But I struggled for three days, and in the beginning I assumed I was just too tired to concentrate. Well, last night I figured out what it was that annoyed me. There was far too little police work. The inspector focused on one suspect almost from the beginning, and as far as I could see, his ´evidence´ was mainly hearsay and intution.
As I only read one third of the book, I have no idea whether the inspector was right or not, but that is just not the point. The story took place before these dna times, but even dear old Sherlock Holmes would have looked for footprints, witnesses and other kinds of solid evidence.
What makes you give up on a book?
Are you willing to give it a chance later, e.g. if you see glowing reviews of it?(I sometimes pick up a book again, but as I happened to remove this one completely from my Kindle, I´d better not regret my first judgement).
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14 kommentarer:
I'm not sure I can be that precise about what makes me give up. I know it's DNF time when a book isn't calling to me - normally I look for any opportunity to pick up my current book but when I start to prefer ironing or dusting over reading then I know it's time to throw in the towel because I'm never going to get into that book. The last one I gave up on was a cosy where none of the people were likable and it all took itself very seriously - I mean we all know random people aren't tripping over dead bodies AND clues every day so there has to be a sense of humour with a cosy and this one didn't have it.
With a mystery, I put a lot of stock in the sleuth's personality. I like books with detectives I can relate to...or else ones that I *can't* relate to, but find fascinating. The plot could be good, but if I don't care about the sleuth, then I'm not interested. :)
Dorte - I am sorry to hear you were disappointed. It's a let-down when you're expecting a book to be good and it is not. As for me, a quick route to the DNF pile is when the plot (if there is one) hides under a barrage of gratuitous gore. Another thing that draws me right away from a book is too much predictability.
I can't answer that question Dorte, but just keep in mind there are many books and we only have a limited amount of time. Skip those that for whatever the reason don't look attractive enough.
Stubborn beyond belief it takes an awful lot for me to give up on a book. Too many graphic sex scenes and foul language will often do it though as will terrible characters.
I try not to give up on books but sometimes they are just too full of narration that leads no where and so many plot holes my head hurts. That's usually when I put it aside for a boring day. Or read it when I want to sleep.
CD
There is an implicit caution in your experience, which I why I will probably never own a Kindle (or any of the e-readers). If I get bogged down in a book, for whatever the reasons might be, I can always return later. Sometimes, the problem is not the book's but mine. So, if I deleted the book from a Kindle, I--like you--would have closed the book on being able to return for a second or third effort. (Sorry for the pun.) There are many books on my shelves that wait for another attempted reading. I think both the books and I are happy with that arrangement.
RT if you delete a book from Kindle it remains archived, and you can reload it later.
I have thought a lot about giving up on books, and giving up writing negative reviews, after a nasty reaction from one author in the past. Hopefully I am more careful about the books I select to read now.
I will post about my policy in the New Year, but life is too short to waste on poor books. Would I give a book a second chance? Possibly if the good review was by someone whose opinion I respected, and they mentioned a considerable improvement after the page I had stopped at.
Thank you for all your interesting comments. Sorry, but I am out cold today. Will be back when I´m in control of my runny nose etc.
Too much plot and too little character. Poor writing. A "voice" I don't take to. A premonition of ultra violence. Too much dialogue. Too little attention to setting. A formulaic feel. Font too small. Font too light. Characters that all talk like the same person. Complete sentences as all dialogue (people rarely talk in complete sentences). And other things as well.
I give up on about 75% of the books I start. Life is too short for me to read books that don't speak to me. Once I did but no more.
Not much can make me give up on a book. I guess it's just the principle of the thing. However, I don't think anything someone said could make me go back to one I had given up on.
Hope you are feeling better soon!!
I don't mind giving up on books I've bought or borrowed - annoyed, especially if I bought them, but I really don't like it when a book I've accepted for review turns out to be one I don't like and don't want to finish.
Books I don't finish are those that are full of cliches, boring, have poor plots, are too predicable with caricatures instead of characters and so on. I don't like too much violence or blood and gore,so I don't finish books that make me squirm.
Like Uriah I try to be more selective. If I see glowing reviews of a book I did not finish it does make me wonder and I may go back and have another look, but life is too short to waste time on books I don't enjoy.
I'll put down a book if I'm bored, if the writing is clunky, if the dialog is false, and if the action is beyond believability (the writer didn't properly set it up to be believable).
I wouldn't pick it up again based on reviews, no matter how glowing ;)
It is interesting to see how difficult our approach is, and what makes us give up a certain book.
Margaret, I also feel an extra duty to do my best when I accept a review book, but if I force myself to read on and write a one-star review afterwards, I am not sure that is better for the poor author.
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