Ugh Jonathan Franzen ugh.

I can read Irving, 100 years of Solitude, but this guy is just awful. I think he has some weird hangups that I'm just not interested in entertaining as a captive audience.

The Grapes of Wrath

Ulysses by James Joyce

Interesting. I tried to get through Owen Meany on at least 2 different occasions and quit. I then picked it up again about 2 years later and couldn't put it down. It became one of my favorites. Same thing happened with A Man Called Ove. When I finally tried it again, I really liked it.

I've had that happen to me many times - I can't get through a particular book at one point only to try it again later and I end up really enjoying it. Sometimes I'm just not in the right frame of mind for a given book, or I just don't connect to it at that point in time.

Having said that, I just don't love some of the classics.

Anonymous wrote:- Into Thin Air
- The Shack
- In the Woods (though I did feel seen by a recent thread about this book)
- We Need to Talk About Kevin
- The Dinner
- Defending Jacob
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- The Silent Patient (OMG so boring for 95% of the book)

+2 for the last two titles on your list. Hated both of them.

Also:

Everything I Never Told You
Eat Pray Love
The Nightingale

Among classics, The Great Gatsby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Bible.

Preach!

yep.
And the Kite Runner.

Anonymous wrote:Sorry you didn't like Owen Meany, OP... I'm a fan of Irving but he's not for everyone.

I have tried to get through One Hundred Years of Solitude so many times. Just can't make it more than 50 pages before giving up.

It must be Irving's writing. And yes I get to about page 50-75 of Owen Meany and I have to put it down.

Anonymous wrote:The Bible.

Preach!

The Bible.

Anonymous wrote:- Into Thin Air
- The Shack
- In the Woods (though I did feel seen by a recent thread about this book)
- We Need to Talk About Kevin
- The Dinner
- Defending Jacob
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- The Silent Patient (OMG so boring for 95% of the book)

See now I liked Silent Patient. Interesting.

Anonymous wrote:You know those books that everyone raves about .... "must reads". And try as you might, and as intellectually stimulating as they are, you just cannot read one more page.

For me it's A Prayer for Owen Meaney (John Irving). I just found it so tiresome.

What's yours?

IS IT BECAUSE OWEN MEANEY TALKS LIKE THIS?

Sorry you didn't like Owen Meany, OP... I'm a fan of Irving but he's not for everyone.

I have tried to get through One Hundred Years of Solitude so many times. Just can't make it more than 50 pages before giving up.

- Into Thin Air
- The Shack
- In the Woods (though I did feel seen by a recent thread about this book)
- We Need to Talk About Kevin
- The Dinner
- Defending Jacob
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- The Silent Patient (OMG so boring for 95% of the book)

Emma

You know those books that everyone raves about .... "must reads". And try as you might, and as intellectually stimulating as they are, you just cannot read one more page.

For me it's A Prayer for Owen Meaney (John Irving). I just found it so tiresome.

What's yours?