Is there any books that you DNF (did not finish)? What was the reason?

[Smashingdoozy]

For me it was the night circus it was just so slow to get into, and any diary/journal entry style books I just cannot read them they irk me.

Updates

1 y

One I totally struggled through was sharp objects by Gillian Flynn, who also wrote gone girl which was a pretty popular movie adaptation. Sharp objects got a tv series which frankly made more sense than the book which hardly ever happens. But oh my god it was drawn out chapters of absolutely fuck all going on, random characters popping up for no reason like I'm supposed to remember all these people? The plot twist was obvious half way through the book.

[NYCQuestions1976]

There was only one book I didn't finish. It was when I was kid, but I did eventually finished it as a teenager. "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret". I made the mistake of trying to read it when I was around 7 years old. I had read two other Judy Blume books just before that: "Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge", along with a few of the Hardy Boys books (all sorts of authors under one pseudonym) to that point, and "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. I read the sequels to "Galaxy" as I got older. So 7 year old me figured I'd enjoy "Margaret" since it was the same author as "Tales" and "Superfudge". Well it wasn't an "enjoy" issue. It was a "What?" issue. So I stopped reading the book. Years later, when I was around 12 or 13, after the light bulb went off in my head and I had my, "Oh! Okay!" moment, I finished reading "Margaret".

[NYCQuestions1976]

Thanks for Most Superb, GaG algorithm. 👍

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

The Fifth Season from Nora Keita Jemisin. I was interested in it after having it suggested to me as a prime example of using 2nd person perspective in creative writing (almost never used).

Yet I don't think I enjoy 2nd person perspective. It has an alienating effect on me. A passage from the book:

>> YOU ARE SHE. SHE IS you. You are Essun. Remember? The woman whose son is dead.

I'm not a woman! I don't have a son. This is asking too much of me from an empathy perspective, even though I think I'm a reasonably empathetic person, to imagine myself as a woman and a mother.

Third person perspective suits me far better. "Her name was Essun and she's the woman whose son is dead." I can empathize more deeply with the third person perspective.

[Smashingdoozy]

Yeah this is why I didn't enjoy journal/diary entry writing

[GuyAnswersGirls123]

First-person narration seems quite alienating too that way. I sometimes enjoy a stream of consciousness style of writing but typically the narration at least is in third person.

[Horse-girl]

I'm one of those weird people who finishes a book even if I don't really enjoy it, I think the only book I can remember I didn't finish was the dictionary. It was a little too dry for my taste. 😂

[petitedollbabee]

The bazaar of bad dreams by Stephen King. Tried to read it years ago and didn’t make it past page 20. Didn’t catch my interest.

[abc3643]

"Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev
I had to read it in English class in high school; I forget what year, but I suspect it was in "The Novel" in 12th Grade.
It's a Russian novel which means it's long and ponderous which is why Woody Allen created the 1975 satire of such novels, "Love and Death".
I just didn't bother and whatever essay I had to throw together about the novel was probably horseshit.
I didn't do well in English. In "The Novel", I think I got a B both quarters. It's why I went to RPI for Physics instead of Columbia University; RPI had no English requirements.

I still have no idea what "Fathers and Sons" is about.

[abc3643]

I ALMOST gave up on this recent 2018 novel: "The Fortress" by Australian S. A. Jones.


The writing is not good and a bit confusing at times, but the story is somewhat imaginative. However, there are some gratuitous sex scenes that make it seem like the author (a woman) is revealing her fantasies of BDSM and gay sex.

[abc3643]

Here's the publisher's description of the book...
www.erewhonbooks.com/books/the-fortress-s-a-jones

Notice this:
"Content notice: The Fortress contains references to objectification of and violence against women, pedophilia, sexual assault, submission, and toxic masculinity. "

That's not completely true; yes, everything stated is in there, but what is NOT stated is "toxic femininity", "objectification of men", and "gay sex", and Lord knows what else I am forgetting.

I was interested in matriarchal fiction and have a few novels about it. This definitely was one. It leaves some unanswered questions and the very ending is trite like "... and they lived happily ever after". But, some of this is very interesting stuff. Yet, the writing is so bad in spots because the 4 (yes, only 4) chapters really need to be broken up more so, when the author shifts settings or times, it's not obvious immediately and thus is confusing.

