I am guilty of often giving up on a book. If it is "serious" literature I'll expend more time and effort on it than the more popular books. But if I'm not interested in it after about 50 pages I move on. There are too many books and too little time! Just because someone else loves it doesn't mean I will, but it is true that at another time in another mood, I might come back to it and enjoy it.

But I can't think of a single book that I later came back to and enjoyed that I would actually say I loved. So I don't think I'm missing the novel of my dreams by quitting! LOL

I have only just got to the point where I feel that it's OK for me to give up on a book after 50 pages or so. Before, I would slog through any old rubbish just because I felt guilty as the author has put so much effort into the book.

But not any more. As for me feeling as if I am missing something by not finishing it, I seem to have two ways of dealing with this. Either I have a strong enough feeling of "I won't like this book" that I can take it to the second hand book shop without any qualms. Any qualms and I keep the book for a second read, but that is very rare so far.

I gave up on Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale twice before I forced myself to get beyond the first few pages. Turns out I really liked it. I had always found the set-up so distasteful that I didn't even make myself go those 50 pages.

I tried A Tale of Two Cities several times. Just about anytime my husband was attempting to teach it to the teenagers who took up space in his English class (note, I avoid the word students). Couldn't get past 10 pages! The time it finally caught me, I lived and breathed it during the week I read it. And I can remember almost everything about it...in minute detail. My husband and I will talk about it sometimes on long car drives.

I have never felt the need to finish a book. Unless its for a class or book club, if I don't like it I don't finish it. Sometimes I'll set them aside and try again, esp if its an author I like or a book that I'd normally love. Ive had several experiences like you veronica, when a book I didn't care for suddenly became a top on the list for me.

I usually try to give a book 50 pages. I have been known however to toss a book aside in as few as ten, if the writing is atrocius . But usually if it hasn't grabbed me and pulled me in by 50, its not gonna. There are exceptions, and folks who know me well have gotten me pass the hump to what ended up an enjoyable experience. But usually not.

Chris, I too, gave up twice on the Handmaids Tale because it was distasteful. Perhaps I'll give it another try.

Books I gave up on and then later went back to and was so glad I did:
The Hobbit
Hawaii by Michener
A Prayer for Owen Meany

So sometimes it pays to go back and try again ... but not always.

Sarah Canary, I never could get into The Hobbit either and didn't even try the trilogy.

Chris - I did go on to read the whole trilogy and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure why The Hobbit didn't grab me at first. Have you read other fantasy books that you enjoyed?

If I can't get past the fifty page mark I rarely give a book a second chance. One exception was Watership Down by Richard Adams, which I enjoyed on second attempt, though I did not love it. I really don't much like books with animal characters, and didn't as a child, either. Adams's second book Shardik struck a powerful chord with me; it is a favorite of mine and one of these days I will re-read it. I did not like his next two books at all and gave up on him as an author.

Rosefolly

Rosefolly, I agree completely about anthropomorphic characters! And I think it is a reason I could not get into The Hobbit. For whatever reason, I found the early descriptions of hobbits as more like critters than people and that just did not interest me.

Sarah Canary, I generally enjoy fantasy. I loved the LoTR movies and Sam is my hero for all time. I said generally, because I despise with a passion fantasy writers who get themselves into a plot box and get themselves out with the hero discovering some previously unknown magical talent. Mercedes Lackey did it once and I refuse to read another of her novels even though I had enjoyed her up until that point.

Chris, I am currently listening to The Hobbit as a recorded book. As is the case with LotR, I take more pleasure in listening to it than I did in reading it. There is an almost coy quality to Tolkien's description of the characters that was not present in LotR. Either he thought this appropriate to a book written for children or his ideas on Middle Earth were not fully developed when he wrote The Hobbit. Perhaps he never imagined adults seriously reading this book. For some reason, it quality does not bother me as much in an oral presentation, perhaps because the talented Rob Inglis manages to avoid any cuteness. In either case, I greatly prefer LotR.

And Sam is my favorite character, too. I admire him tremendously.

Rosefolly

I recently gave up on "The Terror", which I may find I regret. I also gave up on two Matthew Pearl novels, "The Poe Shadow" and "The Dante Club". Count me as another one who could not get into "Prayer of Owen Meany". If a book does not grab me by the 2nd chapter, I usually will not finish it. The older I get, the less patience I find I have with bad writing, as well....

