Do you keep reading....

strawhatbrat · 11-29-2010, 12:33 AM

if the first chapter is boring? I am reading "The Help" and I feel as though I should like it, (everyone else did!) but I am just bored so far.

Do I keep going and give it a chance?

What do you do if you're bored at the beginning of a book?

pwarren · 11-29-2010, 12:46 AM

I try to persevere to halfway, and if it's still annoying me, I'll sell/give away the book. I've only had two so far, that I didn't go on to finish.

Focaults Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer

Tho I've not tried War and Peace yet...

SeaBookGuy · 11-29-2010, 01:05 AM

If I've paid for the book, I stick with it longer. Library books I have been known to give up on fairly early on if I'm not getting into them.

idraw22 · 11-29-2010, 01:23 AM

I finished Twilight, I had gotten to the middle and found I couldn't take the suffering anymore, they weren't classic vampires, (in the usual sense) so I wanted to quit, a friend told me I was so near the end, and to just finish. Sigh, so I did... but I gave it away after!

petermillard · 11-29-2010, 01:28 AM

Always used to persevere and finish the book regardless; as I got older I became less inclined to do so and now will cheerfully dump any book that doesn't keep my attention or is pleasant to read. There are plenty of other books to be read, and life's far too short to waste time on ones that I have to fight my way through.

gmw · 11-29-2010, 01:33 AM

I have that wonderfully helpful answer... it depends.

Sometimes I know it's a mood thing (there are a few books from when I first gave up smoking that I really must give a second chance). I think the very best books, like the very best movies, make their own mood ... but lesser works, works by mere mortals, have to rely on finding their readers/viewers in a receptive mood. If you think it's mood, put it down for now (before you get a really bad feeling for it) and come back another time. But I would not do that twice, if it can't get me on the second attempt it's got serious problems.

The other thing it depends on is expectation. A thriller, a mystery and even most fantasy, must get me in pretty quickly. If not with excitement then at least with some interest or intrigue. In the case of other books, particularly historical fiction, I find that I often have to give them more time. With historical fiction it sometimes takes a while for my brain to switch modes, but once that happens I find that suddenly the prose begins to read more smoothly and the whole tale begins to take on life and feeling.

NightLight · 11-29-2010, 01:38 AM

I usually put the book at the bottom of my TBR pile.
Sometimes it's just a matter of not being in the right moment or right frame of mind.
I generally give a book at least a second try.
I have about 40 books that are due a second chance at this moment.
I find that about 25% prove to be worth the wait.

Belfaborac · 11-29-2010, 03:59 AM

I'm with NightLight. I often start a book only to find I'm really not in the mood for that kind of story, that kind of writing, or whatever else. When it happens I put it away and return to it at some later date, be it a week, a month or for that sake several years down the line. In my case approx. 100% prove to be worth the wait - I can only recall ever having given up on two books.

stargazertony · 11-29-2010, 07:00 AM

Absolutely not. The author has about 10 to 15 pages to hook me. If they don't have that kind of skill, I move on.

James_Wilde · 11-29-2010, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawhatbrat

if the first chapter is boring?

Do I keep going and give it a chance?

What do you do if you're bored at the beginning of a book?

I always have a feeling that, having begun I should go on. It's got hold of me now. I'm reading Ken Follett's "World Without End". His characters are paper-thin and black or white with no nuances of grey, and at every stage you get the feeling that he's reading the manual from "Writing a Novel 101" and you just know that there will be at least one if not two dei ex machina to either sink his hero deeper in the mire, or suddenly save a hopeless situation. This worked okay in his earlier, war books, but is doomed in what is intended to be a literary work like this one. Funnily enough I don't remember this problem, at least not to the same extent, with the earlier book in this series, although, thinking back, I realise it was there.

The trouble is his research appears to be good, and the descriptions of 14th century England, in between the thin, thin story line, are good enough to make one keep going despite the sighs of "here we go again" every time he gets back to the "plot".

tubemonkey · 11-29-2010, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawhatbrat

What do you do if you're bored at the beginning of a book?

I quit reading and get another book. No point wasting time on boring drivel.

Kevin2960 · 11-29-2010, 08:00 AM

I NORMALLY keep reading, I try at least, but I have no found 7 books I just couldn't wade through .... Shame really .. I hate giving up !

AGB · 11-29-2010, 08:03 AM

I only continue if it's non-fiction and I feel like want the knowledge there.
With fiction I just drop reading it, and after a while I will get to the point where I will delete it (or back in the day with printed versions: Toss them out - which also happened to be what I did with most books I had read).

Right now I'm reading One Shot by Lee Child. To be honest, I'm having a hard time getting through the last fifty pages. It has taken me almost as long to read twenty pages of those last pages as it took me to read the preceding 220. It has become tedious, as if he doesn't know how to up the tempo.
I am probably going to finish it, but damn that annoys me.

rhadin · 11-29-2010, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGB

I only continue if it's non-fiction and I feel like want the knowledge there. With fiction I just drop reading it, and after a while I will get to the point where I will delete it . . .

Exactly my approach.

Lemurion · 11-29-2010, 08:32 AM

With me, it's usually one of two things: either I don't want to keep reading this book, or I want to read something else more.

If it's the former, I drop it. If it's simply not holding my interest at the moment I may pick it up again, but I may not. If I actively dislike it, I stop reading it, won't pick it up again, and am unlikely to even try anything else by the same writer unless it comes highly recommended by someone I respect.

I'll stick with non-fiction until I get the info I was looking for.