(more)

[abc3643]

Goodreads has a good short summary...
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/36344640

Jonathon Bridge’s arrival at The Fortress – a society run and populated by women – begins with a recitation of the conditions of his stay: he is forbidden to ask questions, to raise his hand in anger, and to refuse sex.

Jonathon has offered himself as a supplicant in The Fortress after his pregnant wife Adalia discovered the ugly sexual violence pervading his top-tier firm. She has agreed to continue their fractured relationship on the condition he enter The Fortress for one year.

Jonathon is utterly unprepared for what will happen to him over the course of the year – not only to his body, but his mind and his heart.

This absorbing, confronting and moving novel asks questions about consent, power, love and fulfilment. It asks what it takes for a man to change, and whether change is possible without a radical reversal of the conditions that seem normal.
====

(more)

[abc3643]

Again, from the publisher's description...

Jonathon Bridge has a corner office in a top-tier software firm, tailored suits, and an impeccable pedigree. He has a fascinating wife, Adalia; a child on the way; and a string of pretty young interns as lovers on the side. He’s a man who’s going places. His world is our world: the same chaos and sprawl, haves and have-nots, men and women, skyscrapers and billboards. But it also exists alongside a vast, self-sustaining city-state called The Fortress where the indigenous inhabitants—the Vaik, a society run and populated exclusively by women—live in isolation.

When Adalia discovers his indiscretions and the ugly sexual violence pervading his firm, she agrees to continue their fractured marriage only on the condition that Jonathan voluntarily offers himself to The Fortress as a supplicant and stay there for a year. Jonathon’s arrival at The Fortress begins with a recitation of the conditions of his stay: He is forbidden to ask questions, to raise his hand in anger, and to refuse sex.

Jonathon is utterly unprepared for what will happen to him over the course of the year—not only to his body, but to his mind and his heart. This absorbing, confronting, and moving novel asks questions about consent, power, love, and fulfillment. It asks what it takes for a man to change, and whether change is possible without a radical reversal of the conditions that seem normal.

Content notice: The Fortress contains references to objectification of and violence against women, pedophilia, sexual assault, submission, and toxic masculinity.

[abc3643]

www.kirkusreviews.com/.../
Misandry replaces misogyny in this pseudo-feminist revenge fantasy.

Jonathon Bridge was born into money, and his success as an executive has only increased his wealth and power. Cocaine binges and sexual harassment are, as far as he is concerned, perks of privilege. His one saving grace is his wife, a free spirit and dedicated journalist. When Adalia learns what her husband has been getting up to at the office, she offers him one chance to win her back: He can spend a year as a supplicant in The Fortress, a colony ruled by a society of women called the Vaik. It is her hope that this experience will cure him of his narcissism. “You need to learn insignificance, Jonathon.” The best science-fiction authors invent new worlds to use as laboratories in which to interrogate real-world problems, either to test out solutions or issue a warning. Jones (Isabelle of the Moon and Stars, 2014, etc.) does not do this. What she does instead is create a fictional universe in which it’s acceptable to delight in the degradation of men. What’s in store for Jonathon becomes clear as soon as he enters The Fortress, when he is stripped and subjected to a body-cavity search. His clothes are replaced with a form-fitting tunic that barely covers his genitals. Over the course of a few hundred pages, Jonathon will endure forced labor and sexual servitude. He will be compelled to have sex with a child. He will be penetrated by a man without his consent. The Vaik, inscrutable and lascivious, are cartoon women crafted from tired patriarchal tropes. The sex scenes—of which there are several—range from ludicrously appalling to bizarrely gruesome. The alien trappings—the strange ways of the Vaik, the imaginary plants and animals—are gewgaws, apparently intended to distract the reader from the fact that this is, in essence, nothing more than sadomasochistic porn.

Wildly unimaginative and just generally gross.

[abc3643]

I more or less agree with this which is why I ALMOST DNFed. It is a short book though so I stuck with it and it was a bit interesting though.

It reminds me of the movie "Guy X". "Guy X" is a pretty bad movie. You watch it (and almost DNF it) and think "Where the fuck is going? How did such a bad movie get made?" And then you watch it AGAIN thinking you must have made an error in judgment or missed something somewhere. And then you realize you were right the first time.

