aberkok

I was interested in peoples' opinions on whether, when you realize something isn't that great, you see it through to the end.

For example, I am currently reading Charles Mingus' Beneath The Underdog and am over halfway through the book. So far I see little of value in the book. It says next to nothing about the way he feels about music and seems focused on his exaggerated exploits with women. I've learned nothing from this book, nor am I finding it entertaining.

Yet I am compelled to finish the book just so I can say I finished it and my judgement can be complete. I experienced similar feelings when watching Van Helsing a few weeks ago.

So I'm looking to find out what the rest of you do when faced with something that sucks. More importantly, I want to know why you decide to either see something through or why you walk out/close the book and throw it in the fire.

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ryfo

I always finish books, but I have a hard time sitting through a movie that I dont like. I think its because I think if someone writes a book I should at least read the whole thing before I bag it, I dunno, I just dont have the same compulsion with movies.

guthmund

While I am the exact opposite.

It takes an unbelievably bad movie to get me to stop watching, but a book that's uninteresting I have no problem putting down early.

I think it's the balance of time already spent/wasted vs. what's left.

I mean, a bad movie is only going to last another hour at the most. No big deal; It'll be over by bedtime. A bad book, however, can drag on for weeks.

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alansmithee

Books I tend to finish, movies not so much. Usually if I get through 20% or so of a book, ill finish it, but I feel better about walking away from movies (although movies can have the "so bad it's good" effect alot more than books).

Also, is that Charles Mingus the jazz musician? Didn't know he had a book (but it's unfortunate it doesn't get much into his music).

Redlemon

I'm pretty compulsive about finishing books. I can only think of two books that I read the first 50-100 pages, then stopped (Bonfire of the Vanities, and Ulysses).

I see so few movies, and pick them so carefully, that it doesn't tend to be a problem.

I walked out of one regional theatre company production at the intermission.

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Charlatan

We are all slaves to the narrative... Even a poorly laid out one will suck you in and spit you out.

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Fremen

Most books I finish reading.
But some.....I know this is blasphemous to some of you, but I've yet to finish my copy of Lord of the Rings.
Tom Bombadil(sp?) is hard to stomach at 34. I'll get back to though, if y'all can assure me it'll get better.

And contrary to popular belief^^, I did read and finish Dune. (just not all the subsequent novels)

Movies, I can finish the crappiest of them.

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Grasshopper Green

I agree with guthmund. I'll sit through a mediocre movie (we rarely see bad ones) because it's only a short span of time, but a book that doesn't catch my interest in the first couple of chapters is usually history. There are so many good books out there...why waste your time reading something that isn't that good? The one difference is a movie we rented...I have no problem leaving the room while hubby continues to waste brain cells.

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Salomon

I bail on movies and books that I lose interest in.

I don't consider this a positive character trait.

Charlatan

Femen... Tom Bombadil is a test. You were tested and found wanting.

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maleficent

I have the attention span of a fruit fly... if it doesn't hold my interest in the first chapter or two, I won't finish reading it... Movies, I'm pretty much the same, I will start clicking past a movie that is boring me... I can't stand going tot he movie theater because people generally annoy me...

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pig

Speaking as someone who finished William S. Burroughs Naked Lunch, I usually finish a book...particularly if I have some reason to think that someone somewhere seemed to find some relevance / meaning / redeeming value. In the case of the aforementioned "book," it was Liam Neeson in the movie and Norman Mailer's opening...and I have say that might have been the most egregiously painful experience I have ever forced myself to endure. I've picked up random books at the Library or a garage sale and not finished them...but I'll usually see it through. Leave it in the bathroom and read it a few lines at a time.

Fremen: that's odd. I always wanted to be Tom Bombadil. What, the world is ending? Screw it. I'll be drinking with my lady friend and generally being outside time. Here's a hint: anytime you see Tolkien start to go into a song, or a march, or a poem, skip it. They all suck.

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fresnelly

If there is a strong story at the heart of a novel, I will see it through.

Recently I read a book called <u>The Spirit Cabinet by Paul Quarrington</u>. It had won a lot of awards and was about the odd lives of some magicians in Vegas with a bit of fantasy lurking in the shadows. I was really interested in the subject matter, and the quotes on the book jacket swore to the humour of the book.

