Ever read a book so bad that you actaully stopped reading?

[Enkidu88]

Ulysses by James Joyce, though that book pretty much prides itself on being unreadable so maybe that doesn't count.

I'll also put forward LOTR as an extremely difficult read that I never finished. I have a ton of respect for the man, I mean he created a really awesome world and he used his talents as a linguist to create an entire language for it, but...I just don't think he was much of a writer. He didn't have a sense of pacing, and he spent waaaayyyy too much time on describing things.

 

[vivalahelvig]

It can not be said enough!!!
Great Expectations is one of the most BORING books i've ever read, i stopped reading after 15 pages.
Honourable mention goes to The old man and and the peice of shit book sea! because i was forced to read it in middle school...and write a paper on it. I failed the paper because i couldn't be assed to care!

EDIT: Fuck ernest hemmingway.

 

[Gatx]

Cthulhu's Reign: a collection of short stories about what a world post Eldritch horror takeover would be like, which I thought was interesting and I'm a big fan of Lovecraft mythos stories in general. But when Cthulhu downsizes a human size Cthulhus (that keeps saying "thooloo," you konw, like a Pokemon) and basically stalks a group of survivors and gorily rips them apart B-movie sci-fi style, I could not keep reading. THAT IS NOT WHAT THE LOVECRAFT MYTHOS IS ABOUT!

 

[Gatx]

My bad, unintentional double post

 

[imperialwar]

I managed a few chapters in the first book on the "wheel of time" series but found the language and wording unnecessarily complicated and long winded with no real direction.

 

[CulixCupric]

I, also, couldn't even get past the 1st lotr book.

 

[Dags90]

Breaking Dawn (Up until the werewolf falls in love with the hell-fetus)

You should really read the birthing part, it's so worth it.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

A Tale of Two Cities. The style of writing of that period is completely different from what we're used to, tons of narrative and fewer characters, less development of said characters too.

It just became tiresome after 50 pages or so.

One book I wish I'd put down was The Grapes of Wrath. That's not a good book.

 

[lacktheknack]

I'll also put forward LOTR as an extremely difficult read that I never finished. I have a ton of respect for the man, I mean he created a really awesome world and he used his talents as a linguist to create an entire language for it, but...I just don't think he was much of a writer. He didn't have a sense of pacing, and he spent waaaayyyy too much time on describing things.

Try Victor Hugo. He wrote AN ENTIRE FREAKING BOOK on what Paris looked like one fine day.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

I'm an on again, off again fan of Warhammer 40,000, but I cannot read any of their books. They're so poorly written it makes my head hurt.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

The Great Gatsby, I HATED that book, and I gave that book the benefit of the doubt. A friend of mine let me borrow it since I told her I never read it, and she knew I don't like John Steinbeck, BUT told me I'd like it.

What blatant lies.

 

[Grottnikk]

Wuthering Heights. I was supposed to read it for English class in grade 10. I ended up getting the Cole's Notes version and I was barely able to get through THAT.

I've heard Atlas Shrugged is pretty boring, too. I think that comes from the fact that it's really more of a manifesto for Ayn Rand's "I'm a selfish prick" philosophy of Objectivism than it is a novel.

 

[Double A]

I will probably catch a lot of shit for this, but Lord of the Rings.

This. This so much. My dear universe those books are boring as all fuck, it's hard to express.
The Hobbit was okay though. Better pacing. There was just no pacing at all in LotR. Blargh.

I can't get out of the Old Forest. I know it picks up, but bleh. I share your opinion on the Hobbit. One of the few I've actually read multiple times.

Stargirl.

Just... Ugh... Not fun to read. Not fun at all.

I had to read this last year... in 11th grade. It was much more bearable when I imagined that she was just trolling the narrator and pretending to be a normal girl.

 

[XandNobody]

"Daisy Miller: A Study" by Henry James

Most pretentiously boring book, I have ever been forced by college to read.

 

[Ca3zar416]

My girlfriend tried to get me to read Twilight. It caused me physical pain.

Well actually ex-girlfriend but whatever.

 

[Lionsfan]

Never had a book so bad I couldn't finish.

I mean there's been close stuff, but mostly because of the content. For example, 3 and Out was a book I found hard to get through without wanting to crawl up in the fetal position.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

The Pearl by John Stienbeck

I had to read that dammed thing for summer one year it took me the entire summer because it was so boring that I always read around 4 pages then either passed out or threw it across the room.

 

[dancinginfernal]

I will probably catch a lot of shit for this, but Lord of the Rings.

Same here. I made it through the Hobbit, but Fellowship was ridiculous. Tolkein takes so much time describing menial stuff I don't give a damn about for 3 pages before the characters take any kind of action, and he does it all the time. I don't think it's a stupid book at all, but I can't stay with it if I fall asleep while reading it.

 

[The_Echo]

I will probably catch a lot of shit for this, but Lord of the Rings.

Similarly, I couldn't get myself past the second chapter of The Hobbit. It was so incredibly dull.

Generally, if I don't like a book, I don't finish it. Happens a lot with books for school (the only required reading I've actually liked or read in its entirety was Of Mice and Men). Books that fall under this category include, but are not limited to: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1984, works of Shakespeare and To Kill A Mockingbird, off the top of my head.

The one book that I seriously cannot stand, however, has to be A House on Mango Street. So... so bad.

 

[boyvirgo666]

I will probably catch a lot of shit for this, but Lord of the Rings.

Really? Care to explain why?

For me?

Because its pretentious and long winded. Oh and Tolkien coudnt just use common sense in battle scenes.

OT: Black boy, i barely finished the grapes of wrath.