A few weeks back my Dad (a voracious reader) passed along a Washington Times article that discusses economics professor Tyler Cowen’s argument that there’s an economic case to be made for quitting a book as soon as you stop getting anything out of it. Cowen finishes one book for every five to ten he starts. “We should treat books a little more like we treat TV channels,” says Cowen.
That’s probably an extreme case, but I’m sure we’ve all had moments when we wanted to fling the old Kindle against the old wall, whether because of a character who was driving us batty, an implausible plot line, or maybe even because your copy of THE SHINING just happened to be missing pages right when it was getting to the good part (yup, still mad, Colusa County Library. Seventeen years has not dulled the pain).
So do you stop reading books or are you a compulsive finisher? And for those that stop midway, what causes you to stop? How do you decide to ditch a book and start something new?
I realized somewhere in my twenties that I wouldn't live forever. Life's too short and I'll never get to all the books I want to read, so why waste time on something I don't enjoy/respect/admire? I toss as soon as I know.
The only exception is if it's a book recommended by someone I respect. Then I'll finish it to see if I still respect them.
I am about 50/50 when it comes to books I finish and books I put down. If I don't feel hooked after about 2 chapters I move on.
I never actually give up. I put it down and tell myself I'll go back. I did that with J. Irving's "A Son of the Circus" five years ago. And I will go back, eventually.
Eek! I didn't think my (now)deleted comment above was offensive in any way, but let me just shorten it to read: I am a compulsive finisher.
Unless I have a recommendation from a trusted source the author has the first chapter, maybe two, to get to the point. If I'm not hooked by then the book will get set down and probably forgotten.
Random Monty Python-esque plot changes, bad editing, or lack of fact checking will get the book tossed over by the firewood in case the heater breaks again this winter.
Not even halfway through a chapter if the book is a translated work by Oxford.
I tried *one* chapter of the Oxford version of 'Twenty Years After' by Alexandre Dumas, 'Don Quixote' had me in tears it was even worse. The scarring of mistranslation and horrible footnotes have scarred me for life from any Oxford publication.
I tend to be a compulsive finisher. It takes a lot for me to give up on a book. I've only put away three without completing and I think, quite honestly, it was because they were over my head and I didn't understand it.
Just read through the comments and am trying to understand how so many sub par books get into print.
I just forced myself to finish the lastest novel by a writer I used to love.
Kept thinking it would get better soon. It never did. Boring heroine, surprise ending that was anything but. By the last page I found myself wondering if her editor even read the darn thing before shipping it out.
When I first start a book, I'm curious. I want to know how the story will unfold and what the author's vision is. Often, I lose interest because once I discover those things 50-100 pages in, they don't mesh with my interests and values. I want rich, layered, intelligent, sympathetic characters. I want an interesting, fast-paced plot. I want enough setting to feel immersed in the landscape but not so much that I start skimming. Usually, I end up reading too long because I feel like I should finish the book. But all that does is make me dread reading, which ought to be my very favorite thing after writing. If I'd rather be on Twitter, it's time to close the book for good.
I used to make myself finish everything, like a junior high student. Then I read you should read as many pages as your age before you quit. Now I just seem to sense it sooner. For now, my rule is about 50-80 pages (just because I would have missed some great books if I didn't go that long). But, having just given up on Tender is the Night as the worst novel ever, I may shorten my trial run!
BTW, is it worth trying to finish The Wind Up Bird Chronicles? So far I am not caring a bit for the characters or the plot…
I don't pick up a book if it doesn't have some sort of hook to it within the first two to three pages. It doesn't have to be action–but there's a certain voice I'm looking for. When I read fiction I want to be unable to put it down.
With that said, I also have a lot of books that I intend to finish, but don't because another book swept me up just a little bit more.
I make the decesion about the time it's due back at the library. If I haven't finished before the due date it will take a hefty bit of interest for me to renew it.
If things get too explicitly bloody and gory, I have to put it down. The knees get weak.
I so wanted to read Anne Rice's vampire stories but the blood-sucking got to me.
Mostly I finish because I read the back blurb and three or so pages before I buy. I look for a voice and style I like and a hook that entices me to read on.
