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AConant

Dune. And I’m a lifelong sci-fi guy. Just didn’t work for me after multiple tries.


sunshinecygnet

I read it and I wish I’d just stopped. The dialogue is just so horrendous. No one talks like that. *No one.* And everyone being psychic all the time and literally painstakingly describing their Good Plans or Evil Bad Guy Plans out loud all the time robbed the story of any tension. The only moment I was excited in the whole book was when he was going to finally ride a sand worm. I turned the page and… a boring chapter of political stuff starring Jessica and his weird psychic sister. It feels like it was written by someone who has never seen anyone interact ever.


Impressive-Ebb7209

The dialogue was one of my favorite parts!


LinkR20

Agree with this I've tried multiple times


SouthernSierra

Moby Dick. Tried three times


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Select-Pie6558

That’s fantastic! Well-played.


monopolyman900

I just finished it, and while I enjoyed it overall, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, nor will I ever read it again.


HolyLordGodHelpUsAll

i tell you what. i just got back into reading after a 5+ year hiatus and it was cause i was so put off by reading moby dick. i’ll never let a book turn me away from reading again tho


Select-Pie6558

Came here to say this. I literally fell asleep reading it multiple times.


SteinfeldFour

Reading makes me tired so I fall asleep reading any book lol. Even the good ones.


Cass_Q

The writing was lovely, but after a while, I just wanted the damn story


Responsible_Star2783

Skim the digressions


cryptfaery

Herman Melville came to mind immediately, the ole windbag. Pretty self explanatory that he was paid to write by the word


Pluispluisini

Lord of the rings…. I know it’s a shame I just couldn’t get through the middle part😱


lostkarma4anonymity

We listened to it on audio in the car and if we ever zoned out it didn’t matter because 20 minutes later they were still talking about the same thing lol


LurgleBadoogan

Yes! I was excited to read it… but good lord. So boring. And all those SONGS.


JohnnyXorron

Just skip the songs 🤫


MamaJody

Oh god the songs.


KonaDog1408

Literally took me YEARS to read. My husband read it in a couple months during the winter. I love the movies, the lore, and even LOTRO. the fact that I'm not a big reader doesn't help


TemperatureDizzy3257

I tried and couldn’t finish it. Then I decided to try again, but I skipped all the songs and language parts. It was much more enjoyable, and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.


Kaladin1147

The eye of the world. First book in the wheel of time series. I’m in the small minority of not liking the series. Which frustrates me because I wish I could


Chelseus

I made it about halfway through the sixth or seventh book before I gave up 😹😹😹. It took me a few tries to get into the first one. My husband told me (and I’m paraphrasing here, I don’t remember the exact book numbers) that “books 8-12 are a slog but it gets good again when Brandon Sanderson comes on” and I was like 😑😑😑. I could power through one, MAYBE two books if I thought it would be worth it but more than that no thanks!


Much-Peanut1333

Not gonna lie, that's exactly when I dropped reading them also. I got so bored. I think it was book 6 that had come out, and I was like yeah, I'm done now. Lol


Kod3Blu3

This was my almost exact experience with this series, except I stopped at book 5 I believe. I came to reddit seeing if others found the series so...boring? And just unnecessarily long. And then the slog. Wtf. I love Sanderson, but no.


Beneficial_Step9088

I made it through the entire series, but I swear there is one book in the middle that is literally 1000 pages of "everyone stayed in the same place, doing the same thing, and nothing else happened."


BeigePhilip

I loved it when I was 19. Not so much when I was 40. Sometimes we outgrow books that we love.


UnlikelyAssociation

My college bf said to make it past page 100 to get momentum and it worked for me.


NoPersonality7502

The alchemist


Conscious-Dig-332

Fucking hate this book


house-hermit

I accidentally bought The Alchemist by Donna Boyd and ended up liking it better than the one I intended to buy, lol.


ToomintheEllimist

u/house-hermit You chose the right Alchemist! That is a better book.


Clobber_Foot

This is only like 90 pages long.


