Here’s a bit of an existential question for you: You’ve bought a book – paid good money for it – but upon the reading, you find that you really can’t stand it, and you’re only a third or a quarter of the way through. Should you stick it through or just chuck it? This article in the Guardian newspaper suggests the latter:
For starters, reading a book because you feel you should usually saps all richness from the encounter. Simply closing a book after a couple of chapters, perhaps with half a mind to come back to it, is often all it takes show them who’s boss and to allow future encounters to unfold on more equal terms.
I agree with this general idea, although I don’t really subscribe to the idea of showing a book who is boss, because, after all, it’s an inanimate object and doesn’t actually care what you do with it. For me, it’s the simple fact that life is too damn short, and if the author of a book I’m reading for entertainment isn’t willing to meet me half way, I’m not inclined to do all the heavy lifting in the relationship. I mean, I’m an author myself. Another author’s arty, difficult ways don’t really impress me.
I’m willing to put up with a lot of I get the feeling the author is trying to get something across in an entertaining way – I give credit for effort. And I’m up for a challenge if the rewarrd is worth it. But if it’s one of those “I shouldn’t have to entertain you” sorts of authors, well, the hell with that. I try to entertain my readers when I write; I expect my writers to try to entertain me when I read.
Would you leave a book half-read?
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