Rarely am I disappointed, except if I find the protagonist is not what I thought, and maybe annoys me or I can't relate.
I also find my mood has an affect. So, if I put it down, I go back to it a few months later and invariably find I like it after all. Timing.
I generally read a book all the way through. I have had to put a book down a few times, and start over (I will finish Wuthering Heights before I die!) but I come back to them and finish them eventually. I feel like I'm going to miss something amazing from a book if I don't finish it.
Life's too damn short. Depends on the read. If it doesn't grab me or if it's too complicated or too many characters, peace out, it's in the trash. Or taken in to a used bookstore and let some unsuspecting wanderer suffer the same fate *grin.*
* I quit a book when "the answer" becomes obvious
* When I start skipping "boring" paragraphs…which the leads to skipping pages and skimming.
* I quit when my eyes roll or glaze. * I don't even start if it's laden with angst.
* Grammatical errors…if the plot doesn't suck me in. Even then, too many, and it's a matter of how much I really want to read the book. Usually not enough to deal with sloppy editing.
I can't bear to give up, no matter how bad the book is. I just plow on, because I need to know if it gets better, especially if people have recommended it, or just plain need to know how it ends to get it out of my system. I do sometimes skip boring bits to get there.
Once though, a long time ago, I read a series of books in which I absolutely could not stand the main character. HATED HATED HATED with every fiber of my then-teenage being. By about book three I had had enough, but sadly, I had already invested in all six. so I peeked at the ending of the last book, and discovered that somewhere along the way, the main character had died! So then I had to finish them all, just because I absolutely wanted to read the death scene.
Some books are so awful I sell them at a used bookstore, but most merely bad books I keep so I can loan them to friends who insist on not taking my review seriously. That way they don't have to buy their own copy and the author doesn't get any more money off the terrible book.
My house is like a graveyard for books that I started and never finished. An author doesn't have all that much time to hook me, because I'm so all over the place when I read. I tend to jump from one book to the next, day to day, depending on my mood. One day I might feel literary, the next I might want something dark and horrible.
I would say an author has about the length of my tram ride to work (maybe 20 minutes) to make an impression. If I'm falling particularly charitable, I might give them the ride back as well. So, 40 minutes, tops. If the story and characters haven't clawed their way into my head by then, there's little chance of me picking up the book again.
It has happened though – there was one book I put down after 20 pages, then picked up again a year later and read the whole thing in 2 days. It's now one of my all-time fave books.
I'm not a fan of pushing through if I'm not enjoying a book. I had to drop a whole unit at uni this term because I just couldn't finish Anna Karenina *shakes fist at Tolstoy*.
I'm a compulsive finisher of fiction. I've only given up on one book – Once Upon an Eagle.
Non-fiction, however, I'll given up on it it doesn't hook me.
Assuming I'm not bored within the first few pages, I try to stick through to the end. The only books I've not finished are those borrowed from friends, in scenarios where I had to give back the book before I was finished–but then I usually go buy the book if I was enjoying it (or pick it up from the library). Once in a while, if I find a book really offensive, I might drop it if it becomes agonizing to read. If it's just a difference of opinion between me and the author, though, I try to finish it; I think it's good to read things you don't agree with in order to challenge your own convictions.
If I can't get through the first 5 chapters the book usually gets put down. I try to give it another try later on down the road. But if it hard to get into the second time it goes on Ebay.
For most of my life, I was a compulsive finisher. Now, I find myself so busy that I occasionally give up on a book, but never before I read at least 1/3 of it. It's growth!
When an author expends waaaay too many words on describing the dull details of relationships. For example, I like Maeve Binchy, but sometimes her books get bogged down to the point I feel like I'm being suffocated by someone else's life.
I close the pages when I realize I have seen, lived, tasted, touched, experienced or endured the likes of it prior, and come to the table with a preconceived conclusion that eclipses my curiosity. Hell is truly a perennial matinee of the movie Ground Hog Day accompanied by stale popcorn. If it takes too many tries to get it right, it was wrong to start. Time to try something new.
I've ditched books within pages, and I've ditched them with only pages left.