As to bad writing, not only do I have less patience with it, but also I notice it more than I used to do. Sometimes when the story and characters are well done, I find myself mentally editing the book to bring the grammar up to the standard I require for enjoyment. However if the plot and characters are not very good, I simply toss the book aside and don't bother.

Rosefolly

I put aside Middlesex in spite of the good words about it from RPers and others. I figure there's a good story in there somewhere, but Eugenides was taking a too long and circuitous route to get to the nitty gritty, in my opinion. Actually, there is something about Eugenides' writing that I can't seem to relate to because I gave up on The Virgin Suicides as well. It made me feel voyeuristic and slimy.

Mary, The Terror is an odd book, one that I am ambivalent about though it is extremely well-written. In our RP discussion, we decided that it is probably very much a niche book: you have to be very interested in Arctic exploration and the mystery of the Franklin Expedition and you have to be tolerant of the inclusion of mythology and horror tropes with stark realism.

I have yet to complete any John Irving book. His writing and stories rub me the wrong way.

The Terror was also a richer book for me from our discussion. I hadn't tied our monster to mythology until someone here pointed it out. Once one realizes that Simmons is writing the story as if the myth were real, the entire tale comes together in a very neat package.

>not only do I have less patience with it, but also I notice it more than I used to do

Hee, me too. I don't need fancy, poetic prose; but I do require writing that is an effortless read, conversations that feel realistic given the time, place and character, correct grammar and spelling. If not, there are just too many good books out there for me to waste my time on one thats not.

Two major things tend to pull me out of a book: dialect and idiosyncransies. The first: Twain could do it, few other writers can. The second is when something in the book (a physical detail, a character's action, a choice of words) blatantly doesn't fit the time or place, or are so out of character that I cannot suspend my sense of believability (this happened at the end of Year of Wonder and ruined the whole book for me) I am also hesitant with books that have many pages of italics or many dream sequences, but some have worked for me.

Karalk, I read The Handmaid's Tale completely through twice and didn't like it either time.

I can't say that I enjoyed reading The Handmaid's Tale, but I'm glad I read it. I felt the same way about T.C. Boyle's Tortilla Curtain. It was truly painful to read because it was so true. Often I read a book that I don't enjoy because it's a selection for my book discussion group. If I were to try to read these on my own I would probably give up and move on to something more enjoyable.

Some of the books I 'gave up on' came into their own when read closely by a group - Moby Dick turned out to be an unexpected favourite of all the reads - on my own I just couldn't make it - same with The Handmaid's Tale - so rewarding to read together.
I dont even bother with starting Ian Mckeown anymore.

I have noticed here over the years that many US RP'ers write fondly about Thomas Costain.
I must admit that very many years ago (c 1959) I was in Foyles the (then) biggest bookshop in the UK and being young and impressionable noticed the huge pile of 'remaindered' Costain books Below the Salt and The Tontine. I bought them for six bob each and although I really tried I could never get into them. I have just this minute picked one off the shelf, blown the dust from it and the odd dead spider from under the endpaper and wonder if there was too much "Nay, verily, fair Mistress Giselle, by my troth old Stout Heart shall ne'er rent asunder Thy ruby-coloured hose as we make our escape under thick darkness and no gintleman from Ameriky will come between us"
I do realise he must have been popular in the USA but it is just too much for me.

veer, I was turned on to Costain after reading his non fiction Plantagenet series. I had just read the historical fiction of the time by Sharon Kay Penman, and his four volumes dovetailed perfection with her stories. I tried reading his fiction and didn't get far, for the the same reason as you. I think he is one of those authors who do best with non fiction.

I tried The Hobbit several times but have never finished it. And I loved the trilogy, read it at least 2x. Just decided to try the 1st volume anyway, Thank goodness.

John Irving was my fiction writing instructor at Iowa as an undergrad. I enjoyed him as an instructor. He was working on Setting Free the Bears. I actually bought it from a remaindered pile a few years later but never finished it or his next 2. But I loved Garp, like everyone else, and have read all the rest of his work. The later novels are not up to his prime. I actually think Owen Meany is wonderful but it is NOT a grab you by the seat of your pants book.

