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Post by HalcyonDaze on Jun 13, 2016 18:48:51 GMT -5
I think My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante will end up on this list. I've got two more weeks to finish it but so far I've picked it up and put it down twice, only getting through a chapter or two at a time. I'm not exactly sure why it isn't working for me so far but it just isn't.
And now I've picked up another Ali Shaw book and I love his books so much that I'll read that and cut into my time to try Ferrante again.
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sadiep
Eating Figjam
Posts: 834
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Post by sadiep on Jun 13, 2016 22:47:25 GMT -5
The latest by Lionel Shriver. The Mandibles. Part essay on US economics, searingly dull character monologues. A shame because I like her style of writing generally.
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Post by tzarine on Jun 18, 2016 23:32:36 GMT -5
beloved by toni morrison
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Post by Phoenix on Jun 19, 2016 9:43:21 GMT -5
Master and Margherita (sp), Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norell, Twilight. Also, Perdido Street Station. I wanted to love that book after hearing the author speak at a Con. I just couldn't do it. If I get to chapter 2 and I do not care what happens to any of the people, I have learned to quit.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Jun 21, 2016 5:17:45 GMT -5
It's not completely abandoned, but I started reading Martin Seligman's Learned Optimism a few years ago, and still haven't finished it.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 11, 2016 9:23:12 GMT -5
"Room," Emma Donoghue.
I put in a good effort but it was too creepy and horrible to read in this lovely summer weather. I'm not getting rid of it because it's well written and a compelling story, but I'm going put it aside until November or something.
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Post by lillielangtry on Jul 11, 2016 12:01:53 GMT -5
Yeah, what I didn't get around to saying on the book thread is that it has to be the right time for a book, even a really good one (see me and Ferrante).
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Jul 11, 2016 18:54:10 GMT -5
Yes, I remember saying that back in the OP - sometimes it was just the wrong time for a particular book.
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Post by Liiisa on Jul 12, 2016 4:41:42 GMT -5
Yes, exactly (and thank you for your encouragement, lillie).
Part of the problem was that I was reading that lovely "Spring in Washington" at the same time, and it was just such a whiplash experience to go back and forth from the sheer joy of that book to the claustrophobic experience of "Room." I had a hard time putting it down, though, despite really not wanting to read it!
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Post by Webs on Jul 18, 2016 14:00:40 GMT -5
I abandoned "Vinegar Girl" for many of the reasons listed in this article. As Taming of the Shrew is probably my favorite Shakespeare play I felt mildly insulted that as talented a writer as Anne Tyler should give it such a shoddy retelling. Huffpost review |
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Jul 18, 2016 16:42:58 GMT -5
I hadn't heard of that one. I do have Jeanette Winterson's retelling of The Winters Tale on order from the library. Hoping that is well done.
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Post by sophie on Jul 18, 2016 20:15:53 GMT -5
Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien. I am sure it is an awesome book, but I couldn't read it now. Too depressing, especially given what has happened in the past few weeks. I needed something more upbeat.
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Post by scrubb on Aug 1, 2016 23:18:53 GMT -5
"Outlander" (Diana Garibaldon or whatever her name is). I knew it was considered an historical romance but there were so many rave reviews, and it's such a popular book, that I hoped it would be well done and quite readable. Historical fiction is sometimes very involving, and I've read through the odd romance type of book and sometimes they can be sort of enjoyable. I thought that if this was a really good example of the genre, it would be fun, brainless holiday fare.
It starts out reasonable - she's a capable writer at least, no awkward phraseology or clunky sentencees - and the first 100 or 150 pages were stage setting and introducing us to 18th century Scotland; but now I'm over 300 pages in and so uninvolved with the charactersa, and so bored, that I can't imagine bothering with another 450 pages of it.
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Post by tzarine on Apr 28, 2017 23:57:46 GMT -5
cloud atlas
it's fake pretend joyce
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Apr 29, 2017 3:51:46 GMT -5
cloud atlas it's fake pretend joyce Interesting. I downloaded the audiobook and am hoping to start listening on my next road trip. |
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Post by tzarine on Apr 29, 2017 11:15:54 GMT -5
lots of people loved it
you may, too
hated the movie as well
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Post by leela on Apr 29, 2017 14:48:37 GMT -5
The Book Thief. I bought it new, and then deliberately left it behind on a train after getting a third of the way through it. It wasn't the subject I found difficult. It was the style in which it was written... the general tone. I found it deeply unpleasant.
I know I'm in a tiny minority and that most people love this book. But it's the only novel I've read in my life, that affected me that way.
