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A list of really good books I can't finish

These books have been sitting on my shelf for years now, forlorn little scraps of paper marking the place where I just gave up. I keep meaning to restart them. I never get around to it. It's easier to re-read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for the 50th time.

So, here it is. My list of books I can't finish, even though they're well-reviewed and probably really good and would expand my horizons. Come on, fess up about yours. Everyone has these. Here's your chance to confess your sins and get absolution before the new year.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
White Noise by Don DeLillo
Affliction by Russell Banks
The Music of Chance by Paul Auster
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

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Permalink Reply by Jana on December 28, 2007 at 9:23pm: Yeah, I relate. And it's not even like the books sitting on my shelf half read are dull or anything...I just get distracted easily, I guess. So I've been trying to finish:

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis (deceptively short looking, but requires me re-reading things over and over)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - I know it's a classic. I'm a counterculture freak. Why can't I do it?

John Adams by David McCullough - also a U.S history nerd but I think maybe I need it in bite size pieces. Yes I did major in history at UNM. Yes I did graduate, haha. (But I can't say I ever finished a book, except for maybe The Electic Koolaid Acid Test ;)

I think it's more psychological at this point than anything about the books.

But it's ok because Kitson says we're hot.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tom on December 29, 2007 at 10:43am: Wow, I have a huge list of "the unfinished/never started":

Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales"; Scott's "Ivanhoe"; "The Count of Monte Cristo", "The Three Musketeers" and "The Man in the Iron Mask" by Dumas; Sharon Kay Penman's trilogy about medieval England and Wales; A couple of novels by Robyn Young - "Brethren" and "Crusade"; some collections of works by Poe, Emerson and Thoreau; and a couple of books of American poetry from the last three centuries. And I'm going to try again to read "Pillars of the Earth" by Follet. I could not get through it the first time around. I guess I'd better because he now has a sequel out.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by cynthia on January 28, 2008 at 6:47pm: I. still. have. not. finished. The. Pillars. of. the. Earth. Taking. forever. But it actually has gotten better after the first 300 pages. And now I have to add Musicophilia by Oliver Sachs to the list. That gave me a headache after awhile.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Neonnoodle on February 7, 2008 at 4:06pm: Another vote for Kavalier and Clay. I also tried Perdido Street Station, twice, but I just didn't click with China Miéville's writing style (I hear some people have the same issue with Tolkein). Samuel R. Delany's Dahlgren was another one, and I'm sure there's a few more out there.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by hettie on February 7, 2008 at 10:40pm: you know, I really liked kavalier and clay, but I cannot get past the middle of mysteries of pittsburgh. I also can't finish the history of the siege of lisbon, by jose saramago. I think I bought it when he won the nobel prize for lit. (which was about 9 years ago) and I never got beyond the first 40 pages, despite a couple attempts, and I haven't picked it up for about 6 years. maybe it's about time to try again....anyone read it? is it worth the effort? I also haven't finished the first of neal stephenson's quicksilver trilogy. I love some of his other books, though.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sophie on January 9, 2009 at 2:46pm: Alas, Cryptonomicon is just sitting there with an envelope stuck in at around page 30.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Steven Harris on May 10, 2009 at 11:35am: I'm slow to this thread. Amy, you've got good taste! I want to read all those books (already read White Noise & Foucault's Pendulum).

For me:

Ulysses
Gravity's Rainbow; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bogart/Mozart on May 22, 2009 at 2:10pm: LMAO @ Foucault's Pendulum. Jesus. That guy needs to stick to essays on semiotics.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jo LaMore on June 30, 2009 at 6:42am: Funnily enough, there are two book (series) that I would never have been able to read/finish if it weren't for the fact that they were made into movies.

2001: A Space Odyssey was a book/concept that I just could not get my head around, even though I knew it was an important book and I kept coming back to it with frustration. Then I saw the movie and it sort of translated the concept for me allowing me to enjoy not only the first, but each successive book in the series.

The Dune series of books was another that I could not easily read/digest. When I saw a movie adaptation of the first book, I was then able to chew my way through the entire series by Frank Herbert, though I liked the direction of the story less and less as the series wore on and have not visited any of Brian Herbert's continuation of the storyline/theme.

Mostly, I will try out a book/author to see if it speaks to me or is easily digested and usually abandon them with no regrets. There are many more books in the library to read...

Jo; ▶ Reply to This