Monday 12 August 2013

Unfinished business

A cool infographic showing the most common unfinished books inspired me to write a similar list of books I've started but haven't finished, and why.

A lot of classics and well-known books:

Dracula - Dull as ditchwater.
Catch-22 - Never got the appeal.
Dreamcatcher - Really, truly disgusting.
Game of Thrones book 4 - Just got bored of the series.
The Wasp Factory - Again, a well-loved book that I just found miserable and nasty. Read all but the very last chapter before I realised I was exhausted. Life's too short for bad books.
Lolita - I think people just read this to say they have. Not very good.
Treasure Island - Maybe I read this all the way through when I was little, but can't remember.

More recently:

Chavs - only started reading out of lack of better books. Not too bad.
Contagious - again, a book of convenience rather than choice.
The Better Angels of Our Nature - I'm definitely going to finish this. Some day.
Delusions of Gender - I'll probably finish this, slowly. It's non-fiction, what can I say?
Gaia - As much as I like the idea of this book, I've never finished it and probably never will.
Hegemony and Survival - Interesting, but put-down-able.

To be honest, I thought there would be a lot more. I don't have a rule that 'I never leave a book unfinished' but I don't like to do it either. It's really obvious what kind of book makes me lose interest as well; non-fiction, bad classics, and only truly bad more modern novels. I have finished terrible books before, but the satisfaction of justifying your initial impressions doesn't often stretch that far.

What's on your list?

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