Books you didn't like or couldn't finish

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Just wondering what books you guys have read or tried reading but either didn't like when you finished or simply couldn't finish reading them?

The reason I wondered is that I recently made the effort of strating to read The Prism Pentad from the Dark Sun series. Got halfway through book 3 and just couldn't get any further. For some reason I just lost interest completely within a couple of pages around the middle of the book and wondered what I was doing reading it. Needless to say, I'm going no further with that particular series.

So, anyone else have similar experiences to share?

 

The Silent Blade - I found myself skim reading large parts of it.
The Diamond Age - Dislike the writing style, it looks to be a plotless waffle with no base in reality. Didn't get very far in it.

 

I usually finish anything I start reading, even if it's bad. The only thing I couldn't finish (which will raise alot of eyebrows) was The Silmarillion. I had a very hard time keeping my concentration. At a certain point I noticed I was reading words without the meaning of the sentences getting through to me. When I noticed this I stopped reading it. It probably has to do that it isn't really an epic story you can hang onto (at least not the beginning of it).

 

*Quickly gathers an angry mob and crucifies Meatdog*

I have a few History of Middle Earth books which are scattered around half-read. I must have read most of the material in them at lest 4 times already after reading the Silmarillion twice and having read some HoME books before these.

 

This is only partly on topic but how many of you read books that are non-fantasy, that are not school or work related, and for anyone that said yes which type would interest you more?

I'm into the fantasy series myself but I also enjoy reading some short stories and I've read a few of Tom Clancy's books, TC isn't just about shoot em' up's though some of them do have them, most of them are politically heavy or at least have political elements.

 

@ Casey

Well, this probably isn't very original, but aside from fantasy I sometimes read Sci-Fi. I must admit that I read other genres but it was always school-related then. I never liked reading something else then fantasy or SF because the story can always never drag me in. I simply get bored when I read something else, except if it is really funny. That's the other exception, books with alot of humor, but really good ones are difficult to find. Terry Pratchett doesn't count since he doesn't fit under the non-fantasy.

[ January 07, 2004, 14:37: Message edited by: Meatdog ]

 

One of Janny Wurts' series. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done to get a third of a way through.

 

The ones that come instantly to my mind are

Winter's Heart - book nine of the Wheel of Time - it has been sitting half read in my pile of books to read for a couple of years now

White as Snow by Tanith Lee - I honestly can't remember why I decided to read it but it is a very lame retelling of Snow White. I have never been a fan of Tanith Lee's work but White as Snow is terrible. Tanith Lee's take on the plot and characters was just plain bad and the writing style really grated on my nerves. About the only positive things I have to say about the book are that the copy I read had paper of decent quality and the binding was reasonably strong.

and (ducks for cover) War and Peace which I quit reading after the first 50 pages which as I recall involved introducing a constant list of characters at a seemingly never ending stream of parties.

 

@Meatdog:
Don't feel bad. Before I even saw your post, the first (and only) book that came to mind was The Silmarillion, so you're not alone. I read it after reading LotR, and whereas LotR had lots of action, this was like reading a history textbook. The entertainment value (which is what I read fiction for) was zilch for me. Of course, this was many many years ago when I was a teenager, so I might view it differently now.

 

@ fellow member to be crucified by an angry mob (aka Splunge)

I'm not sure age has anything to do with it. I admit I also was a teenager when I tried to read it (but in the late teen years) and even then I could read a boring book if the subject was interesting enough. And I really was interested in the subject, but it pushed so hard against the limits of boredom that no matter of motivation could get me to continue on. Maybe we both should take the book back at hand since I heard from friends it gets better after the first half of the book (but not much).

 

- Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I just ... The story didn't grasp me at all.
- Wheel of Time, Book 10 by Robert Jordan. Let's just say I loathe Jordan's typical way of not including any plotmovement in his books.
- Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Stopped after or during (don't recall) the 5th book, the series degenerated into something Jordanesque.

 

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

I had a really freaky experience reading this book. We were driving back from my grandparents house around Christmas time (about 20 years ago). I was reading the infamous "crucifix" scene and we got into a bad car accident. Scared the snot out of me. I could not finish the book.

Stranger in a strange land - Robert Heinlein

I HATE this book. I know it is supposed to be a classic, but man did it suck. I got 2/3 through, and could not take the whole commune thing any more. I tried to finish it, but everytime I picked it up, it just pissed me off. No book has ever had this effect on me.

 

One that leaps to mind is Silmarillion, but as many others I was a teenager when I tried to read and I found it horrendously boring. Otherwise I am pretty good at forcing myself through books nowadays, there are quite a few books who are very tough and slow to read but not really bad.

 

Chapter House Dune by Frank Herbert-

All the previous books were great (Dune is my favorite book of all time), but I can't get through half of the book no matter how many times I try. I guess he just ran out of ideas, like most authors of long running series do.
His wife of 50 years had also died around the time he was writing it, so that might have been a factor to its mediocrity.

 

Finnegan's Wake, by JJ.

 

Well, except for the Hitchhiker's Guide I read (in parts) some bad books:

The Icewinddale Trilogy and the Cleric Quintett by Salvatore
Elminster, Making of a Mage and Spellfire by Greenwood (he's IMHO worse than Salvatore)
Jadephoenix-Trilogy by Robert Thurston (Battletech)
The Shaman by Robert Jordan

and probably some more I don't want to remember.

 

Anything Robert Jordan. His books were drab, with only momentary splashes of brilliance ever showing through.
Moving away from the Fantasy genre, I would have to say that the Tale of Two Cities, and Pride and Prejudice, are incredibly boring books. While both satirically bash the rich and the famous, and move toward answering the very important questions of society, I had a hard time finishing them. Did anybody esle think that they were boring, or did I just miss the point of the satire?

 

I wasn't too fond of the Prism Pentad series either. I read them only because I finished reading the Tribe of One Trilogy and thought that the other DS novel would be just as awesome.
The Prism Pentad wasn't bad, but I shouldn't have read Tribe of One first.

 

To many to count.

I must have like readers ADD, if a book doesn't capture my intrest right away I usually throw it across the room and grab another one. I'll also start a book, then my dad will throw another one into my room that looks more interesting and I'll start that.