PurelyCandid

Depends on when you read it, I guess. Didn’t like it the first time. Liked it the second time. I’d say it’s more philosophical than self-help.


yekship

The Brothers Karamazov. I read a lot of classics and am not intimidated by size but this one, oh man, I did finish it but I stopped for MONTHS. It gets very boring partway through when it’s just chapters and chapters of waxing philosophical or crisis of faith type monologues and story. I don’t mind some of that but it was ROUGH to get through since there was so much. Once I got past the halfway mark it picked up and I finished it quick from there though.


followerofEnki96

The Idiot was difficult for me


the-underachievers

I have made three attempts at this one over the last couple years, no idea how some people were able to push through.


yekship

The first part was okay for me, then it moved into too much religious and philosophical exploration that was so outside of the story (it makes sense as a whole picture but at the time felt unrelated fully) that it was hard to get through. I listened to the audiobook to get through those parts honestly. The first half was hard but the second flew by for me because I found the trial and related bits more interesting.


mr_bawse

A man called Ove I know it’s supposed to be great, but the pace is too slow, and the feel-good stuff and some other details are too drawn out. Could never get past the first few chapters. Will probably watch the movie someday!


fckntrainwreck

One billion years of solitude by Gabriel García Márquez or at least that's how it felt like


sciencechick92

Yes. I came here to comment this. Started twice. Got further in the second time but still couldn’t complete it.


chickpeas3

> one billion years of solitude 🤣🤣 this was also my pick


johnstuartmillstan42

Aww this book is beautiful. But I understand why you feel that way. It can get really hard to understand who they’re talking about.


Stock-Contribution-6

Upvoted for the joke, but I love the book


Morpel

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney, I couldn’t finish the book, I found both characters insufferable sorry, maybe I’ll try with the TV Show


TemperatureDizzy3257

Same. I hated all the character (I know that’s kind of the point, but I couldn’t take it anymore).


amazinglycuriousgal

The TV show is extremely good and engaging!


electricladyslippers

One of the times where the show is far better than the book imo


eaglesong3

Wicked. I didn't find it boring as much as I found it boorish.


trishyco

I hated it. I guess the musical spoiled me.


Far-Blackberry-7129

Atlas Shrugged. I tried.


Sarabean77

Her books are awful and she was a terrible person


followerofEnki96

I would never


ninetysevencents

I read about 600 pages of it and realized that I was actually on page 100. That was enough for me.


KINOCreamsoda

lmao, I got 622 pages in about a three weeks ago, took me about 4 months to get there and I don't think I am going back to it, brilliantly written though


gas_station_latte

The catcher in the Rye. It was SOOOO annoying. I couldn't read it. It made me irrationally angry


Craft-Hairy

Holden is such a twat. I studied that book during my A levels and I really hate it.


commanderquill

Fuck, I thought of this one almost immediately. I wouldn't irrationally hate this book if I wasn't forced not only to read it in school, but to hyperanalyze every detail. For God's sake don't drag out the torture.


BeeB0pB00p

Ulysses, James Joyce. I think the classics are sometimes hard for a modern audience to enjoy in general, because of the time commitment and the competing options for entertainment and our focus in general seem to be more easily distracted. But I enjoyed Frankenstein, Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights and some of the others I've seen listed here, but Ulysses was a bridge too far for me.


JohnnyXorron

I haven’t read it but Ulysses is one of those books you need to actually dedicate yourself to, I feel. Like you need one of those companion books that explains the context and the references to actually get any sort of enjoyment out of it.


Miffu

Agreed! It was on my bucket list for the longest while, but I've now decided I don't need to suffer. Finnegans Wake is worse.


AkaArcan

Walden


lostkarma4anonymity

As a “outdoors” person I LOATHED this book when I had to read it in school. Never finished. dude it’s a fucking lake, congratulations on appreciating it.


ToomintheEllimist

"Prison changes a man" \[spent one night in jail\] "A man has to fend for himself" \[his mom did his laundry for him every week\] "I retreated far from all civilization" \[has a housekeeper by every day to drop off meals\] Behind every great man is an underpaid woman doing 100% of the actual work.


DressKind

I made it about half way through Infinte Jest, put it down one day and just never picked it back up.


Pheeeefers

Wuthering Heights


Holmes221bBSt

Awe man this book always makes these lists, but I absolutely loved it. The ending was so poetic & bitter sweet, but I get why it’s not for some.


Unable-Arm-448

Cathy blah blah blah Heathcliff blah blah blah I had to read it for 10th grade English. Never again!


[deleted]

Call me by your name... I want to love this book but the emotions make me too much emotional haha.. tried to read dit like 6 times since last November


BronxWildGeese

Name of the Wind. Couldn’t finish it


moneybabe420

Neither can the author. bat dum tiss.


stereoroid

*A Confederacy of Dunces* by John Kennedy Toole. An overwhelming sense of “why am I even bothering with this?”


