Daniel Pennac in his Reads Like a Novel stated it as one of the rights of the readers: the right not to finish a book.
How often do you avail yourself of that right? Well, you are not on trial, don't worry! I just would like to reflect with you on the reasons which bring us to put a book down at times and how often that happens in our reading life.
Among the reasons I personally stop reading a book
- reason 1. is usually bad writing, - reason 2. I can't relate to any of the characters at all
- reason 3. I find it boring and of no interest.
The books I couldn't read to the end are less than the ones I completed, actually. Among the ones I still remember putting down after attempting reading them for a certain sense of duty, Jack Kerouac's On The Road (yeah! never finished) and Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I know, I know. They are best favourites of so many readers but I just couldn't like them nor convince myself to get to the end. There are many other books, especially in my recent reading life as a book blogger, that I couldn't finish reading. No sense of duty could prevail and help me in those cases. Do I feel guilty? No, not at all. Reading must be a pleasure to me, not a duty, even less mind torture.
Goodreads posted Top Five Most Abandoned Books. Among the recently published:
1. J.K. Rowling , The Casual Vacancy
2. E.L.James, Fifty Shades
3. Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
4. Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5. Gregory Maguire, Wicked
Among the classics: 1. Joseph Heller, Catch 22 2. J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings (incredibly enough!) 3. James Joyce, Ulysses 4. Herman Melville, Moby Dick 5. Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
What book/s didn't you make it to the end? What are the reasons why you decided to put it/them down?
Goodreads survey
