To Finish or Not to Finish?

I'd like to say a quiet word for finishing what you start. There are times when a book doesn't hit you right - maybe the subject seems too abstract, or the author's style is an acquired taste.

Whatever the reason, there are times when a book begun is best reshelved for a while, then revisited.

It may be weeks, months, even years - but if after two or three tries it's still not working - toss it!

Yes, there are many books difficult to read but well worth the effort. But life is too short to waste it plowing through a bad book (a la Da Vinci Code) when there are countless good books waiting to be read.

Yes, let's all leave the Da Vinci Code behind! I can't picture the conversation within the publishing house justifying publishing such a boring, uninspired, poorly written and extremely long book.

The Da Vinci Code wasn't so bad. LOL!!! OK, it was horrible, but it was easy, fluffy reading. I think I finished it in about 2 1/2 hours.

On the other hand, I wasted my time on Snow Falling on Cedars and made myself finish it, even though it was bad from the beginning. I think that particular book was the one that made me allow myself to chuck books instead of finishing them.

I stumbled into this group by the fortuitousness of hyperlinks. It's nice to be reminded that even the most dedicated readers sometimes find certain books unreadable. And it called to mind the following remark by Dorothy Parker: "This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force."

I'm currently reading Religion Gone Bad and I'm seriously considering either taking an extended break from it, or putting it down for good. White isn't a particularly poor author, its just the subject matter. Its about the Fundamentalist Christian movement in America, and its effects on politics/culture/etc. Its an interesting book, but its so much a chronicle of how cruel, manipulative, and just plain evil some of these guys can be that I can only handle it in short amounts.

I think when I was a little younger I was more inclined to struggle through a book simply because I had started it. However, now in my thirties, this has become a non-issue for me. If the book doesn't catch my interest after I've given it what I consider to be a reasonably good chance, then I close it. I know what I like and what I need to read to enhance my literary experience. Once a book seems to have no intrinsic value to me I simply stop reading and move on to the next one. Now if only I could consistently apply that skill to boyfriends...

I'm feeling kind of proud of myself. I just made the decision to put Religion Gone Bad down for good. It was an interesting read, but it was such a slogging read, and it was making me so pissed off that I just decided it wasn't worth it anymore with the hundred some odd other books I've got on my TBR pile.