Have you ever found a book to be good, but too disturbing to continue?

[calvin-c]

My problem isn't horror but depression. Basically I think most books of interest say something about people-and sometimes that 'something' is very depressing. I prefer not to continue reading something that depresses me unless it's really important-like current news. (Not that all of that is important but some, like the reason terrorism is on the rise, is.)

[wawasteele]

Originally Posted by BadBilly

Which would seem to support what I'd said earlier about the blurbs revealing far too much about the book.

Yes, I guess it does.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

I was reading another thread about reading things we don't agree with, and it struck me: The only time I can remember stopping a book because its premise was too disturbing was when I read How Few Remain. I find it odd, because I'm sure I could read a book set after the South won the Civil War, but something about watching the South win just struck me the wrong way.

Have you read any book where the premise or some event in the book made it too disturbing for you to continue with it?

I managed to finish it, but I had to read it in short sessions. Somewhat disturbing, but a fantastic read, nonetheless.

[xg4bx]

Nope, I'm a veteran of ''extreme'' horror which would grossly offend most sensibilities. I moved away from that genre though for mental health reasons lol. Nothing serious but a steady diet of that material does begin to take its toll.

[idraw22]

Yes. The Mockingjay. And I love horror... but dystopian-- you never know which way it's gonna go. hoo nose...

[faithbw]

I'm reading a nonfiction book like that at the moment. I'm interested in the subject matter but I admit it also scares me. It's not a long book but man the subject matter is very dystopian.

[Grace Elliot]

I started reading Shogun but had to stop when they started boiling people alive.

[dmacmart]

Originally Posted by Antoinekamel

When I read the of how Let's go play at the Adams' would end, the remaining half was disturbing, but I went to the final. As Pablo said about another book, extremely disturbing. I would not recommend it to anybody.

This is one of the most disturbing books I've ever read. I was in first or second year university. I did finish it but threw it out afterwards. I'd forgotten its title, but just looked it up and it's the same book.

[voracious71]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Black Sunday by Thomas Harris --

Spoiler:

after the protagonist put a live kitten down the kitchen sink disposal

I had to stop ... and never went back

Although in Hannibal

Spoiler:

dining off the brains of a live dinner partner

didn't bother me as much ....

I've read Hannibal and yes, I would be bothered more by what happens in Black Sunday...Anything where kids get hurt bothers me too.

[shanghaichica]

Yes. I read this Japanese book, can't remember the name off head I'll have to dig it out of my Amazon order list. It was about a teenage girl who was adopted. She found her biological dad and then decided that she wanted to sleep with him and she did. I stopped reading after that.

[leanansidhe]

2 books for me.

Liseys Story by Stephen King - child abuse

The Devils Punchbowl by Greg Iles - extreme abuse of a woman

I finished The Devils Punchbowl but I had to skip through it. It was too much.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by shanghaichica

Yes. I read this Japanese book, can't remember the name off head I'll have to dig it out of my Amazon order list. It was about a teenage girl who was adopted. She found her biological dad and then decided that she wanted to sleep with him and she did. I stopped reading after that.

For me, it would depend entirely on how the story was done -- whether, for example, the writer conveyed the irony of the idea that a teenaged daughter "wanted" to sleep with her father "and so she did" -- as if the father weren't responsible. Lolita tells a similar story and part of the point is for the reader to be disturbed by the dissonance between what's actually happening and the way the main character perceives and rationalizes it.

I might have stopped reading the book as well, but only because the author's insensitivity annoyed me, not because I found it too disturbing. I've often stopped reading John Updike for that reason. I have the same reaction to Updike that David Foster Wallace not only had but chronicled in his hilarious review of Updike's late science fiction novel, Toward the End of Time.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by re-kindled

I actually did put the book down for half an hour, at the end of the chapter, to wash my hands...

Spoiler:

All the way expecting that blood would explode from the kitchen sink...

Ah, IT. One of the best fairy tales ever written.