| Re: When Should I give up on a book?
I don't generally give up on books as much as I give up on authors. Orson Scott Card is a very recent case of this he has so far 3 bads for 2 goods and my bookcase still has 5 of his. At this point I just know I'll read that whole saga that in there but I won't be buying anything more from the man, no matter what reviews say, no matter what prizes he may amass. Unless all 5 of these prove to be stellar - and I really doubt it -, there's just no turning back on this one. Xenocide, Children of the mind and Wyrms were too bad to ignore.
I don't give up on books because I like completing stuff...that and I'm too young and read too little for now to actually afford the luxury of scoffing at any experience I don't fully comprehend. I'll probably start giving up on stuff later on, but for now I soldier on through every single piece of trash, even if just to have bragging rights at the end (Twilight...bleah!).
But for the authors: they either need to have written so much trash that I just choke on it in the end (Pratchett has a bit of trash, but I'm not yet dreading the next book); or to just write something so abhorrently bad that they just push me away forever (aka Card). |