Bridget’s post about One Hundred Years of Solitude made me think about all the books that people I respect have read and loved and that I tried to read, but never finished.
In no particular order:
- One Hundred Years of Solitude: I swear I have started this book a dozen times and enjoy it, but once I get to a certain part (don’t ask me which, I don’t remember) I put it down and don’t pick it back up.
- A Prayer for Owen Meany: I love, love, love John Irving’s books, but, while I tried this a couple times, I couldn’t get past the first couple chapters.
- The Bible: Yes, I have tried to read The Bible a number of times but never got past the part where Moses keeps having to go up the mountain, then back down, then up again, then back down.
- Wolf Hall: I really like the historical setting but the book dragged for me.
I am sure there are more.
Cedar Waxwing's 365 
I honestly can’t remember if it was 100 Years of Solitude I couldn’t get into (but think I finished) or maybe Love in the Time of Cholera. A Prayer for Owen Meany and Ciderhouse Rules were my favorite Irving books before I stopped reading him.
Oh dear. What did John do to make you stop reading him. No, wait. Don’t tell me. lalalalala can’t hear you….
Ha, I had the same reaction!
Oh no. I loved 100 Years of Solitude AND Love in the Time of Cholera, and A Prayer for Owen Meany is on my list to write about later this month.
Though a few years ago, I blogged about my abandoned book pile, and Mrs S (remember him?) commented with disgust on my inclusion of James Meeks’ The People’s Act of Love. And you’ll see in the photo there’s a John Irving book lying unfinished. https://aseparatelife.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/to-read-or-not-to-read/
I have many books like this. I couldn’t get past the first few pages of American Gods that seemed to be everyone’s favorite…
I agree with you on American Gods
I always have a couple of books lying on my nightstand that resist me getting past a few pages. I leave them there in hope that after a time, I’ll pick them up and be miraculously able to get through them. There’s a book by Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, sitting there right now, impenetrable to my best attempts.
I read that one – the Michael Chabon novel – (and quite liked it), but I have another of his that firmly belongs in the Abandoned Book category. An awful, just awful male character. I stopped it when I predicted sexual dalliances with a young girl that were signalled a mile off! (I didn’t even keep reading to see if I was right. I was. I am sure.)
I borrowed that book, kept it for at least a year, then returned it out of guilt. Never started it.
Dona, Helen, I think I stopped reading Irving after I read something that didn’t grab me, but I don’t know what it is. I have a signed copy of a novel of his I haven’t read yet. He lived in a neighboring town for years and had quite the reputation around here for being snobby and reclusive. I wouldn’t know, as I didn’t see him, expect when he gave a reading or that time he introduced Margaret Atwood. Used to see his wife about town.
I love this as a premise for a future post.