11-29-2010, 12:33 AM	#1
strawhatbrat Member Posts: 10 Karma: 12 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: nook and kindle	Do you keep reading.... if the first chapter is boring? I am reading "The Help" and I feel as though I should like it, (everyone else did!) but I am just bored so far. Do I keep going and give it a chance? What do you do if you're bored at the beginning of a book?

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11-29-2010, 12:46 AM	#2
pwarren Connoisseur Posts: 95 Karma: 186186 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Canberra, Australia Device: Irex Iliad (Dead), EcoReader (Smashed screen), Kobo Touch	I try to persevere to halfway, and if it's still annoying me, I'll sell/give away the book. I've only had two so far, that I didn't go on to finish. Focaults Pendulum by Umberto Eco Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer Tho I've not tried War and Peace yet...

11-29-2010, 01:05 AM	#3
SeaBookGuy Can one read too much? Posts: 2,015 Karma: 2487799 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Naples, FL Device: Kindle PW 3, Sony 350 and 650	If I've paid for the book, I stick with it longer. Library books I have been known to give up on fairly early on if I'm not getting into them.

11-29-2010, 01:23 AM	#4
idraw22 Zealot Posts: 115 Karma: 1094380 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: arkansas Device: Jetbook Lite, Kindle 3, jetbook mini, sony clie, sony prs-T1	I finished Twilight, I had gotten to the middle and found I couldn't take the suffering anymore, they weren't classic vampires, (in the usual sense) so I wanted to quit, a friend told me I was so near the end, and to just finish. Sigh, so I did... but I gave it away after!

11-29-2010, 01:28 AM	#5
petermillard Evangelist Posts: 496 Karma: 2384998 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: London, UK Device: iPad, iPhone, K3 & Amazon - between them they cover my needs.	Always used to persevere and finish the book regardless; as I got older I became less inclined to do so and now will cheerfully dump any book that doesn't keep my attention or is pleasant to read. There are plenty of other books to be read, and life's far too short to waste time on ones that I have to fight my way through.

11-29-2010, 01:33 AM	#6
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,809 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	I have that wonderfully helpful answer... it depends. Sometimes I know it's a mood thing (there are a few books from when I first gave up smoking that I really must give a second chance). I think the very best books, like the very best movies, make their own mood ... but lesser works, works by mere mortals, have to rely on finding their readers/viewers in a receptive mood. If you think it's mood, put it down for now (before you get a really bad feeling for it) and come back another time. But I would not do that twice, if it can't get me on the second attempt it's got serious problems. The other thing it depends on is expectation. A thriller, a mystery and even most fantasy, must get me in pretty quickly. If not with excitement then at least with some interest or intrigue. In the case of other books, particularly historical fiction, I find that I often have to give them more time. With historical fiction it sometimes takes a while for my brain to switch modes, but once that happens I find that suddenly the prose begins to read more smoothly and the whole tale begins to take on life and feeling.

11-29-2010, 01:38 AM	#7
NightLight Banned Posts: 22 Karma: 330 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Greenpoint, New York Device: Kindle3	I usually put the book at the bottom of my TBR pile. Sometimes it's just a matter of not being in the right moment or right frame of mind. I generally give a book at least a second try. I have about 40 books that are due a second chance at this moment. I find that about 25% prove to be worth the wait.

11-29-2010, 03:59 AM	#8
Belfaborac Wizard Posts: 1,498 Karma: 5199835 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Norway Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-950	I'm with NightLight. I often start a book only to find I'm really not in the mood for that kind of story, that kind of writing, or whatever else. When it happens I put it away and return to it at some later date, be it a week, a month or for that sake several years down the line. In my case approx. 100% prove to be worth the wait - I can only recall ever having given up on two books.

11-29-2010, 07:00 AM	#9
stargazertony Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 906 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: SouthWest Pensylvania Device: Kindle 3, iPod Touch, Pre-electronic devices	Absolutely not. The author has about 10 to 15 pages to hook me. If they don't have that kind of skill, I move on.

11-29-2010, 08:00 AM	#12
Kevin2960 YODA's Uglier Twin Posts: 974 Karma: 6295251 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Leicester, UK Device: PRS-600 and 2 Kindle 3's - and now a K4 + HTC Desire HD	I NORMALLY keep reading, I try at least, but I have no found 7 books I just couldn't wade through .... Shame really .. I hate giving up !

11-29-2010, 08:03 AM	#13
AGB Headbutting stupidity Posts: 1,703 Karma: 2526196 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Greater Cph Device: PRS650	I only continue if it's non-fiction and I feel like want the knowledge there. With fiction I just drop reading it, and after a while I will get to the point where I will delete it (or back in the day with printed versions: Toss them out - which also happened to be what I did with most books I had read). Right now I'm reading One Shot by Lee Child. To be honest, I'm having a hard time getting through the last fifty pages. It has taken me almost as long to read twenty pages of those last pages as it took me to read the preceding 220. It has become tedious, as if he doesn't know how to up the tempo. I am probably going to finish it, but damn that annoys me.

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11-29-2010, 08:32 AM	#15
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	With me, it's usually one of two things: either I don't want to keep reading this book, or I want to read something else more. If it's the former, I drop it. If it's simply not holding my interest at the moment I may pick it up again, but I may not. If I actively dislike it, I stop reading it, won't pick it up again, and am unlikely to even try anything else by the same writer unless it comes highly recommended by someone I respect. I'll stick with non-fiction until I get the info I was looking for.