Boy was I disappointed. Though well crafted with a few hilarious scenes, the characters and the world that they inhabited were so miserable and depressing that the book was agony to read. And yet I finished it. There was such a strong narrative push that I had to find out the ending. Not unlike watching a car crash in slow motion. I wish the book jacket wasn't so misleading, and I wish I hadn't started it.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I found <u>The Lord of the Rings</u> novels tiresome too, and found myself flipping ahead to get through the major plot points.

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Da Munk

I'll usually try to read at least a third of a book before I decide whether or not to give up on it. If it hasn't managed to catch my interest by that time I don't feel any need to continue wasting my time in hopes that it will get better. I might decide to stick with it if the book was reccomended to me personally, but if it's just something I picked up on my own I would much rather just save myself some time and move on to something more interesting. Movies I'll usually see through to the end just because it's not a very big time investment to begin with.

Derwood

The only books I put down are ones whose writing style is too cumbersome for my state of mind at the time. The last Faulkner novel I tried reading was that way. It was too slow and disconnected in thought for me to drudge through it.

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pig

Light in August? No problem.

Sound and the Fury - three times to get past fifty pages. after that i read it and thoroughly enjoyed it...."and they were hitting, and benji watched them hitting, and they were hitting the hitting and benji was crying and they were hitting..."

Absalom Absalom? I've not made it over there yet. Anyone read and enjoy? I'd always heard Joyce was really tough, but I really enjoyed Dubliners... Hmmm..

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trickyy

i made it all the way through angels in america. it's a highly acclaimed 6 hour hbo miniseries. perhaps the most overrated thing i've seen; what a waste of time.

i don't read much fiction. i prefer more variety, so i don't like going back to the same thing. (i did finish the da vinci code simply because it was hilariously terrible, but does that even count as a book?) i read a lot of nonfiction. since it's often like an extended essay, points are summarized early in the book and i will read the parts of interest. then i move on to the next one.

Charlatan

Quarrington's kid goes to school with my son. I see him all the time and we chat as we wait for our kids to finish school.

Next time I see him I will let him know you think his book was a disappointing.

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fresnelly

You can go easy on him. As I said the book had its moments. Mostly I found the book jacket misleading.

Another book with a similar experience was <u>The Diagnosis</u> by Alan Lightman. Basically you follow the main character's demise through a mystery degenerative disease. The kicker is that he keeps his self centred and insular personality right through to the end. It makes for an unpleasant read, but drives home the author's point about misquided priorities without being preachy or treacly. I'm glad I stuck that one through.

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fallsauce

Agree totally with guthmund. Also, I think it depends whether I've spent any money--If I borrow a DVD, I'll probably finish it. If I borrow a book from the library, then I'm much more likely stop reading after a few pages if it's boring.
Funnily enough, a lot of books I've brought, I've just left on the bookshelf.

If I've read half the book, and other people's praising it, and I'm bored out of my mind, it's tough to decide whether to finish it or not. (The Lovely Bones; Girl With A Pearl Earring)

Movies on TV and movies on DVD are completely different. If I'm going to wag through half an hour of commercials, the movie better be worth it.

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Slavakion

Gah, the lack of a tangible timeline made me cry. It was bad enough to suddenly change in the middle of a paragraph, but there was some point where the benjy narrative changed time periods every few words. Faulkner can shove his timeless classic.

If I've chosen to read a book, I can usually finish it. There have been very few times when i've voluntarily picked up a book that I couldn't finish. Maybe I have a good eye. Assigned reading, however, ranges from Catcher in the Rye (fabulous) to Kerouac and Hawthorne (get to the freakin' point already) to Sound and the Fury (WTF) to Shakespeare (not bad once you adjust to the language).

Derwood

Right, I read "As I Lay Dying", no problem. Had to restart "The Sound and the Fury" twice, and frankly, after getting out of the Benji section, it went from confusing to boring, so I never picked it back up again. I have "Light in August", but haven't tried it yet.

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pig

Spoiler: My synopsis is essentially: our family is seriously fucked up.

I enjoyed it after making it through, and going back I can actually enjoy it more now. Ever read Cormac McCarthy? Suttree beats my ass and makes me call it daddy...although I haven't enjoyed some of his other stuff as much.

Oh, and I finished it (threadjack save).

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