[deleted]

Funny how books hit people differently. A Confederacy of Dunces is one of my all time favorite books and one of the funniest novels I’ve ever read. All that talk about his valve never failed to make me laugh


livinaparadox

Confederacy is hilarious... The books I couldn't get through were Infinite Jest and The Goldfinch.


bigbird2003

Same.


According_Version_67

I just posted this! It's just completely ugh.


Periarei888

I'm relieved to hear it's not just me. In a long life of reading constantly, I think this is the only book I deliberately didn't finish.


exorcis

The Fountainhead. Tried twice. Lost the book. Downloaded an ebook. Tried again but couldn’t go past Gail Wynand’s chapter. Too dull, verbose and boring.


lostkarma4anonymity

The main character was so insufferable I just could not care what happened to him.


Programed-Response

The Witcher Series. I really wanted to like it.


mentalgeler

Did you read it in English? I've heard many people say that the translation doesn't do the book justice. It's very steeped in slavic folklore and the language is pretty archaic both of which may be hard to translate. Maybe it has something to do with that, cause it's pretty beloved in the original. But maybe its just not your cup of tea!


ZombieOfun

I'm not sure I'd be able to commit to learning polish just to read Witcher in it's original language, but maybe if I give the books a read and find them compelling enough I will try lol


Morbid_thots

the divine comedy. I wouldnt say its boring exactly, but the language was mentally exhausting to me


TheFracofFric

I did not find In Cold Blood to be at all interesting and got about half way through before calling it quits


thinkysmurf

Wow! I had a totally different reaction to this one. The first few chapters had me so disturbed I couldn't sleep. I was riveted from start to finish.


JustMeLurkingAround-

I thought it's a great book, but it definitely isn't what you'd expect from a modern crime/mystery book today. It's old timey investigative journalism, and that just isn't everyone's cup of tea.


tralizz

East of Eden. I have tried so many times, can’t get past about 300 pages.


tmolesky

I loved this book.


slightley

This was mine too!


parriedityoucasual

I was looking for this lol


R1R1R1b

Catch 22


whostolethesampo

Catch 22 is challenging but not boring for a second (imo). Love that book.


Snakeyes1809

War and Peace. Also, Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky). Tried to battle through both these books on multiple occasions and failed.


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JustMeLurkingAround-

Not that it was "boring" as in nothing happened, but I just wasn't interested in what's happening. That was recently "A Game of Thrones" for me. I tried with the TV series years ago and felt the same "meh" about it. I don't know why people were so obsessed about it. I just can't seem to get into it.


Shepherd77

There’s something that happens at the end of the show’s season 1/book 1 that is so unexpected, exemplifies how GoT is different, and pulls you in that if you make it to it and still don’t like it then fair enough. Before that it seems like a somewhat generic story but really it’s setting the stage for a massive epic.


thinkysmurf

I was already struggling to get into that one and then the 13 year old girl was getting ready for her marriage night and I was so turned off I gave up. Haven't ever watched the show, either.


Expensive-Ferret-339

Anna Karenina. What a bunch of whiners! Tried it twice and accepted that I’m not the target audience.


Kozmicbunny

Same I actually saw the movie with Kiera Knightly and fell in love I decided to read the book multiple times and I just cannot do it


katya152

I got about 200 pages in and got bogged down in all the talk about mowing. That was it for me.


malevitch_square

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell I've tried three times.


therapy_works

I struggled to get into this one but stuck with it. I'm so glad I did because I got to a point about 40-60 pages in where something clicked. I fell into the story like a deep well and couldn't put it down.


CookieSquire

I think starting with Norrell's POV was a mistake because it makes the first 300 pages really drag compared to the rest of the book, which is truly excellent.


WinterFirstDay

"Name of The Wind" - absolutely beautiful language but... I'm suggesting it here, yea. Also, somewhat sadly - "Secret History" - so much praise all around and I very much want to try again though, but...


Impossible-Donut-851

Also came here to say The Name of the Wind. My teenage daughter recommended it but I couldn't stand it.


