When do you give up? Or do you?

[wayfaringwordhack]

 ...on a book that fails to capture your interest, that is. I  am reading something now that is really Meh. I only read when I am brushing my hair or teeth or flossing, which means I don't spend a lot of time at it, but usually, I dawdle a bit over my tasks if the reading matter interests me. In  this case, I just stop wherever I am on the page, even in the middle of a sentence.

I am contemplating moving on to something else, but another part of me thinks I should just keep going with it because it isn't like it is awful, I am just not that into the subject matter and am perhaps a bit criticial of it (the story is set in France, and Carcassonne, my husband's birthplace, figures quite heavily in it, which should make it interesting) but the mystical elements and the religious wars part of....yeah, just don"t feel like something I want to invest in now.

I have been reading ( the umpteenth time for me) The Chronicles of Narnia to Sprout (her first time, and she loves thme as much as I hoped she would), and I think the direct style (some would say "telling") and elegant simplicity of C.S. Lewis' prose really makes what this other author is doing feel overblown and melodramtic. I know styles have changed and the subject matter is not at all the same, but class is classy and doesn't age.

C.S. Lewis is one of those writers who makes me want to write and yet intimidates the socks off me.

Comments

[asakiyume]

I definitely give up on books! I'm some years older than you, right? And I feel my mortality! I want to read things I'm enjoying reading, not things I'm not enjoying. I don't even read everything I think I'd like, let alone things I'm only meh about. There are so many worthy stories out there, so many stories you might really love--I think there's no need to stick things out with one that's not speaking to you. (If you're like my daughters, you may feel a little like you're letting down the book by not finishing it, but no worries! It's a big world, and there will be people who will genuinely love the story. You don't need to struggle through it.)

Totally agree about C.S. Lewis.

[wayfaringwordhack]

And I feel my mortality!

Oh, so do I! So do I.

I DO feel like your daughters. I have to get over that. I am not responsible for loving every story. *repeats as she reshelves the book*

[rimturse]

Ah, what is it in readers that makes us loathe giving up on a book, even though we're clearly not enjoying it?

If I were you, I'd just put it aside and then should you feel the urge to pick it up again, then no one is stopping you.

I loved 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' as a child and read it several times (I read the others as well, but they didn't captivate me the same way), and I bought the whole collection as an adult and read them again. And... yes! It's wonderful when the next generation loves it as well. :)

[wayfaringwordhack]

Ah, what is it in readers that makes us loathe giving up on a book, even though we're clearly not enjoying it?

Some very misguided sense of duty, especially for readers who are also writers.

I am going to put it aside. :D

[green_knight]

I have three ways of approaching this:
– if a book makes me cringe or flinch in any way - gratuitous violence, sexual violence, embodies -isms, constant putting down of characters etc - I stop reading. I don't need more of that shit in my life.
– if a book makes me roll my eyes or bores me, I stop reading. I need to get something out of the experience. I own several hundred books that can make my day better, so if I read a new book and go 'meh', life is too short for that.
– if I'm getting something out of it, but not feeling the love, I will put the book back on the shelf. Maybe I need to be in a different mood for this particular book. I may pick it up later, and I may not; but if I can find something to admire (and nothing that puts me off outright), the book gets another chance.

I used to read all the time, at least one book a day, and in that case, spending a whole day on a book I didn't particularly like wasn't too much of an investment. These days, I rarely finish a book in less than a week, and often several weeks. And not only is forcing myself to slog through a book I don't enjoy wasting my time, it's also making me less willing to pick up books and read, so that's a hard no from me.

[wayfaringwordhack]

For this book, I think I will take your third approach; it is an OK book, but maybe my mood is just not right for it now. It came with the house, so I feel zero obligation to like it.

I used to read all the time, at least one book a day, and in that case, spending a whole day on a book I didn't particularly like wasn't too much of an investment. These days, I rarely finish a book in less than a week, and often several weeks. And not only is forcing myself to slog through a book I don't enjoy wasting my time, it's also making me less willing to pick up books and read, so that's a hard no from me.

Yes! This exactly.