I hope the person who found it on the train, enjoyed it.
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Post by sprite on Apr 29, 2017 15:44:32 GMT -5
this is interesting to re-visit--i loved 'my brilliant friend' and quite liked 'the book thief' although i thought it was a little over-hyped.
i accidentally downloaded an amazon freebie once, titled 'the time traveller's wife.' i thought it might be a sample or first chapter, but no, some guy with a really weird concept of writing has written a book with the same name. not surprisingly, it gets crap reviews!
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Post by Q-pee on May 10, 2017 17:03:27 GMT -5
"A Place of Greater Safety", Hilary Mantel.
I've tried twice with this. I couldn't get into it and even going way past Liiisa's 50 page limit.
It's about the French Revolution and maybe I just don't know enough history of the revolution to piece it together. Friend who does no stuff about the French Revolution suggested getting a good biography of Danton instead as he's the most interesting.
I'm done with it.
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Post by lillielangtry on May 10, 2017 23:41:35 GMT -5
"A Place of Greater Safety", Hilary Mantel. I've tried twice with this. I couldn't get into it and even going way past Liiisa's 50 page limit. It's about the French Revolution and maybe I just don't know enough history of the revolution to piece it together. Friend who does no stuff about the French Revolution suggested getting a good biography of Danton instead as he's the most interesting. I'm done with it. Oh, me too! And Mantel is one of my favourite writers! I read well over 100 pages but as you know, the book is massive. I wonder if the problem is that I don't know enough about the French revolution. Anyway, it's still on my shelf and I might give it another try sometime. In the meantime I wish she would hurry up with the third part of the Cromwell trilogy. |
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Post by Q-pee on May 11, 2017 1:35:45 GMT -5
It's because I loved Cromwell books that I persevered so long... and tried twice!
Glad I'm not alone.
(and now I see my typo, crap)
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Post by sprite on May 11, 2017 10:35:45 GMT -5
hahaha....
anyhoo.
i haven't given up on 'sapiens' but i'm in the chapter talking about capitalism, and it makes me so angry that i can't sleep. and i keep forgetting/not having time to read it during the day.
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Post by tzarine on May 16, 2017 19:55:32 GMT -5
leela
you are not alone
the book thief bothered me, too
it wasnt the subject, either
it was heavy handed, melodramatic
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Post by leela on May 17, 2017 13:12:41 GMT -5
Phew. You're the first person I've come across who's felt the same. Everyone so far has thought I was weird.
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Post by tzarine on May 17, 2017 14:08:23 GMT -5
leela
you are not alone
the writer assumed a level of ignorance of the reader & the movie - dont get me started.
i also hated schindler's list the movie - the red girl - can we say heavyhanded?
oh, i cant criticize it bc its about holocaust. the film id like to see is the banned jerry lewis holocaust one about a clown in the camps
cloudasslas was so unjoycelike
it sent me back to the molly bloom section
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Post by Q-pee on May 18, 2017 8:26:32 GMT -5
I liked the book thief, but I think it got a bit obvious towards the end. It's supposed to be Young Adult fiction so that might be why.
Couldn't watch the movie. So dire.
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Post by Webs on May 22, 2017 15:11:32 GMT -5
The Book Thief. I bought it new, and then deliberately left it behind on a train after getting a third of the way through it. It wasn't the subject I found difficult. It was the style in which it was written... the general tone. I found it deeply unpleasant. I know I'm in a tiny minority and that most people love this book. But it's the only novel I've read in my life, that affected me that way. I hope the person who found it on the train, enjoyed it. I didn't like it either. I couldn't pinpoint what it was but it just didn't sit well with me. |
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Post by Webs on May 22, 2017 15:14:19 GMT -5
l oh, i cant criticize it bc its about holocaust. t Why can't you criticize? I don't want them to ever release "The Day the Clown Cried" It sounds so dire and if Jerry doesn't want it shown I respect his decision. It sounds horrible. And I hate clowns. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Clown_Cried |
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Post by tzarine on May 22, 2017 16:40:15 GMT -5
webs
ionce got into a heated discussion w a poet who claimed that certain subjects were "beyond criticism"
so even if the work is really bad, bc of the subject matter, you had to leave it alone
i didnt ever finish war & peace
i love tolstoy,so who knows?
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Post by sophie on May 23, 2017 23:30:41 GMT -5
The Sellout by Paul Beatty. Yes, it won the Man Booker prize. I can't get into it. I finally skimmed it, and now I am going to give it away. First time I have ever done this with a Man Booker prize winner.
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