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Hmmm, interesting list.
When I was in high school, it was a matter of pride for me to finish every single book (or series) I started. A friend recommended the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever which starts with Lord Foul’s Bane. I read the entire series – it is not worth revisiting in my opinion. The main character is depressing and it is hard to empathize with a “hero” who starts out by raping another. The only benefit that I gained from reading the series was I then decided my policy of finishing every book I started was foolish and now have no compunction about quitting books that don’t keep my attention. I also enjoyed the Gap series. If you want more by Donaldson, his two-book series Mordant’s Need is decent.I enjoyed the first Shanara book I read, but the few others I read all seemed like the same story with a few minor changes. However, he’s still publishing, so hopefully his recent books are still not rehashes of his first.
I had the same experience with The Book of Lost Tales as you. Fortunately I picked it up after reading the Tomas Covenant series, so I didn’t feel obligated to finish.
However, I greatly enjoyed Battlefield Earth. I thought it was one of Hubbard’s better works and much, much better than the horrible movie with the same title. I picked it up in high school, but I’ve read it several times since then too. If you were going to retry any of these, I’d suggest this one.
Comment by Admiral Quixote — Friday, August 5, 2024 @ 3:02 pm
Funny, Deb mentioned this post as a good meme and I immediately said “Thomas Covenant; I couldn’t even get through the first book!” Funny to see it’s on your lis, now that I’ve seen the post myself.
Comment by Jay — Friday, August 5, 2024 @ 3:05 pm
I had the same problem with Lord Foul’s Bane my first time through. I just couldn’t get into it. The second time I forced myself past page 100 or so…and that’s when the book took off.
My college friends and I enjoyed the series (all six books), and I think we all read the whole thing twice each. Donaldson’s problem is that he obsesses over the feelings of the characters way too much; if he focused on moving the story along rather than on how much emotional pain everyone was suffering, his books could shed 40% of their weight.
My rule now is if a book doesn’t grip me after 100 pages, I’ll give up and throw it against the wall. Doesn’t happen often, but the last time it did was “TimeScape” by Gregory Benford. Yeah, I know it won a bunch of awards, but the plotline is stale and the characters were one-dimensional. Isaac Asimov’s “The Gods Themselves” is a much better example of the “talking backwards through time” genre.
I’ve got Battlefield Earth at home; I’ll definitely have to try it soon. Thanks for the tip, Admiral.
Comment by pianoman — Friday, August 5, 2024 @ 3:30 pm
Funny–your post reminded me that I tried to start Timescape but just couldn’t get started.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Friday, August 5, 2024 @ 3:49 pm
This will probably get Me banned, but I was not able to get into Dune. Everyone said how great it was, it sold and sold, and there were many sequels, but I couldn’t get more than 1/3 the way through it.
Comment by Gary and the Samoyeds — Friday, August 5, 2024 @ 7:41 pm
[…] sty.com”>
8/5/2005
VENI, LEGI, CONCIDI
From Steven Taylor comes his Friday Fun Meme: ‘Books I Couldn’t Finish.’ Forthwith, here are mine: The Lord of the […]
Pingback by The Bemusement Park » VENI, LEGI, CONCIDI — Friday, August 5, 2024 @ 10:36 pm
Books I Couldnt Finish
From Steven Taylor at Poliblog, a Friday Fun Meme…. Books I Couldn’t Finish. Doing as he did and leaving out textbooks, and in no particular order:
Trackback by The Kudzu Files — Saturday, August 6, 2024 @ 8:20 pm
Well, the only two that jump to mind are:
1. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
2. Run Away Jury by John Grisham
There are certainly others that I didn’t finish for one reason or another, but those come to mind as one I “couldn’t” finish.
My husband teaches Portrait of the Artist is you ever want any pointers on it. lol But then again, he teaches Metamorphosis but he couldn’t make me like it.
Comment by Jan — Saturday, August 13, 2024 @ 10:37 am
I’ve read Metamorphosis, but egads, I can’t stand Joyce.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Saturday, August 13, 2024 @ 11:01 am
Steve actually considered doing his dissertation on Joyce. I’ve only ever read “The Dead” by him. I liked it okay, but it was only a short story.
Comment by Jan — Saturday, August 13, 2024 @ 10:16 pm
[…] Dr. Taylor: Books you know you should read that you can’t seem to finish. Oh, wait. It already has been.
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