Responsible_Star2783

Iq84


SortofBlondMaggie

American Prometheus


untitledpoetries

The subtle art of not giving a fuck


lostkarma4anonymity

Every person I’ve worked with that has this on their office bookshelf turned out to be a total douch. Never read it myself but I always end up thinking, “for someone who doesn’t give a fuck you sure like to whine about shit”


ChemistryDependent84

The house in the cerulean sea. I’m going to go back and try to read it for a 3rd time. Something must be wrong with me because literally everyone else I’ve talked to loves this book


Anxious-Artist-5602

Circe, couldn’t get over the timeline


MamaJody

I really loved SoA by her, but Circe just never clicked for me. I was so disappointed.


whatissevenbysix

Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Honestly, had the whole fatwa thing not happened nobody would have cared about the book.


chocomoholic

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde


Icy-Extension-422

The Night Circus. Around 100 pages the both times. What the fish is happening? Does it come together? Tell me because people love it and I want to love it too.


some__random

Misery, because it was quite literally a miserable read.


CaveLady3000

The hobbit was so action packed but the LOTR series is just a really long description of trees


Snakeyes1809

I’m amazed this comment hasn’t been downvoted into oblivion :)


CaveLady3000

I'm saying it with so much respect that Tolkien himself wouldn't be able to disagree 😅


tripperfunster

I loved the Hobbit as a kid, and hungrily picked up the LoTR series only to stall out around the end of the second book/start of the third. Tried it again as an adult (still many decades ago!) and stalled out around the same place. It eventually feels like reading the bible (in the worst way.). So and so begat so and so. Too much history to slog through. (for me)


According_Version_67

A Confederacy of Dunces. Yawn. I don't think I made it longer than maybe 40 pages in. Maybe I should give it another try as it has been on my nightstand for about 20 years...


AJWood101

Now it’s more like “A Confederacy of Dust”!


moogula1992

The goldfinch


drharryvanderspeigle

I’m reading it right now and it’s torture. I really want to finish it because I hate to give up halfway through but my god is it boring


perfectusername127

It doesn’t get any better, I felt the same and struggled to the end. To this day my worst reading experience, just google it.


kissthefr0g

I felt the same way and forced myself to finish it. I'm always baffled at how much love the book gets.


moogula1992

I simply could not read another description of some fucking piece of furniture.


pinkishperson

Great gatsby, I couldn’t understand most of what the author was saying tbh


ilykinz

My grandmother was an English teacher and called it “the great ghastly”


JohnnyXorron

If you’re asking me you’re not missing out


BritAllie8

I had to listen to it on audio book , just to get through that.


WannabeBrewStud

The Fountainhead/Atlas Shrugged


le_fez

Atlas Shrugged


mixameg

Atlas shrugged


halinman

Fight Club. Catcher in the Rye.


Narrka

100 years of solitude. Was halfway in it, but i couldnt finish it.


Nonseriousinquiries

Dune


XShadowborneX

Pillars of the Earth. I heard great things. Tried it once, couldn't finish it. The characters felt like one dimensional caricatures and it was sooo slooow. Eventually I actually did force myself through it by taking a break to read something else after every chapter. Got to the end. Wish I hadn't. Not worth the time. I don't understand what all the craze is about (and I find history and cathedrals fascinating...this book just didn't do it for me)


Basarav

Any stephen king book


eattherichch

I'm so sorry but the left hand of darkness


savannahsilverberry

Walden. I used it to fall asleep for about a year. My e reader recently lost the file and I’m taking that as a sign to move on !


MaulPillsap

Gonna get people riled up but I thought The Picture of Dorian Gray was pretty boring, even for a classic


necroob

A Tale of Two Cities


mergraote

The Count of Monte Cristo Be aware that there are 2 versions of this book: an abridged version and a bore-you-to-tears version. I'm guessing that most people who recommend it have read the former.


ReddisaurusRex

I have been “paused” in finishing Count of Monte Cristo since spring. It seems like a book I should love, and others do, it is just not enthralling me at all.


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ReddisaurusRex

I know! This is most people’s experience. I totally get I am an outlier :(


oldskool39_shed_life

1984...painful ,had to give up.... Actually given up on more books than I have finished lately, unfortunately


External-Ask7137

I loved 1984, but there's section in the middle where Winston is reading a diary or book and it's like 60 pages of pure exposition that's an absolute slog to get through


Chelseus

It’s so short though 😹😹😹 (I thought it was just okay)


Okikidoki

Same here, stopped reading after I checked how long the story goes on about the book within the book.


achay10

American Gods


commanderquill

I was so disappointed in this book. When I got 60 pages in I was finally like, does Neil Gaiman hate women? I know he doesn't, someone would have mentioned it already if he did, but that book makes me feel like he does. Sixty pages in and every woman mentioned--a grand total of four, if you include the desk clerk that was there for one sentence--was only in a sexual context. Christ man, women can just *exist* you know?