It really depends for me. If I have a number of false-starts when starting a book, I'll just stop trying. Other times I just get bored and try to continue.
There have been times I spent a month on one book, trying to get to the end of it. And finally tossing it.
It depends on the author if I finish the book or not. If it is a bad book by one of my favorite authors I will finish it but if it was just some random bit of fluff that I picked up because of the cover art I usually will just put it down and never touch it again.
This is exactly the question I asked myself about an hour before I read this blog entry!
I am currently slogging through a 650+ page novel that was highly acclaimed, received multiple prestigious awards, was a NYT bestseller, and the author is considered one of the best of our time. But—I am bored to tears reading this book and I am a 'stick to it' reader normally!
I've been trying to finish this beast for three months now. I've stopped several times and read 15other books in the meantime that held my attention more.
I keep pecking at this one because there have been many books I've wanted to stop reading but held to the belief that if the author can deliver a great ending then no harm no foul. Many books that have had a dull uninteresting start for me have finished amazingly well. But this one? I can't even include the title here because I know someone would BBQ me about it but—It. Is. Bo-ring. Yet, still, I read on…
So, in answer to this question…I will read a book to the end no matter how long it takes me to get there. Hey, I'm an optimist…I keep betting on an ending that will make the journey (no matter how strenuous) well worth it. An author puts a great deal of hard work into completing a book and I respect that. But this is the first one in decades that tempts me to give up on it.
But I won't.
And dear Lord, I will be 100 by the time I finish this one and if this doesn't leave me feeling like fireworks are exploding in my heart on Christmas morning…I may reconsider my theory about plugging to the end of an uninteresting (very long)book.
I stop for a number of reasons. I'm a Jack Higgins fan but he's made some serious factual errors of late and I've quit half wy through a book. If the main character has a vocabulary that consists of nothing but four letter words, I get bored quickly. Several thrill writers, who I used to like have turned into super patriots whose characters seem constantly filled with anger and do nothing but kill Islamic terrorists. After six or seven books with the same plot structure, I give it fifty or sixty pages and then quit if it's not new. These days, I skim the book in Barnes and Noble and if it looks promising, I download it to my Kindle
I'm a compulsive reader! I usually get really crabby when I have to put my book down to deal with every day life, I feel like I can't function until I have finished my book. There has been a few rare occasions where I could not finish a book, but in every of those occasions, I picked it back up several weeks to months later and then enjoyed it immensely!
If it reads like it still needs editing, the characters aren't believable, the author is telling me to much and uses the actual story as a backdrop to highlight how "literary" they are or if I have read too many dialogue free pages in a row – I'm done.
That said, I just took Pride, Prejudice and Zombies back to the library with most of it left to read because despite the cleverness, it was still Jane Austen and the language made me tired.
The only time I force myself is when I've promised to write a review and even that will not hold me if the book is impossibly dull or too friggin' long. The one I have right now? Is written entirely in emails and the author neglected to tell me it was 660pages long. How does a book like that even get published?
Cowen is a genius. We should all be so ruthless with our time.
I am a compulsive finisher. I've maybe stopped reading 3 books in my life, and those I felt guilty about.
I read about 40 pages, but I don’t put it down. I then read (sometimes skim) the last three chapters. About ten percent of the time, those last three chapters hook me and I go back and read the whole book.
I used to be a serial finisher. I still am, at heart.
Another interesting question might be: "What books are you glad you didn't quit?"
I don't stop. Even when it drives me crazy, or I'm totally disgusted, because I just have to know what happens. It doesn't matter how bad it is, I have to know the whole story, complete the journey.
Non-fiction is a different story. But as far as I know, I only have one book that I'm in the middle of, and I full intend to finish it at some point, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. It's been probably three years, but I'll get there!
That being said, I will absolutely not bother starting a book at all…
I'm picky when choosing my books- it really has to grab my attention, because once I start reading it, I usually have to finish.
I'm a compulsive finisher. I read through the crap, even when it hurts. The only time I'll ever not finish something is when it's already overdue at the library. I am guilty of skimming a few pages every now and again in the really boring bits though.
I almost feel like if I've already bothered to get to know the characters, I may as well see what they end up doing.
