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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Sat March 28th, 2009, 4:24 pm

[quote=""wealcere""]I've just put a book down after not completing it and I always feel that if I don't get at least to halfway, then I've not given it a fair chance. I almost feel as though I've let the Author down, reneged on a deal even, by starting the book and then not finishing it.
I was just wondering how far do other people go and if they get the same feeling?[/quote]

Life's too short - especially as you get older. I just accept that some authors are not for me. I read as far as it takes me to decide that I've had enough. In one case the other week it was 25 pages - and that was being generous! I thought it might improve, but it got worse. Other times I might get to half way and then think 'Why on earth am I reading this?' Generally I can move on without too much soul searching, I admit...
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Tanzanite
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Post by Tanzanite » Sat March 28th, 2009, 4:35 pm

I'll usually give it 50-75 pages, although I did read 3/4 of Rutherford's Dublin (the book was almost 800 pages) before I finally gave it up. I completely lost interest in the story and the characters and didn't care to find out what happened to them. That seemed like a good reason to quit.

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wealcere
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Location: Wales, UK

Post by wealcere » Sat March 28th, 2009, 10:15 pm

How come you find Pillars so difficult Misfit? I really enjoyed it, I don't think I'd read any other of Ken Folletts books, that's not a reflection on the author, just not the right genre.
I agree with you Leo on some of your books, it was The Historian that made me start this thread, I didn't finish it. Unlike you though, I finished Birdsong and still didn't enjoy it, yet when I mention this book to others, they rave about it.
I was given a copy of 'A Time of Gifts', Patrick Leigh Fermor, his descriptive powers are brilliant but I think it was a Mozart moment.....too many notes (words), I didn't finish this one either.
Cyanide in my Shoe, Josephine Butler, another that fell by the way-side.
I did struggle through Thomas Becket by Frank Barlow, after reading Pillars funnily enough, more a book for the scholar than lay reader me thinks.

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wealcere
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Post by wealcere » Sat March 28th, 2009, 10:30 pm

Don't answer my last, Misfit, just read your review on 'By Authors Last Name' thread, that pretty much sums it up. Sombody else did say to me when I mentioned this book, 'oh is he the guy who's gone too far on the gratuitous sex' and they hadn't read the Pillars.

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Sat March 28th, 2009, 10:33 pm

[quote=""wealcere""]How come you find Pillars so difficult Misfit? I really enjoyed it, I don't think I'd read any other of Ken Folletts books, that's not a reflection on the author, just not the right genre.
[/quote]

Wealcere, I didn't finish the Historian either - got half way through on that one.
I'm with Misfit on Pillars.
From my perspective, it's a pacy, page turning read if you stay on the surface and I can see why so many people like it. But: If you go underneath that surface, then virtually none of the history stands up well to scrutiny.Detail, mindset, scenario, all are deeply flawed. Most of it could never have happened in the real twelfth century, and some of the sex/violence is a bit disturbing, although that's a personal thing for each reader and not everyone will be affected the same.
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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diamondlil
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Post by diamondlil » Sat March 28th, 2009, 10:45 pm

I still struggle through most of the time. Every now and again I get a book that I just can't read, but I really feel bad when I don't and will try to read some more of it before i put it down for good.
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There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Edith Wharton

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wealcere
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Post by wealcere » Sat March 28th, 2009, 10:50 pm

I agree wholeheartedly, EC. I managed to see a glimpse, only a few second really of the new series of Robin tonight. I'd put pillars in that kind of realm, modern day acters, speaking modern day speak and acting like modern day actors, it just didn't happen like that, as you well know, but it makes entertainment, not for me though, I flicked over to Schama

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wealcere
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Post by wealcere » Sat March 28th, 2009, 10:53 pm

[quote=""diamondlil""]I still struggle through most of the time. Every now and again I get a book that I just can't read, but I really feel bad when I don't and will try to read some more of it before i put it down for good.[/quote]

That's me, I feel as though I've personally failed in some way, I do feel better after reading everyones response on hear though.
I'll glady return 'The Historian' to it's owner.

Ash
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Post by Ash » Sun March 29th, 2009, 3:45 am

I bail at 50 pages, if I am so unengaged that I almost sigh in relief when I put the book down. Like others, I have given books a second chance such as Cloud Atlas, Life of Pi, and Birds without Wings, books that I consider among my favorite reads. But sometimes its not the mood or the timing; its just a bad book, and I don't want to waste my time with them. The only time I ever read a bad book to the end was for a class; haven't done it since, even for a reading group (tho I will try to endure for a chapter or two more)

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Sun March 29th, 2009, 3:53 am

I liked Birds without wings too, although the jerky meandering style at times made me want to throttle the author. But the charm of the setting and the quirky characters kept me coming back.

I loved the Life of Pi for its realism regarding the animal's interactions -- including the human animal. Also what he said about how animals regard their space in a zoo struck me as so right -- from a trainer's perspective -- that the writer sold me on anything else he had to say. But the ending was weird.

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