Anonymous wrote:I read my husband's PhD thesis, surely a novel is easier to read than that.

And if it's truly boring surely you can give him some editing suggestions?

This is a stupid comparison. Most people without a PhD would understand nothing in my PhD thesis.

Yeah, I think you have to. Put it on your phone, get a voice reading app and listen to it as you do dishes or exercise.

is 'obligated' a word? isn't it 'obliged'?

I read my husband's PhD thesis, surely a novel is easier to read than that.

And if it's truly boring surely you can give him some editing suggestions?

Anonymous wrote:Your husband is writing a novel and you can't bring yourself to read it?!
He should divorce you over this, and I'm not kidding.

+1

Tell him if he wants a woman to read his novel, it’s gotta have a female protagonist in a love triangle with her, the alpha badboy, and the Good Man.

Yikes. I would never ask my partner to read it. If it's so great, the world will read it and so will the partner.

Yes, you are.

And I think you should come back and update us on what it's about and whether it's any good.

Anonymous wrote:of course! it's his labor of love. Wouldn't you want your husband to read what you've spend 1,000 of hours on

I am a published author and NO I do not want my husband to read what I've spent so much of my life on. He comes to the readings. He talks me up to other people. He is NOT the audience for the books themselves - and making him read them would be painful for us both.

of course! it's his labor of love. Wouldn't you want your husband to read what you've spend 1,000 of hours on

No one should ever ask someone to read their unpublished novel - or even published novel - if the other person doesn't want to read it. Your husband is really showing poor form demanding you do it.

Is he really going to feel better if you read it and tell him it's boring?! And at this point, he knows you're not interested - does he need you lying to say you think it's great?

Maybe you can ask him to read you his favorite parts aloud - and also suggest he join a writing group where people share and critique each other's work.

You're being a jerk. He wants your support, and 200 pages is not long.

That said, it is not your job to be his copy editor or to workshop ideas. Most of the published authors I read have a list of "beta reviewers," writing clubs, and paid and unpaid editors they thank in their acknowledgments. If he doesn't already have these resources, maybe you can help him find them. Many prolific authors will say their spouse doesn't read their work, their author friends do.

Anonymous wrote:No you are not obliged at all especially if it's boring af. I wrote a textbook in Math and my wife liked the cover and the pictures and she browsed though it. That's good enough for me lol.

A textbook is not a short novel.

Anonymous wrote:Your husband is writing a novel and you can't bring yourself to read it?!
He should divorce you over this, and I'm not kidding.

Completely agree.

Yes, you are obligated.