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.