However, if you have never read Cider House Rules I beg you to try. I think it is a wonderful, perhaps even great, novel. The movie was actually lovely but only deals with the 1st third of the book. There is even more about abortion and another theme which deals with Alzheimers that the movie didn't touch. I think it's a novel which captures the attitudes of the mid 20th century very well.

granjan -- I agree about Cider House Rules; it's one of my favorite books. A Widow for One Year by Irving was a rather bizarre book, and another one that I gave up on initially, but then went back and finished.

How exciting that you had him as your instructor. Was he very helpful?

I have turned 1916 into a door stop...or would have if it were a thicker, heavier book. Perhaps I can use it to chase the racoons away from my tomato plants.

I came very close to giving up on Jane Austin's Emma but since it was Austin, I kept plugging along and finally finished it. It will definitely not be one of my rereads though. I pity poor Jane if this was the kind of environment she was forced to live in--the constant gossip and interfering in the lives of others because of a dearth of other interests. How dreadfully boring.

Middlesex was a book I actually bought, I rarely do this, and I tried several times to get through more than the first third. It quickly went to paperbackswap.
And I never finished The Kite Runner and ended up skimming Life of Pi. I gave up popular books soon afterwards.

I am re-reading Middlesex for a book group, and again am amazed at the beginning, when the family was still in Greece. He evokes that time and terror so well that I felt like I was there. It was towards the middle that it lost me, as his change becomes more apparent, but I plan to read it through (I gave up on it the first time at that point). Looking forward to discussing it to see what others think.

gran, Irving has long been a fav of mine (and how lucky for you to have him as a teacher!) tho I think his early ones were his best: GARP, Owen Meany, Setting Free the Bears, and Hotel New Hampshire (a dear friend of mine was sexually assaulted in college. During those first few weeks when she was immobile, she somehow got ahold of this book. We read it together and oh how we loved that ending!)

And I loved Cider House Rules. I think the movie actually did a good job with what they did - there is so much in that book that making a movie straight from the book would have ended up a mess. But the book is a must read.

I've been disappointed in his later works and have stopped reading him. Same for Anne Tyler - loved her when she first started writing. Now its the same story, same characters, different cover....

I agree about Anne Tyler, unfortunately, because I really loved her early books. Did you ever read Clock Winder?

No, the first one I have I think is Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. Is that one earlier?

nope - just checked, I also read Celetial Navigation, A Slipping Down Life, If Morning Ever Comes and Searching for Caleb; I just read Homesick Restaurant first. Just checked the synopsis of Clock Winder, I will have to look for it.

Irving is an uncomfortable read for me. His characters are always doing something I would never dream of doing myself and who I would not want to have in my real life. After The World According to Garp I was never tempted to read another, although I enjoyed the movie of Cider House Blues. So I guess I gave up on an author rather than a book.

I see what you mean with Ann Tyler, although for me she still provides pleasure in depicting the familiar world of Baltimore. I also think she has a subtler palette these days.

I read Clock Winder twice, once myself, then again for my book group. I remember enjoying the characters immensely, but that's been many years ago. My book group also read Ladder of the Years and enjoyed it. We're all "of a certain age," and could really identify with certain aspects of the main character and her life.

I've never actually given up on a Tyler book, rather I've become somewhat relunctant to read her more recent books. The first book I read by her was Accidental Tourist, which I loved. And the most recent one I read was probably Back When We Were Grownups.

I found this Tyler quote, which I loved:
"I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?"

The only Tyler book I did not give up on was "Accidental Tourist". I've come to see her work as overrated, IMHO.

Veronica....very funny vision of you chasing the racoons from your tomatoes!

>"I've always thought a hotel ought to offer optional small animals. I mean a cat to sleep on your bed at night, or a dog of some kind to act pleased when you come in. You ever notice how a hotel room feels so lifeless?"

I dunno - I don't stay in my hotel room long enough to notice!

Ah, cindy, you're lucky. I had to spend a month and a half in a Towne Center Suites room last year, and a month in a Homewood Suites this summer. I really missed my dogs ... not to mention my own bed. :)

Yikes - I assume thats for business? Ok, then I could see having a pet there. Or at least being able to bring your own.

For business, yes. And I would have loved to have had my puppies with me, but they would have been so unhappy cooped up all day.

Back OT - A book I can't give up on: I'm reading The Historian because my nieced liked it so much that she actually mailed me her copy. Because of that, I'm sticking with it, although I'm finding it slow going. For one thing, the characters haven't really engaged me yet. I also feel that the author goes on a bit too long, intentionally dragging the story out.