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Worthy books you have started but never finished

  1. BrianPankow May 18, 2020

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    Yes, Moby Dick! “Call me bored.”

    I read “Catch 22” while in the navy (early 70’s) and loved it. Tried reading it again about ten years ago and couldn’t do it.
     
  2. verithingeoff May 18, 2020

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    Stick with it I have a copy of all 7 of the books and read them regularly
     
  3. jsducote May 18, 2020

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    I've had The Satanic Verses on my nightstand for several months now, gathering dust after getting about 1/4 of the way through. Although I have a dozen other books in the queue, I refuse to quit.
     
  4. SpeedyPhill Founder Of Aussie Cricket Blog Mark Waugh Universe May 19, 2020

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    The Name of the Rose (1986 by Umberto Eco) ::book:: ... but I saw the movie with Sean Connery
     
  5. Mouse_at_Large still immune to Speedmaster attraction May 19, 2020

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    On the sf theme, Dhalgren by Samuel R Delany. I tried, but failed. To me it was utterly tedious and unengaging. This comes from someone who actually finished Ulysses
     
  6. ejj May 19, 2020

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    Next question might be: Best book you never want to read again? Or Best movie you never want to see again?
     
  7. vbrad26 May 19, 2020

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    Lots of mention of Catch 22.
    That was required reading for me in high school, so I hardly remember it.
    Maybe I should keep it that way? Hah.
    I have had the urge to re-read a lot of the books that were required reading for me back in high school...
    Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, A Separate Piece, A Brave New World, 1984...
     
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  8. Wryfox May 19, 2020

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    I have to finish it to know how to finish it...
     
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  9. timoss May 19, 2020

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    Looks like the results are in: Moby Dick wins. (For the record, I have never made it past the first five pages myself.)
     
  10. markie916 May 19, 2020

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    The old man and the sea, Hemingway,

    Tolstoys Anna Karenina,

    Michael Schumacher biography.

    I liked The Operator by Rob O'Brien though amongst others.
     
  11. Andy K Dreaming about winning an OFfie one day. May 19, 2020

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    I had to read all of those in HS too! We had a summer reading list that these books were on. We were required to read three each summer and come in on our summer breaks and take tests. At the time I completely resented having to do schoolwork over my break but those are some of the best books I ever read.

    I have reread Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye a number of times over the years. For me, both get better and better the older I get and they are really easy quick reads.

    I remember my mind being blown by 1984 when I first read it. I tried again years later and couldn't get into it at all.
     
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  12. Joe_A May 19, 2020

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    I'm half surprised Finnegan's Wake has not been mentioned.

    I'm a fan of Joyce and was lucky enough to start with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, followed by the short story collection Dubliners. Once that far in, I was later able to read Ulysses early in life and then later on again.

    But I could not get very far into Finnegan's Wake and from what I have read about it, it helps to be multilingual - which I am not.

    I had no difficulty with Melville, but I find no pleasure in reading Dickens.

    Context of the day matters. Lingustic convention matters.

    I suspect that educated contemporaries of artists from days gone by had an easier time of it than we do today.
     
    Edited May 19, 2020
  13. SpikiSpikester @ ΩF Staff Member May 19, 2020

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    another Moby Dick victim here...
     
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  14. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker May 19, 2020

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    Catcher in the Rye - best read while drinking "Catcher in the Rye" Rye...for any old SCTV fans out there...
     
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  15. vbrad26 May 19, 2020

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    Yeah I had the thought that now that I'm older, I could perhaps have a different take/understanding of some of those I read in school.
    Of course back then I only did it because I had to. So that is why I want to give them all another shot, from a better perspective.
    Then in college same thing, I had to read a LOT of stuff I was not in the least bit interested in (but hey if you want to know about any early British lit just let me know!).
    I quit reading for a few years just because I was burnt out.
    But then I picked it back up a few years ago and have been reading a lot of sci-fi! Oh and of course Dan Brown lol.
     
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  16. MRC May 19, 2020

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    Wadddya think of "Musings of a Tax Collector" (aka The Canterbury Tales)?

    I liked the "hard science" era, 1940s to about 1980, but swords & scorcery don't do anything for me. OK there's Iain M. Banks' Culture books, some work, some don't. I loved some of his "Iain Banks" work, particularly The Wasp Factory, The Bridge, too
     
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  17. vbrad26 May 19, 2020

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    Hah to be honest I escaped having to read all fragments. Will I ever go back? Probably not lol!
    I remember feeling so fancy as a 21 year old reading Chaucer though, But I just don't have the urge to struggle reading a sentence anymore haha.

    Yeah I'm more of a "hard sci-fi" kinda guy I guess. Never got into fantasy or anything like that.
    Still have yet to read Dune. Everyone says "read Dune because blah blah blah...."
     
  18. Speedmasterfan88 May 19, 2020

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    Joyce Ulysses .... my english teacher in High School lend it to me when I was around 17-18, I got through 50 pages before returning it. Maybe I should give it a try now.
    I very much enjoyed reading MacBeth, Great Gatsby, 1984, Brave New World and all the other stuff we "had" to read back then.
    When I started studiyng law the last thing I wanted to do after a day in the library was to pick up a book when I got home.

    The last book I bought and didn't finish was " The German Genius" by Peter Watson. It's so densely packed with information that I manage to read about 20 pages before I put it away again. The "Notes and References" section alone is about 150 pages long...
     
  19. Mouse_at_Large still immune to Speedmaster attraction May 19, 2020

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    Dune......Game of Thrones with big worms and stupid drugs. The other books are even more tedious. Stick to "hard" sci-fi. I'd suggest Peter F Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds if you haven't already come across them.
     
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  20. flw history nerd May 19, 2020

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    Dune is an astounding book, but I admit it took me two attempts to get through it. Absolutely worth it.

    I'm encouraged by the fact that nobody has mentioned The Lord of the Rings.