Although, I do read the first page or two in the shop or at the library while deciding, so in a sense I stop reading those pretty early on.
When I could not possibly care less about what happens to a single character.
It doesn't happen often. There have been books I've hated, or books that have gotten slow, that have at least kept me curious. But when every last character could burst into flame and all I'm thinking about is what I want for lunch and how badly I wish I was doing something else, I toss it. No point.
I like to finish a book, but I read one recently that I had to fling by about page 100. It wasn't going anywhere and was SO BORING.
I'm usually reading two to four books at a time and whether I finish one or not is a simple self-eliminating process for the bad ones. If I'm not into it, then I pick it up less often than the others, or only if I'm desperate to read and the more interesting books are not immediately available (books are usually left in strategic places around the house). I get sucked into the good ones and they become constant companions wherever I go. It isn't worth having a guilty conscience over not finishing a book; there are so many good ones out there. Put down that bad book and try again.
I'm the type that tends to get my foot caught in really bad TV shows, so I went cold turkey on TV about ten years ago. Now I tend to get my foot caught in books, so I try to be pretty choosy about what I pick up, because I know I'm stuck with it until the bitter end.
I almost always finish. If it's bad, I skim. I can think of two acclaimed books that I didn't finish, and I wonder if that was a function of my age, or the books.
If I'm reading something for research, that's different – sometimes I'll just look for the relevant parts or if it's for character background, I read until I feel like i've learned what I needed to know.
Word verification: sights….hmm…
It usually depends on if I bought the book, or if I borrowed it from the library. If I bought it, I almost always see it through to the end. Usually this is because, if I spent my money on it, I'm interested in reading it from cover to cover in the first place or I wouldn't have plunked down the cash, but also because I feel I need to get my money's worth. Rarely do I get rid of a book I own without reading it. (Though it might go back on the shelf for future reading–if I ever get to it.)
I've found I'm a lot less patient with library books. I paid nothing, so if I don't get into a book, I don't feel I've lost anything. If the story doesn't strike me in a chapter or two, down it goes.
I seldom stop reading a book because I don't like it. I may be a complusive finisher. If the book is well written, I read for the pure pleasure of the writing. If it's really bad, I'm amazed that it got into print and I read it anyway. It's sort of like watching a train wreck, you know you should look away but the horror is so great you can't stop.
I used to review novels for a major city newspaper, and hated being "forced" to read and analyze books I didn't like. The negative reviews never got published anyway so I'd wasted hours of my time for $50. Now I only read books I like of my own choosing. Freedom!
I have to admit, I'm a compulsive finisher of books. It's a bad habit that I wish I could break.
I have to finish a book, no matter how painful it may be to me at the time. Otherwise I have this OCD ability (that wastes more time), imgaining how they story could have possibly gotten better or worse.
Don't consider "bad" books a complete waste, they go into the what not to do category.
I am, by nature, a finisher. The thing that most commonly puts me off and makes me slam a book down is when the opening is obscure and verbose. It makes me feel like the author is saying, "Look how clever I am … I bet you can't understand what I'm going on about, but you'll read it anyway because you don't want people to know you're literarily inferior"
It's a bit like The Emperor's New Clothes. I went to a book club session recently where I'm sure no-one wanted to admit they didn't understand the terribly arty Japanese novel that an arrogant Uni student had chosen! Everyone just nodded and 'hmmmed'!
I stop when I find something intolerable: incest, child murder–anything deeply disturbing to me.
That being said, I've cast aside books with annoying narrators as well. I don't have to love the narrator, but when I develop an irrational hope that he/she will die and someone else will take over, I give up!
https://litdiva.blogspot.com/
Mostly, I give books about three chapters. If they don't make me want to turn to the next chapter or I find myself getting annoyed with the main character, I'll drop it. Normally, after three chapters, I'll finish it.
I did however end up dumping a book on page 540 something because the author had suddenly pulled a demon out of the air and it jarred me so much that I figured that if he'd gotten too bored to write himself out of the plot he was in, why should I bother finishing it.
I also dropped a book at page 800 and something because the author killed off the only character I cared about.