Another book quitting question

[charlatti]

If you don't or rarely quit books, why not? What keeps you reading when you're not enjoying something?

This has always fascinated me, because I've never felt compelled to finish a bad book unless I actually want to know how it turns out. I do understand the money argument Dorothy mentioned in the other thread, but since I get my books almost exclusively from the library, I don't have that issue. Why guilt about it? Do you feel you owe yourself? The author?

[mollymoe]

I really don't know why I do this. Sometimes I keep reading because I do want to know what happens. Other times I keep reading because the book got really good reviews so it must get good soon and by then, I feel like I invested so much time already, I might as well finish it!

[rootbeerfloat]

I need closure, lol. I suppose I could just skip to the end or read a review, but I don't for some reason. It has nothing to do with guilt or the author.

[aurora]

Apr 11, 2013 14:22:06 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

I need closure, lol. I suppose I could just skip to the end or read a review, but I don't for some reason. It has nothing to do with guilt or the author.

This is me, too.  I always want to know what happens and if it gets better.

Also, I figure maybe the people who recommended the book know something I don't. 

[writingwithheld]

I mostly read classics, so even if I don't like it I think that I am going to have to read it someday so I might as well finish. I want to have as much knowledge of a wide array of literature since I am in the literature field. There are often times conversations about books that "everybody" has read, but I haven't. If it is just some random book that doesn't have historical or cultural significance I don't necessarily finish it if I don't like it.

[duckduck]

For the same reason I don't move south to get away from the miserable weather here. It would be giving up and admitting that I didn't have the fortitude to see it through. I WILL PREVAIL! I will suffer, but I will endure to the end!

Also, I was raised Calvinist and still can't completely shake the feeling that misery is somehow inherently virtuous. I know it makes no sense.

[dorothyinAus]

Aside from hating to waste money, as I mentioned in the other thread, I really just hate to give up on anything, especially if I have invested so much time in it.  For the last book I gave up on, I spent three weeks trying to get into the first three chapters.  While I gave up on the book, I kept it, so if I want to at some point I can go back and finish it.  That point hasn't come yet.  

Basically, it's just stubbornness that compels me to finish the books I start.

[Deleted]

I rarely quit books. I like to give them a fair chance and by the time I have read enough to know that I am 100% not impressed I am to committed to be able to quit without feeling like I wasted all that time.

[christy082]

Because I keep track of how many I read (towards a goal each year) and refuse to have wasted time starting one and not finishing it (and therefore not counting towards my goal).  I guess if something was just horrendous I would quit reading it.  But I can't think of anything I didnt' finish. 

[booknerd]

I've only ever quit one or two books ever, if that. I just want to know what happens. Even if I don't care anymore about the book, I have to know what happens. And I don't really think it's fair to say that I hate a book if I didn't read it all.

[dorothyinAus]

Apr 13, 2013 22:47:30 GMT -5 booknerd said:

I've only ever quit one or two books ever, if that. I just want to know what happens. Even if I don't care anymore about the book, I have to know what happens. And I don't really think it's fair to say that I hate a book if I didn't read it all.

My mother contends that to actively hate a book you have to have read it as well.  That's why she says my hatred of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is unfounded.  I read only the first twenty pages and the last ten.  On the other hand, I was required by three separate classes to read Frankenstein.  And I actually read it twice.  I hated it both times.  I'm sure one of those times has to count for Portrait.  

[IIOY]

My mother says life is too short to waste on bad books, and I've gotten better at coming around to that philosophy. I try to get most of my books from the library so that I don't let the cost drive me to finish it. I also finally have learned from my Gone Girl experience that just because a book gets a lot of publicity and raves doesn't mean it isn't a piece of garbage. I will never again feel funny about skipping over a popular book because apparently the general public has pretty low standards.

[whitepicketfence]

Apr 11, 2013 14:22:06 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

I need closure, lol. I suppose I could just skip to the end or read a review, but I don't for some reason. It has nothing to do with guilt or the author.

This is me, too.

I can count on one hand the number of books I've given up on. I hate not knowing what happens at the end, even if I'm not generally enjoying the book.

[booknerd]

Apr 13, 2013 23:47:11 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Apr 13, 2013 22:47:30 GMT -5 booknerd said:

I've only ever quit one or two books ever, if that. I just want to know what happens. Even if I don't care anymore about the book, I have to know what happens. And I don't really think it's fair to say that I hate a book if I didn't read it all.

My mother contends that to actively hate a book you have to have read it as well.  That's why she says my hatred of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is unfounded.  I read only the first twenty pages and the last ten.  On the other hand, I was required by three separate classes to read Frankenstein.  And I actually read it twice.  I hated it both times.  I'm sure one of those times has to count for Portrait.  

Lol I'll agree with you. I think I'm also worried about the money I spent on the book. Even though I feel like I'm wasting my time reading a bad book, it's not as bad as having wasted the money by not reading it.