LOTR 6 times and ';ve skipped bits each time - but different bits. It depends what mood I'm in whether or not I read some passages.
And I will, one day, finish reading The Silmarillion.
I felt like this when I first read it also vampires and the supernatural isn't really my 'thing' but by the end of the book I loved it and have read it quite a few times since.
I had been really looking forward to Life of Pi, but found it really hard goin gand gave up early on. I may give it another go though. The Lacuna (or is it La Lacuna?) is another I am struggling with, theres so much about it that I like so I keep going back to it.
A series rather than a book, but I eventually gave up on The Wheel of Time series around book eleven. Eventually the insignificant and repetitive details drove me mad and distracted from the story.
Even though I'm a huge Stephen King fan (The Stand is one of my favourite books) I can't get to grips with The Dark Tower series. I found Duma Key and Lisey's Story really hard going too.
My GCSE history teacher read it in German and said it was the worst book she'd ever read.
For me, it's War and Peace. Started it, read 100 or so pages and haven't found the will to go back to it yet.