Did Not Finish Titles [DNF] - And Why

[John F]

Originally Posted by shmn

Sorry to hear that. It's a difficult book to get through. Not because of the writing but the topic. It's a depressing subject and it's message is timely (although, the message can be considered "timely" at any time in human history) which can frighten more than horror novels.

Nevertheless, I found it to be one of the best books of 2023 and will probably read it again in a couple of years. I also found his prose to be engaging given it's sparse, relentless, stream-of consciousness style.

Although I don't necessarily agree with the goal of reading prize winners for the reason they won a prize...have you considered another Booker Prize winner which is a bit lighter in tone than Lynch's offering? Like Anita Brookner's Hotel du Lac from 1984. It's not "up-beat" but, at least, it's not dystopian.

For me, it was the writing. I don't recall DNFing a book due to topic. I really enjoyed Life of Pi, and as I recall, I liked The Remains of the Day.

I'll continue reading the winners, I'm just going to give them a little lower priority.

[sydmalicious]

One of the worst books I dnf'd was The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent.

It was free on Audible and at first I started to enjoy it until he got weirdly cartoonishly libertarian and I quit it shortly after. I don't care that he's a gun toting, Don't Tread on Me right winger. The digs on liberals, which I can usually take, were just plain bad. Not my type of humor.

[sydmalicious]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

I just read The Road, and his tenuous grasp on punctuation is obnoxious, indeed.

That bothered me for a good five minutes and then I proceeded to devour that book. Acquired taste, for sure.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by sydmalicious

That bothered me for a good five minutes and then I proceeded to devour that book. Acquired taste, for sure.

Yeah, for me, The Road is a brilliant novel of literary fiction.

For other important authors who fully understand (and use unmediated dialogue in their works), you might wish to check out William Gaddis, Samuel Beckett, William Faulkner [The Sound and the Fury], and José Saramago.

Especially José Saramago. Saramago sometimes has a very 'Kafkaesque' flavor to his writing. His work speaks deeply to my concerns regarding narrative technique and his vision of the world.

Cormac McCarthy [The Road] is a brilliant writer of literary fiction. He knew exactly what he was doing. He also wrote a number of important works that use unmediated dialogue. You may wish to check out his absolutely brilliant trilogy called The Border Trilogy. Equally important is the novel Blood Meridian. McCarthy, you may know, died June of last year.

Perhaps one or two of the above may pique your interest. These are literary novels with important concerns about human nature and life, and they delve deeply into these aspects of humanity.