Did not finish

    I can't remember when I last abandoned a book - it is very rare for me not to finish - but I have re-shelved Long Live Great Bardfield having reached the halfway mark. 

   Horses for courses, as they say.

Comments

[Toffeeapple]

I never did fancy that book, Tirzah always unsettled me for some reason.

[Mary]

Having reached a certain age, I no longer try to finish books that simply don't capture my attention or annoy me due to characterizations that run amok, plot confusion, or especially, when an author works just a little too hard to show how erudite they are. Or think they are... :)

[Cornflower]

I can see why.

[Cornflower]

Very sensible.

[Dark Puss]

Ha! I don't finish perhaps 20% of the books I start. Why bother ploughing through?? If I am not moved by a piece of music or a picture in a gallery I move on pretty quickly, why should books be so different? OK so you need to read more than page 1, but after page 40 I feel it is probably not worth my limited time or effort if I am not engaged.

[Jane from Dorset]

Thank you for being honest

[Cornflower]

You are right, of course. It's so seldom that I don't get on with a book that I always think I must persevere!

[Cornflower]

I hope I don't put off anyone who has been thinking of reading the book, but for me it was a disappointment.

[Peggy]

Agree with Mary! The older I get and the further away from syllabi, the less patience I have with books I don't get on with. I am now ready to abandon a book on the slightest whim.

[Freda]

I may have to abandon The Reader On The 6.27 by Jean Paul Didierlaurent though I have got to page 101....

[Cosy Books]

Oh dear...Long Live Great Bardfield is one of my favourite Persephone titles. If I lived on your side of the pond, I'd be calling you over for a cup of tea and a chat, Karen. Sorry you didn't have a good reading experience with this one, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

[Anne B-A]

If the game isn't working, change the game.

[Cornflower]

Quite right, Peggy; I think I am too forgiving for my own good.

[Cornflower]

It can be hard to give up on a book when you've already invested a lot of time in it - though to continue if it's not working is to throw good money after bad (to thoroughly mix my metaphors!).

[Cornflower]

It does, Darlene, and let's hope we can meet sometime for that cup of tea and a chat about the many Persephone titles which have given us great pleasure!

[Cornflower]

Wise words, Anne.

[Jeanne]

Hear, hear!

[LizF]

I used to find it really hard to give up on a book because I felt almost duty-bound to finish what I had started but I have to admit it gets easier each time now especially as my reading time is now restricted and so not to be wasted on something I am not enjoying.

[Dark Puss]

I walked out of a Mahler symphony at the Proms once :-) No reflection on the orchestra I hasten to add!

[Cornflower]

You are so right about not wasting time, Liz.

[Cornflower]

We walked out of an opera once (The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, Rimsky-Korsakov). It was a very hot evening and I was six months pregnant at the time.

[Linda from Each Little World]

I sent to the UK for it and made myself finish it. But it was a slog and so disappointing to discover neither the writing nor the lives were what I was expecting . . ..

[Helen]

Thing is, if this kind of whimsy-with-a-heart is your kind of thing, you'll love it (I did!); if not, it will bore you to tears. And I guess by p.101 you know who you are...