I’m sure this happens to any reader, but I seem to have some books that, no matter how many times I try to read them, they keep on defeating me and I never finish them. Here is my list:
Mila 18, by Leon Uris (I actually did finish this, eventually. 8/9/2012)
I have started to read this book about three times, but I can never seem to get past the first few chapters. I think my problem is that I want to read the story of the Warsaw Uprising, but Uris started his novel at such a remove from the ghetto that I have a hard time seeing how they will intersect.
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
Someday, I will finish this book. I actually started it last summer, and was doing quite well, until I noticed all the books that were coming out that I wanted to read. I did the math on how long it would take to finish the book at my current rate, and I gave up.
Fatherland, by Robert Harris
You’d think I’d have gotten through this one. It’s an alternate history. It’s about World War II. But I’ve started it four times and haven’t made it beyond chapter five yet. I’m interested at first, but I think the premise of the book bothers me so much that I can’t read on.
Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
I’ve started this book twice, and I got about halfway through the last time I attempted to read it. I’m not sure why I couldn’t get through this one either because it also had a lot of things in it that interest me: World War II (again), enigma machines, cryptography, advanced computer science, etc. But I guess I didn’t have the stamina for this book. I quit when I found my self skipping sections that didn’t interest me as much as the Waterhouse plot line.
The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco
I’ve also tried to read Foucault’s Pendulum and had to give that one up to. I’ve tried to read these books twice and have failed. I think it might be because they are so densely written that I have a hard time remembering all the details that I think I need to in order to understand what the book is trying to tell me. It’s a bit like taking a class in college, when there’s the possibility of a lot of the material is going to be on the final. The only way I found out how The Name of the Rose ended was that I listened to an abridged audiobook–and that doesn’t count. (I don’t think audiobooks are cheating. I think reading or listening to an abridged version is.)