Difficult Books

[Iverian Gnash]

The thought just came to me that while there are lots of books out there that we've read and loved, what about those ones that we just haven't been able to finish? Sometimes, when we start reading a new book, we find that it's not grasping our attention like our last few reads did.

Recently, I've been trying to read Treasure Island, which is quite a classic. I keep picking it up, reading the first chapter or so, then moving on to something more appealing. Maybe it's the writing style that's not catching my attention, or perhaps the story plot itself.

Have there ever been any books you've tried to read countless times, but just couldn't? What were they and why weren't they holding your attention?

[Emerald Wolvenhowl]

I always wanted to read Wind in the Willows. I have tried reading it several times but I don't get passed the third page, no matter how hard I try. The sentences are very challenging because they are so long. So much so that when I reach the end of a sentence I've forgotten what has happened at the beginning. The problem with that is a lot of the time nothing makes much sense and so the book gets put away yet again.

[Emily Spencer]

As a lover of fantasy, I should be ashamed, but I simply cannot finish Lord of the Rings. I've tried several times, and can only manage a chapter or two before I'm bored to tears and banging my head in frustration.

[February Fortescue]

I agree, Emily! Because so many people love this series, I don't admit to it very off, but for me the novels drag to the point where they're a real challenge. I had to force myself to read them.

[Sam Reaper]

I absolutely love reading classics, Jeckyll and Hyde is my all time favourite book. But I could just not finish The Picture of Dorian Gray. I picked it up about 2 years ago, thinking it would be a quick read because its so short... i already pretty much knew the plot , the picture ages for him. I had to put it down after a week.
I tried again at the start of the year, still only 50 pages.
I started reading it at the start of this month, it took me 3 weeks from start to finish, reading about 1 hour a day. I think the writing style is just all over the place. There's a whole chapter in the middle where i just did not understand what was going on and am still not sure what happened.
The ending redeemed it a little but my word that was difficult.

[Maeve Madden]

I agree with Emily and Feb! Even though the Lord of the Rings books are classics and there are so many people out there that love them, I really could not get into them. I tried to read The Hobbit and I stopped about a quarter of the way through because it was too slow for me.

[Galena May]

I have to agree because I never actually finished Lord of The Rings. It is still incomplete for me. I gave up because it was like a neverending journey that felt like a forever lasting camping trip, only, through a dangerous path. After a while, I got so bored of the similar reach_ resolve_ fight_ run_ repeat that I really wished it could be smaller.

[Dibyarup James Potter]

Wow, so many like-minded people here. I agree with Emily, February, Maeve and Galena, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit both were very slow, and I did get bored at different points of time. But after watching the movies, I was dedicated, and finished the whole series after reading them bit by bit over a period of 1½ years.

[Kathren Johnsun]

Wow, Lord of the Rings is a really popular answer to this. I will partially agree as it took several stints of sitting with no distractions and a large amount of determination to make it through those myself (I think it took me about a week or two to get through each one doing nothing but that). Have any of you who couldn't finish tried reading them in audio format? I feel like it has helped me get through several books that would otherwise be DNFs.

My books for this question are both Great Expectations and Pride and Prejudice. I love Oliver Twist and thought I could handle more Dickens, but it took several restarts to make it through Great Expectations. Pride and Prejudice went almost immediately into DNF as it could not get my attention even after several chapters.