Books that defeated you!

gillyknits

I always try and finish every book that I start but just couldn’t cope with Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantell.

Wolf Hall for me too gillyknits. It seemed to me to be one long boring sentence and I had no idea which character was narrating and when.

I loved Wolf Hall
I liked the style it was written in, and I fell a little in love with Thomas Cromwell.

Sara1954

I loved Wolf Hall
I liked the style it was written in, and I fell a little in love with Thomas Cromwell.

I enjoyed Wolf Hall too. I studied Thomas Cromwell and he seemed quite benign in the series but I don't think he was really.

I once gave up on an author…Sir Walter Scott. At 16, I was studying the works of H G Wells for my English literature exam. I loved his works! Then, we were suddenly moved to West Lothian (Dad was in the army) and I found I had to study one of Sir W’s tomes. Heavy going! I must have been traumatised because over 50 years passed before I thought of him again.
I was reminded of him on a trip to Scotland. I thought suddenly that if I could read and enjoy Dickens, what was so bad about Scott? So I did take him up again….not difficult and I have enjoyed several of his novels and his biography of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Incidentally, I have a Kindle and knew I could get one of his books free as he was out of copywrite so no money wasted if I still loathed him. However, by parting with a mere £2, I found I could buy his entire works-novels, short stories, essays etc. I love a bargain like that! It will probably all take till my centenary. Though the short stories I have tried are fairly incomprehensible being in Scots.
I mentioned ‘The Corrections’ upthread…perhaps if I leave that for 50 years, I will finally come to similarly enjoy that….

The Satanic Verses. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but I just couldn’t engage with it.

AGAA4
I think you’re right, but I thought Hillary Mantel wrote sympathetically about him, maybe she loved him a little bit as well.
He got his comeuppance in the end though, inevitable really.

Sara1954

Doodledog
I don’t remember finding the beginning of ‘Kevin’ to be too difficult to get into, it’s a book that shocks and horrifies, but the worst thing is that you can see how in a country with few gun laws, this could too easily happen.

I can't remember what it was about the beginning that I disliked, but I really didn't like it the first time round. It would have been a shame if I hadn't persevered though, as it was so well-written.

I enjoyed the film too, but it had nowhere near the nuance of the book - it couldn't I suppose, as decisions would have to be made as to how to represent things that were ambiguous in the book, and the film had to come down on one side or the other.

We need to talk about Kevin is one of my top ten books. Very disturbing but unforgettable.

Doodledog
I raved so much about the book, that I bought the DVD and got everyone to watch it, it definitely lost a lot of the feeling of the book, I don’t remember anyone particularly enjoying it.

I loved We need to talk about Kevin, and The Goldfinch although it was very odd.

Have read and enjoyed the first 2 Wolf Hall books, have got third lined up on the bookshelf, and also thoroughly enjoyed everyone of the Richard Osman books!

Sara1954

I loved Wolf Hall
I liked the style it was written in, and I fell a little in love with Thomas Cromwell.

Me too Sara1954. Hilary M made him human, and I love her writing style.

Sparklefizz
I agree, she brings it all to life, you can almost hear her characters talking

Sara1954

Sparklefizz
I agree, she brings it all to life, you can almost hear her characters talking

Did you watch Wolf Hall on tv? I thought the production was wonderful and watched it a 2nd time on iPlayer.

Dr Zhivago, started it in the late 1960s, got fed up and confused by all the Russian names and characters, and never finished it. Enjoyed the film though.

Sparklefizz
Yes I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I think I might watch it again if I can find it.

These are the two most recent fails for me, despite friends and family raving about them both:

Amor Towles - A Gentleman in Moscow
Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life

A Little Life is in my queue

Oh Grandyma A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara defeated me recently. My DD recommended it is one of my all time favourites. Read it years ago and at 700 pages I was bereft when it finished. I felt as though I’d lost a friendship group.
😱

I hated The Thursday Murder Club but finished it as a friend had bought it for me one Christmas. What a turkey!

I never finish any book otherwise if I’m not enjoying it. Life’s to short to read (to me) rubbish books or drink mediocre wine. I’ve ditched a few novels in my time. I remember being on holiday once and seeing a lady by the swimming pool. Open her beach bag and start to read a novel I’d recently given up on and thinking ‘oh poor you!’.

I'm another who couldn't get through "Midnight's Children". I loved Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies but listened to the Mirror and the Light when it was serialised on radio 4. Loved Catch 22, it makes me laugh out loud. I also couldn't finish Shadow of the Wind. Absolutely adored The Secret History but couldn't get into Tartt's, The Goldfinch and I ditched Piranesi by Susan Clarke two thirds of the way through because it just got very tedious.

Foxie
I am in general agreement with you.
Midnights Children, awful
Wolf Hall, brilliant
Secret History, masterpiece
The Goldfinch, disappointing
Catch 22, just awful, couldn’t finish it.

NotsSpaghetti
I really loved A Little Life
Give it a go

Not Wolf Hall-I didn’t like the style and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was another no, though I did try several times.
I read Dr Zhivago way back, but I couldn’t reread it. Can’t do with Richard Osman books at all, even on Audible.

Sorry everyone. Just reread the initial post. I replied I was was defeated by Some other Rainbow and a Brief History of Time - not novels! Lord of the Rings falls into the correct category and I gave up on that. Fifty Shades of Grey (thought I should after all the hype!) just bored me very quickly and I gave up.

Hilary Mantel ‘ A Place of Greater safety’
C Dickens ‘ Barnaby Rudge’.

I’m often defeated by books. If I’m not ‘in it’ by the end of the first chapter I usually give up. I hate giving up but with so many good books to read life’s too short to waste it struggling. I also think whether you like a book is a really personal thing.