Highly rated book you DNF

Heyassbutt, 10 months ago

I searched the annals of the books subreddit way back when and could quite literally only find one other user besides me who couldn’t stand A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I tried two separate times to read that book and just couldn’t do it. I understand the premise of crusty old guy is soft and mushy on the inside, but ffs he is SUCH a massive prick in the beginning I just could never get past it. I also read Anxious People by him and couldn’t stand it, so I think maybe this author just isn’t for me.

Super noteworthy wise I quit A Tale of Two Cities on like page 4 lol, but that was more because I didn’t understand that style of English than anything else.

JoeClu, 10 months ago

Interesting. I to almost abandoned Ove. The guy was too much of an asshole. Just over the top. But for some reason I stuck with it and finished the book.

I mean I’m a grumpy, foul mood person most of the time, but I’m not an ass about it. I’m still nice and kind to people.

Haven’t read any others by the same author.

ModernRisk, 10 months ago

Piranesi: I could not get into the book, got to around 80-90 pages in. Just was not for me probably, might retry another time though.

Quiet the power of introverts: the beginning was informative and relatable but after that it become to much historical which wasn’t for me.

Heyassbutt, 10 months ago

Just out of curiosity what was it about Piranesi you didn’t like? I’ve heard it recommended on the books subreddit so many times so I’m curious.

ModernRisk, 10 months ago

Uncertain to be honest, it’s been a while. But I remember, I just couldn’t get into the story.

Perhaps I was not in the right mood or it just wasn’t the kind of book for me. Could be the genre as well. Honestly can’t remember.

Might retry it a long while later.

For example, I prefer to read quite the emotional books such as:

• The Words We Keep
• The Midnight Library
• Before The Coffee Gets Cold (currently reading)

OceanSoap, 10 months ago

Well, I don’t feel so bad now that I’ve never finished Dune. My mom raved about that book, and I tried… I really did.

billstickers, 10 months ago

The colour of magic isn’t highly rated by anyone. Most discworld fans will tell you to skip the first two books and don’t really count them. I hope you didn’t skip discworld based on that. If your willing to give it another go, most fans suggest starting with Guards Guards! as the feel of discworld is well established by this point and the Watch sub series is a fan favourite.

There are 5 main sub series; the Witches, Death, the Watch, Industrial Revolution and Rincewind. Rincewind is the least rated. You can read them in pretty much any order but each sub series is recommended to read in the reading order:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0_(cropped).jpg#mw-jump-to-license

JoeClu, 10 months ago

I found the humor in the first several chapters of the first book to be juvenile. The kind of humor you can see coming from a kilometer away so it’s just too obvious and not really funny.

billstickers, 10 months ago

Every discworld fan will agree. The first two are terrible. They are straight parodies of the fantasy genre in the 70–80s. The rest of the series are more adult satire of real world issues and institutions and the stories have actual characterisation and pathos.

happyOutsider, 10 months ago

Huh, maybe I should give the others a go then. I read the first two last year and thought they were awful

DaleGribble88, 10 months ago

I was also bested by Dune. I never finished “To Kill a Mockingbird” in high school, and have never had any desire to pick it back up. The most embarrassing/shameful is… “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” I love the movies, and I love learning about the lore on YouTube, but I just cannot make it through that book. “The Hobbit” was such a fun and silly little story, and I loved it! Fellowship just reads like those chapters in Genesis that you tend to skip over.

nandeEbisu, 10 months ago

Infinite Jest

Dune

rsn, 10 months ago

Infinite Jest as well. I just don’t get it 🤷‍♂️ I don’t get the hype, or the humor, or the plot—I feel I’m missing something in order to ‘get’ this book.

nandeEbisu, 10 months ago

Need more byzantine erotica

LongRedCoat, 10 months ago

I just got bored with Dune once it started focusing on the Fremen for some reason. I found everything before that fascinating though.

I DNF'd Shogun around 70 pages in because I couldn't handle the repetitive and redundant dialogue, the awkwardly contrived info dumps, and the innumerable mentions of the size of the protagonist's penis.

Parable of the Sower was amazing, but too real. I couldn't handle it for more than a few pages. And

The Name of the Wind stopped being interesting once the mystery of the "modern" part turned into "let me just tell you everything over the course of the series instead of drip feeding the tantalizing the information to you during the current day portion."

PhantomAnalSnakes, 10 months ago

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

I heard so many good things about it but I could not make myself read it.

JoeClu, 10 months ago

Awe. Sorry it wasn’t for you. I enjoyed it. Very touching for me. I just checked out the follow on book from my local library. I heard it’s pretty emotional too.

What’s the most emotional book you’ve read?

Candelestine, 10 months ago

I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to finishing books generally, unless they’re just generic trashy NYT bestseller stuff.

One on my list bugging me though: Three Body Problem. I got it on audiobook, but its too dense for that format. I need a physical copy.

AmosBurton_ThatGuy, 10 months ago

I just finished the three body problem on audiobook a few days ago, it definitely would’ve been better to read a hard copy of it but I still found it to be absolutely amazing. As a huge space nerd, certain parts of that book created amazing visuals in my head that fascinate me, I’ve gone back and reread certain scenes multiple times just because they amaze me to think about.

Almost done the 2nd book and it’s a lot more boring than the first but the end picks up quite a bit at least and I hear the 3rd book is great.

JoeClu, 10 months ago

Grrr… I guess I need to work on formatting. Let’s try this again

1984 by George Orwell

Catch-22 Joseph Heller

Dune by Frank Herbert

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

LESS NOTABLE:

Black Sea Gods by Brian Braden

Mythos by Stephen Fry

Smallworld by Dominic Green

The One by John Marrs

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

sloonark, 10 months ago

I couldn’t finish Dune either. I’m sure the story is great, but the writing IMO is terrible.

bev, 10 months ago

Grrr… I guess I need to work on formatting. Let’s try this again

• 1984 by George Orwell
• Catch-22 Joseph Heller
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
• The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
• The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

LESS NOTABLE:

• Black Sea Gods by Brian Braden
• Mythos by Stephen Fry
• Smallworld by Dominic Green
• The One by John Marrs
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

You can use the markdown list feature.

- unordered list

Or

1. Ordered list

JoeClu, 10 months ago

Danke schoen.