The DNF (Did Not Finish) Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Little Fires Everywhere

Where the Crawdad Sings

I don’t finish books often but I seriously tried with these two. Huge mistake.

Damn. Just hauled a hardcover on vacation today. Will give it a shot I guess.

[Anonymous]

How can I be the first person here to say Infinite Jest!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Midnight's Children. I really tried with that one.

Same here. It felt like torture. I am an intelligent, well-read person, but I just could not finish this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lincoln in the Bardo.

A friend said this book made him feel as if he’d won a ticket straight to the bardo.

[Anonymous]

London by Edward Rutherfurd

I LOVED New York, and Paris, and really liked his Irish books. But this one was just abysmal. Body shaming, very chauvinistic, ridiculous "traits" that are passed down through hundreds of generations. Even though I sailed through his other 1000 page tomes, I could not bear to get past page 400 in this.

Try New York, though. That one was legitimately amazing.

[Anonymous]

I occasionally DNF, but usually slog it through. A few recent (within the past year) DNFs:

- Beasts of a Little Land (Juhea Kim) --> didn't hold my interest and I found the writing style repetitive
- The Bone Clocks (David Mitchell) --> couldn't get into it, the time shifting was too confusing
- A Gentleman in Moscow --> I tried... I really did.

Others I slogged through, but probably should have DNF and saved myself the time:

- The Family (Naomi Krupitsky)
- Rock Paper Scissors (Alice Feeney)
- The Herd (Andrea Bartz)
- two Laura Lippman books
-

[Anonymous]

Fates and Furies. Such a disappointment because I LOVED her other book

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. I found it incomprehensible. So disappointed as she’s one of my favorite authors.

[Anonymous]

I *want* to finish "Lincoln Highway" but just can't get into it at all. Help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can I be the first person here to say Infinite Jest!?

No, you are not. This book sucked. I read enough of it to tell my husband how he got conned by an artist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I *want* to finish "Lincoln Highway" but just can't get into it at all. Help?

Came here to post Lincoln Highway. I loved his other two books but just could not get into this one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:London by Edward Rutherfurd

I LOVED New York, and Paris, and really liked his Irish books. But this one was just abysmal. Body shaming, very chauvinistic, ridiculous "traits" that are passed down through hundreds of generations. Even though I sailed through his other 1000 page tomes, I could not bear to get past page 400 in this.

Try New York, though. That one was legitimately amazing.

Same!! Loved NY but London is a drag.

[Anonymous]

I am on a DNF tear right now. I think I’m about to do it again.

Life’s too short to keep reading a book that is a slog.

[Anonymous]

Pachinko. So dull!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can I be the first person here to say Infinite Jest!?

Well, in my case because DNF implies your attempt exceeded the first 20 pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can I be the first person here to say Infinite Jest!?

Well, in my case because DNF implies your attempt exceeded the first 20 pages.

A good portion of people who read Infinite Jest just want to say they read it, so they’re going to push through and convince themselves that what they’re reading is good and important.