07-23-2014, 07:39 AM | #16 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,465
Karma: 192992430
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Being all done with the "formal" education portion of my life, I don't slog through books any more--for any reason. I don't dump them at the drop of a hat either, mind you, but my patience is finite.
|
07-23-2014, 07:40 AM | #17 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,095
Karma: 11315768
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: UK
Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch
|
I was surprised, when I looked back an old diary (2007), how long I had taken to read some good books. I don't read all that fast, but I do read every day, and some longer, slower-paced books were taking me an entire month to read. The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carre, and The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie both took me 30 days to read. Both long books, but both excellent, although the le Carre is pretty depressing, as usual.
Now I am actually tracking what I read, I don't think I'd allow myself to take that long. I'd just put in some extra hours somewhere and push through. (I read Abercrombie's Red Country in 9 days, and the shorter Half a King in just 3.) It's a bit of a shame, in some ways, but I think I'm also much more aware of my backlog now I've built up a huge e-library. When I was reading those big paperbacks in 2007, I had nothing else I wanted to read. Now I have a three-figure number of books I want to read, and a four-figure number of books I could read. In the case of non-fiction, though, if something was bogging down like that, and I really wanted to finish it, I think I'd just start reading other books to break it up. I don't tend to be so bothered about reading non-fiction in a single continuous stream. It kind of depends on the structure of the book; how much it forms a single narrative. There are some books I've been working on for years. I just pick them up every now and again and read a bit. Edit: Just realised it was CJ Cherryh's Destroyer that took 30 days, not The Blade Itself, which was a mere 14 days. I can't read my own spreadsheet. Last edited by DrNefario; 07-23-2014 at 07:43 AM. |
07-23-2014, 07:41 AM | #18 |
Zealot
Posts: 138
Karma: 3651501
Join Date: Dec 2013
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Gray Kindle Basic
|
It often takes me many months or years to read some books.
I do not drop books that aren't immediately gratifying because I like to challenge myself. Difficult material expands my mind and opens up even more avenues. Dropping books that are a "slog" is doing your own growth a disservice. |
07-23-2014, 08:15 AM | #19 | |
cacoethes scribendi
Posts: 5,809
Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
|
Quote:
On the other hand, as hardcastle says, some books are worth the trouble, just that - for me - Moby Dick wasn't one of them. |
|
07-23-2014, 10:31 AM | #20 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,747
Karma: 3761220
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Pennsylvania
Device: T1 Red, Kindle Fire, Kindle PW, PW2, Nook HD+, Kobo Mini, Aura HD
|
Quote:
|
|
07-23-2014, 11:54 AM | #21 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,465
Karma: 192992430
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
|
07-23-2014, 11:56 AM | #22 |
Zealot
Posts: 138
Karma: 3651501
Join Date: Dec 2013
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Gray Kindle Basic
|
|
07-23-2014, 11:59 AM | #23 | ||
Guru
Posts: 614
Karma: 8064562
Join Date: Aug 2009
Device: Sony PRS-505, Kindle 3 KB, iPad2
|
Quote:
Quote:
With Lord Foul's Bane, I kept thinking "surely this will get better" and it didn't. For me, I mostly read for entertainment. I'm rarely reading for information or education. So, the book has to entertain. When the story is simply moving slowly, I do give myself 100 pages or so to get engaged. But if I run into objectionable content, I've given myself permission to bail out right away. |
||
07-23-2014, 12:07 PM | #24 |
Guru
Posts: 923
Karma: 9558874
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Southeast Michigan, USA
Device: 2017 10.5" iPad Pro (Kobo, NOOK, Kindle, Google Play Books & Scribd)
|
I always have multiple books going at the same time, so if one book is particularly long or slow or dragging, I still have other easier and more enjoyable books that I finish in the meantime. It does take me longer to finish any one of them than it would if I was reading one book exclusively, but it also means that I don't feel like I'm using up all of my reading time on it.
(I'm currently working my way through a selection of The Classics just to have experienced them at least once. Some go easier and I will reread them again someday while others I am just glad to have behind me. There have not been any that I wish I had not read.) |
07-23-2014, 12:28 PM | #25 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,465
Karma: 192992430
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
I have a confession: I sort of knew what you meant. I just don't subscribe to the idea that growth can only be achieved through books that bore me to tears.
Last edited by DiapDealer; 07-23-2014 at 06:59 PM. |
07-23-2014, 12:29 PM | #26 |
Groupie
Posts: 152
Karma: 1170000
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: USA
Device: Kindle PW2, Galaxy Tab Pro
|
I'm completely in favor of dropping a book once you find you're forcing yourself to continue reading it. I'll stick with it for a while to see if it improves, but if it doesn't then I just quit. I read for enjoyment and entertainment, so if I'm not getting that from a book, why continue? I have to spend too much time as it is doing things I don't enjoy, reading shouldn't be unpleasant as well. If your purpose in reading is something else, by all means force yourself through it, but if you read for fun, then I say drop the book. Life is too short, and there are too many books to read.
|
07-23-2014, 01:52 PM | #27 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,230
Karma: 7145404
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Southern California
Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+
|
Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" was a bit like this for me. I liked it but there were short sections that took me days to get past. It was dense with information and logic that was worth working through, to me. I don't recall how long it took me to finish the entire book but it might have been six months, alternately reading other lighter books.
|
07-23-2014, 02:31 PM | #28 |
Addict
Posts: 278
Karma: 2511467
Join Date: Feb 2012
Device: ABC W p2
|
I've read a book outside my comfort zone, a long novel by one of those japanese writers, for several weeks, piece by piece. I wanted to finish for reasons external to the book.
|
07-23-2014, 02:41 PM | #29 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,738
Karma: 12435772
Join Date: Nov 2010
Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro
|
Quote:
I suspect that he didn't finish it either as he used to carry around lots of really intellectual looking books, in fact he'd carry them 10 meters from his desk to the conference room for every meeting, and then carry them back to his desk -- as if he was anxious for a free moment to read them -- but the bookmarks were never more than 5% of the way into the books. We all used to laugh about that, but never said anything to him. |
|
07-23-2014, 02:59 PM | #30 | |
Tabby
Posts: 154
Karma: 225372
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Portland, OR, US
Device: Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Mini, Lenovo Yoga 2 10"
|
Quote:
If the writing style in a book is truly atrocious, or I don't like the characters (or don't love to hate the characters), I will set a book down and be fine with not finishing it. Thankfully with plenty of avenues to read reviews, the likelihood of finding a book like that is diminished compared to pre-internet days. It's been quite a while since I wound up with a book that I just couldn't finish. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Touch I finally did it | estelle58 | Kobo Reader | 0 | 07-20-2012 10:19 AM |
Finally got my DX | rcuadro | Amazon Kindle | 12 | 06-06-2010 05:45 PM |
FINALLY!! | desertgrandma | Kindle Developer's Corner | 5 | 10-16-2008 02:01 PM |
finally got it.... | Icarusflis | Which one should I buy? | 8 | 10-09-2008 01:55 AM |