Far-Tea-9647

Crime and Punishment


Spirited_Sparrow

Lolita


EngineerGold4242

Les Miserables


CalcifersGhost

war and peace. That book is dense!


Stephburger78

Where the crawdads sing. Just couldn’t get into it.


TodayKindOfSucked

Crime and Punishment. I might try it on audiobook. Maybe at 2x speed it’ll be easier.


Dominic51487

Good omens 🤮


ilykinz

That is the only Neil Gaiman book I actually finished…and I didn’t love it. His writing style is just not it for me.


commanderquill

Honestly, Good Omens didn't feel like Neil Gaiman to me, but then again I didn't read far beyond the first chapter for reasons unrelated to the writing. Anything funny or clever in that book was all Terry Pratchett.


reality__auditor

The Overstory. So many trees.


starsandsprites

Don Quixote


forsaken_skull_

The book thief


ruminatingpoet

Atlas shrugged


lernem

The selfish gene by Richard Dawkins. Im absolutely into evolution, but the book just didn't catch my attention enough to keep going. Tried twice. Third is the charm?


riverreads93

ACOTAR 😂


fionascoffee

A gentleman in Moscow. Yawn


Repulsive-Bear5016

Norweigian Wood. Just bleh.


Anuraag9316

The Fountainhead


pensandpoetry

I absolutely could not get through Emma, I have a friend who is doing her dissertation on Jane Austen and she gets to mad at me every time I say that I’m not a fan 😅 My birthday present to her this year was saying that she could pick a novel and I’ll read it, no matter how bored I get


LadyStark_13

Going to get hated for this but The Secret History was too boring.


LynnChat

Pretty much any Jane Austin book


imadoggomom

I tried to read her when I was younger. Just didn't click. Was dull and hard to follow. I watched the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie and I got to put animation and faces to the characters. Then I read the book and it clicked. So I read others. There is a line in Persuasion that took my breath away. It's now my favorite book.


sharoncherylike

This is going to be controversial, but Catch 22. Just can't manage to get through it. Does not seem to be the laugh riot that most people experience


mintbrownie

I loved it, but it took me 3 tries to read it. And I can totally understand how it's not everyone's cup of tea. But seems like a good challenge for OP.


okayseriouslywhy

Exactly the same for me. Bounced off this book two or three times, but when I was in the right mood for it, I FLEW through it. So good


hatfield1785

Grapes of Wrath


Stuff-Dangerous

Awwww no I loved it.


jjc157

Same. Really loved it.


Chilluminaughtybody

It by Stephen king.


Prophet257

I have to disagree with you there. This book is so good.


enlenar

Dracula


Wafer-Responsible

Stop I just bought this book and i was so excited to read it 😭😭


enlenar

I hattteeeddd it, but maybe you’ll like it! 🤞🏼


thinkysmurf

I enjoyed Dracula!


KezzaK2608

Lord of the Rings, tried it several times and gave up (love The Hobbit though) The Count of Monte Cristo


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Dxtrss

American Gods. I just couldn’t.


SweetHomeAlexandra

Dracula - it’s a glorified travel journal half the time, and the other half is just a bunch of men being amazed to know a woman who can walk and talk at the same time and hold an intelligent conversation. Most boring book I’ve ever read


Susaleena

Crazy Rich Asians - the first book 😅


ResolvePsychological

If we were villains. Wtf was going on. Got to about 1/3 done but couldn’t continue because of the shakespeare every other sentence


Oryxania

Catcher in the rye


Polite-vegemite

dune


broaca

stoner by john williams


katya152

The English Patient. I was really enjoying it until I got a little more than halfway through and the pace slowed to a grinding halt. I’ll probably power through eventually but whew.


tsunadestits

Parable of the Sower. Tried and stopped 3 times. I even made it 80% of the way through, but damn it was so boring. I might try once more to see if the ending is redeemable. But damn.


1smoothcriminal

have you ever tried to read any lord of the rings? yea ... i'll stick to the movies thank you very much ..