It is pretty rare that I “DNF” (“do not finish”) a book. Typically, I choose books that I think I’ll like, or that are well-regarded in the literary world. I don’t frequently choose books at random, nor do I choose books that sound uninteresting to me. I’m a picky reader, and I’m not ashamed of that. Life is too short to read bad books, you know?
Because of this, I don’t really find myself reading a book that’s so abysmal I can’t turn another page. Even if I end up reading a book that doesn’t appeal to me, if the writing is decent enough, I can usually power through it. For me to put down a book, I have to be supremely uninterested in finishing it. I can read books about topics I dislike, I can read books solely to appreciate the writing, and I can even read books that make me uncomfortable. It’s when I struggle to maintain interest in a book in any way that I just have to put it down. There’s something about being so disengaged from a topic that will make me question, “Why am I still reading this?” If I find myself asking that question, then it’s time to put the book down.
So, I thought I would compile a list of books I’ve DNF’d and explain (if I remember) what it was in the book that made me question, “Why am I still reading this?”
- We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
For those of you unfamiliar with this book (or movie), the premise is about a mom whose son commits a school shooting. This type of book is pretty up my alley, so I was really surprised to find that I didn’t enjoy reading it in the slightest. The mother acts as the main character, and her voice is so pedantic and bombastic that I found myself not caring at all about the story or what the writer was trying to say. I actually do think this was an intentional choice because we, the readers, are supposed to understand how Kevin came to commit this shooting (and part of this act is a reflection on his mother), but I just couldn’t make myself endure the writing any longer. I DNF’d about halfway through. - Lolita by Vladimir Nobokov
This is another book where the writing was what stopped me from finishing the novel. We all know what Lolita is about, so I don’t feel the need to get into it. The subject matter didn’t disturb me, but it did frustrate me that people praise this novel endlessly for the beautiful writing. The writing just felt endless. Everything takes pages to describe, and the purpose is to help characterize Humbert, who is so far up his own ass that everything he says has an echo. It bored me. And, if I’m going to make myself read about a child predator, I shouldn’t also have to be bored while doing it. I DNF’d at the halfway point. In contrast, My Dark Vanessa covers similar topics and was much more nuanced. - The Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black
I picked up this book around the time that Black’s other novel, The Cruel Prince, was gaining a lot of traction. The library I borrow from did not have The Cruel Prince in, so I decided to try another one of Black’s novels to see if I enjoyed her writing. The premise of The Coldest Girl in Cold Town did sound rather interesting to me. In a world where vampires and monsters exist, cities called “Cold Towns” were built to separate the monsters from regular humans. After believing she’s been infected with vampirism, a young girl has to enter this “Cold Town” under the assumption that she’ll never be able to leave. Unfortunately, I expected way too much from this book. A commentary about human and monster separation or a unique twist on vampirism were some things I had in mind, but the story quickly devolves into a bunch of YA tropes and romantic nonsense. I know that sounds harsh, and if that’s your thing I’m not knocking it, but it wasn’t for me. I DNF’d about one-third of the way into the novel. - IT by Stephen King
As a self-proclaimed Stephen King fan, I know this is an odd book for me to have DNF’d. The largest reason is that this book is extremely long. It’s not that I can’t stomach a long novel, but there is a lot that I feel could have been trimmed or edited out. Certain parts of the story really gripped me, while other parts left me completely uninterested. It was during one of these uninteresting sections that I found myself asking, “Why am I still reading this?” So, I put the book down. This is one that I might try to read again. Sometimes DNF-ing a book just means putting it down until you’re in a different frame of mind. Maybe the next time I pick up this book I’ll have a different experience, and I’m completely open to that. I DNF’d about halfway through. - The Sarah J. Maas books
For this one, it’s the series that I DNF’d, rather than stopping midway through a novel. I read the first three books in the A Throne of Glass Series, and the first two books in A Court of Thorns and Roses. Both series started out promising, but lost me when the plots seemed to blur while the romances and entanglements took preference. I’ve never been a huge romance person, so when the romances became more prominent than the plot, I checked out. The author has some intriguing concepts for the settings and worldbuilding, but these ideas are never fleshed out enough to be anything more than simplistic. I think it’s an issue of grand ideas with faulty execution, which I didn’t think would improve throughout the series, so I DNF’d. - Dune by Frank Herbert (the first time)
The first time I tried to read Dune, I made it about 1/3 of the way through the novel before putting it down. It was really difficult for me to absorb any sort of information from this novel due to the writing style. It’s pretty terrible, in my opinion. However, I do think Dune is a great story and that there is a lot of merit when it comes to the Sci-Fi elements, so I did want to finish reading it eventually. Reading this novel, to me, is similar to reading something like Ulysses. I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as many other Sci-Fi books, but I really wanted to read it to see what made it such a renowned novel. This meant I just needed to wait until I was in the right frame of mind for a good challenge. I know some people don’t want reading to be challenging, and that’s okay too, but I don’t mind working through a difficult book if the experience overall is worth it. For me, Dune was worth it.
So, there you have it. These are some of the books that I just couldn’t make myself continue reading, or that I needed to put down and come back to later. The main ideas here are that you don’t HAVE to force yourself to read books that you’re not jiving with (no one is making you do this), and that sometimes you might have to put a book down and come back to it later. That is an admirable approach to reading, I think. Acknowledging that you’re not in the right headspace to appreciate a book can put you in a better spot the next time you approach it.
The Lit Wiz