Books that defeated you!

Wuthering Heights!!
The very first time I attempted to read it, UGH! It was in olde English and I stuttered inside my head!
I gave it a good go, but it wasn't meant to be, at least not in that form.
A couple of years later I found it in plain, up-to-date, English and thoroughly enjoyed it!

war and peace,one day........ trying to re read 'hungry ghosts' joe fisher about the dangers of spiritualism,a tough read,my question is why? im working on it!

Definitely "Wolf Hall" despite being a fan of books set in the Elizabethan era!

What an interesting thread.
I used to plough through books regardless of whether I was enjoying them or not. Until I picked up ‘Wild Swans - the first book I abandoned!
There have been many more since…

Oh, I knew straightaway someone would say Ulysses! I havre read it four or five times and it is my desert island book. I did read Lincoln in the Bardo but haven't kept it. Loved Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Have read War and Peace several times and all Dickens. Also Proust more than once. One of the few books I haven't finished is Tirant lo Blanc. Adored Wolf Hall and the sequels, saw the plays and Tv version twice. I am clearly out on a limb here on Gransnet.

I am clearly out on a limb here on Gransnet.

Nope. You're just on the wrong thread

Try the 'Favourite books' thread and you'll find some soulmates...

A La Recherche du Temps Perdu.
Not even the whole thing. Just the one part we had to study for our degree. I tried and tried and tried.
Even cheated and tried it in English.
Just gave up in the end.
Not sure how I managed to pass the exam.

Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, a school set book. The previous year it was a Great Expectations which I loved and came top of the class. The next year I came bottom. I still couldn’t tell anyone a thing about it.

I hate to give up on a book, so applying the 'life's too short' adage I speed read stuff I find hard going. A recent big disappointment was Joanne Harris's The Coastliners. She's a big favourite of mine and I thought she couldn't write a boring book, but this one left me cold. I gave myself permission to speed read the first few chapters, thinking it would get better. It didn't. Lord of the Rings is my favourite book EVER - I'm now re-reading it for the third time and the world of Middle-Earth wraps itself around me.

Quite a few books have never been finished by me, especially some book club choices. Life is really too short to carry on with books that don’t interest. But I do read a lot of books that do😊

This is why I've never joined a Book Club. Couldn't bear anyone else dictating what I should read.

It’s interesting how differently people feel about the same books. Bleak House is one of my all-time favourites but I agree Ulysses and Captain Corelli were dire. I also loved Three Men in a Boat.

Recently, what about Ordinary People? It was so highly praised, but I thought it was dreadful.

Someone sent me some extracts from ‘Spare’. The writing style is extremely irritating.

Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and John le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor Soldier Spy. Couldn’t get into either of these. Still got Ulysses and War & Peace on the shelf for when I am older and greyer.

‘The Book Thief’. I just found it boring and gave up half way through! My DD who had loved it and lent it to me was most disappointed! There are some books where you just don’t CARE about the characters, however worthy, and this unfortunately was one!

The Bible...... I thought I would read it bit by bit.....but I just couldn't.

Suninthewest, Watership Down is one of my very favourite books! (In fact, your user name sounds like a good name for a rabbit! don't be offended!)

Another one for Captain Corelli here, my husband loved it but after 3 attempts I called it a day. The Silmarillion by Tolkien was on my reading list when I started at secondary school, I loved The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings, but this one was just too difficult, I keep meaning to find a copy to see what I think about it 60 years later. Puck of Pooks Hill by Kipling was another on the same list, I hated it. The only other book I have given up on recently was A Gentleman in Moscow, so many friends recommended it but it is SO slow.

I’ve found being a member of a book club has prompted me to read some great books that I wouldn’t have picked for myself. That said, I’ve also struggled with some choices.

Couldn't get on with the book Midnight Children but loved the film. The other way round with Captain Corelli's Mandolin, I loved the book but not the film.

Totally floored by 'The Glass Bead Game'. Tried it roughly once a decade until I hit 60 then decided life was too short to try it again.

no book has ever defeated me. Its not a fight and they are inanimate objects.

OK, I'll give it another go! Have just ordered Ulysses from abebooks.

I like threads like this.

A Gentleman in Moscow. Far, far, far too much detail, jumping from idea to idea, moving from one story line to another. this gentleman must have had a very long life.

The hobbit - too much descriptive text, His Dark Materials = confused.com , 50 shades of grey - did they even hire an editor?

Ariodante
I really loved Ordinary People, but her next book Beautiful World Where are you? Was absolutely awful, really boring, horrible characters.
As for book clubs, I agree with jdotj, I don’t want to be reading other people’s choices, but I am always interested to hear what people are reading at them.

I don't usually give up on books but these I did:
Gone Girl - I couldn't care about the characters!
We Have To talk About Kevin
The Time Travellers Wife