Well, reading "The Fortress" was sort of like that. You get into it and realize this is "in essence, nothing more than sadomasochistic porn", as Kirkus says, but then you stick it out thinking there has to be something more.

Well, it was "in essence, nothing more than sadomasochistic porn", but it did give some food for thought and I may even re-read it.

[abc3643]

One last comment: In some of these reviews, they mention having sex with a child. That doesn't happen (IIRC). As part of the condition of being in The Fortress, the central character Jonathan (in his 30s) cannot refuse requests from any Vaik female for sex. I wrote "female" because that is what is important. He becomes friendly with a 14-year-old girl and SHE wants to have sex with him. In fact, this is a big thing because he is going to take her virginity. Well, he doesn't go through with it and violates a condition of his stay and that becomes problematic and they really rip into him over this.

But, I want to be clear - child sex does not actually occur in the novel.

[Lionman95]

Yes I borrowed them and couldn´t finish until they were due and I couldn´t borrow them for so long that I forgot about them. The other bigger reason is because some books don´t catch me because they too long to build a story or advice books that take long to build up an argument.

[RebelinSteel]

There are quite a few I started but never really got into, my kindle has a grave yard area. For books I never finished, it’s things like starting a series of books but not realising the author was dead and did not complete the last of the books etc. Gordon Dickinson being one and another the author gave up writing due to an illness or similar. Bone shaker by Cherie Priest is a Steampunk book that I struggled with.

[exitseven]

I am sure there must have been a few. I cannot think of any. I read Ray Kurtzweil's "The Singularity is Near" I borrowed it from the library and it was such a tough read that I could not finish it in two weeks. I had the librarian renew it for another two weeks so I finished it.

[Still-alive]

The bible until I realized the main character was a tad sadistic. And we’re supposed to root for him smh…

[DryGermanGuy]

Only in the strictest sense that I noticed after the first one or two dozen pages that this book doesn't agree with me at all. Happened with several fantasy and Steven King books. American Psycho was another drastic example of no, thanks.

[normalice]

The last book of the seven kennings. It was a really good series until the backstory was finished. Then everything got super tidy and I found it unreadable.

[Jennz6]

I never finished a book because I didn’t finish school and I’m not really good at reading or comprehension. I don’t even read a really long post here on GaG because I’m just not good at reading

[Jennz6]

@Smashingdoozy I did finish reading the Bible

[Smashingdoozy]

Okay?

[DJB72]

Great Expectations. Without irony it wasn't as good as I expected. Unfortunately, it was also one of the set works for my English Literature A-level...

[IslaTheWitch]

A few obligatory books to be read during high school in Poland... so boring and stupid that even I wasn't able to force myself to read them :D

[PBandJ_Nerd]

It was more likely that I didn't have enough time to read them. But that's when I was a lot younger.

[TallAnon]

Lol, just yesterday I stopped reading one because the main character was wayyy too close to his brother and it was super weird

[Bricealan]

Started "Atlas Shrugged" and gave up as it was just so slow and the reading was tedious

[Wiredone]

There was a few books that I didn't finish. I can't remember what the names of the books were

[loveslongnails]

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass - one of the most boring books ever written.

[JayBones]

Child Theif by Brom. It's a dark retelling of Peter Pan where Peter Pan is a psychopath. I stopped reading it because it made me think of my childhood and I didn't want to think about my childhood.

[AngryCarl]

There's a lot of books I don't finish for various reasons. Usually because of boredom. I've certainly never finished anything by Stephen Donaldson.

[JacobJordan]

generally when I start a book I finish it same day

[LiamJHayden]

Many. If a book does not capture me within the first 25% I have no problem ditching it.

[Anonymous]

The last book Carl Jung wrote before he passed away. Guy was a massive racist and a complete dumbass talking about topics he knew nothing about.
Other book was by that looney tune britney spears

[Bklynbadboy12]

Most time I just lose interest or it's just to damn long

[Mediterraneansoul]

Don't swear the small stuff. I left it on public transport

[andreasderjuengere]

One that I began writing myself :D

[laly520]

papillon

too long

[SolitarySolace]

Weren’t entertaining enough for me to finish.

[msc545]

I always read to the end ,..

[Twalli]

The Bible.