White Fang... - Writers Forum

Rage2Fury · 10-07-2003, 02:52 PM

I cannot finish White Fang. I have tried so many times (twice) but I can't seem to finish it. I really want to just sit down one day and read the entire story, but I am not sure I will be able to read the whole thing. Has anybody else had this trouble with books, or White Fang?

AdamR · 10-07-2003, 03:48 PM

All the time. I got halfway through War and Peace one time, about a quarter of the way through a second time, but I can never seem to finish it. I've never read White Fang, but it is in my book collection and I plan to read it sometime soon. Realitively small so I would be able to get through it in a a few hours.

Lily · 10-07-2003, 07:39 PM

Oh gosh, this happens to me constantly. Recently someone told me to pick up C.S. Lewis's Perelandra. It was IMPOSSIBLE to read. I tried about four times and could only get up to the sixth chapter. Another book I couldn't finish was Henry James's A Portrait of a Lady. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful book, I just couldn't get through it. And then I couldn't finish The Three Musketeers, but that's pretty much only because I was distracted by another novel at the time.

I've never tried White Fang, though . . . hmm

Rage2Fury · 10-07-2003, 08:33 PM

I love White Fang and how it is written from the animals point of view. It is so amazing, but I am not sure why I can't finish it. I think it is the only book that I couldn't get through, well except Aeiner The Seventh Tower, but I was distracted by another Book. Anyway...

AdamR · 10-08-2003, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rage2Fury

but I was distracted by another Book.

Exactly the most common cause for me to not finish a book, and the process ends up repeating for that book, the next, etc, untill it was pointless in the first place, and you have to read them all over again...a lesson to be learned.

Lily · 10-08-2003, 11:57 AM

So many books in the world, so little time

AdamR · 10-08-2003, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily

So many books in the world, so little time

Sometimes I wish our brains had a USB input port so we could just download every book that ever existed...how wise we would be.

Lily · 10-08-2003, 02:05 PM

Or I wish I were like Danny Saunders, from The Chosen- he can read whole books in two hours and have them memorized by heart word for word so he never has to go back to them for reference or anything. Now that would be awesome, because then you could say that you're a child genius or something

Lily · 10-08-2003, 03:50 PM

James Joyce's Ulysses is absolutely impossible to read through! I got past the first chapter and I put it down . . . have any of you guys ever read it?

Tertulian · 10-08-2003, 11:14 PM

Quote:

James Joyce's Ulysses is absolutely impossible to read through! I got past the first chapter and I put it down . . . have any of you guys ever read it?

A most excellent book. It is very hard to sink your teeth into this one though. It takes a while for it to all come together. Just keep at it and you'll be rewarded--I promise.

I've never, ever, finished a Stephan King novel. Actually I end-up skipping a whole bunch of pages. When I read The Stand, I ended up reading only about 300 pages of the thousand or so--the first 100, then the middle 100 and the last 100. I don't think I missed much--"M-O-O-N" spells boring.

Lily · 10-09-2003, 08:11 AM

Hmm . . . I just returned it to the library this morning to exchange it for Chaim Potok's My Name is Asher Lev. Once I finish that maybe I'll get back to Ulysses . . .

modified7 · 10-10-2003, 02:54 AM

I'm trying to figure out why you would bother to read 100 pages of any book at the beginning, 100 in the middle, and 100 at the end unless it was a 300 page book!!
Then again I read books for the prospect of enjoying the story and the ability of the author to tell a story.....
One of you mentioned someone reading a book in two hours. My take on that is a little different also. I once took a speed reading workshop, thought it might help with technical reading that I do. When tested, I read faster (with their standard of comprehension) than anyone in the class but at the end of the class I had improved the least. (Which would make sense) I figured out pretty quick, though, that I wouldn't want to use speed reading when reading for pleasure..... the art of the written word is lost (at least to me) and just general concept is conveyed.
I'm sure all of us has found some book that just didn't interest them enough to want to continue it. I had this same problem with "As I Lay Dying" recently and just couldn't get going with it........... Keith

Tertulian · 10-10-2003, 11:03 PM

Quote:

I'm trying to figure out why you would bother to read 100 pages of any book at the beginning, 100 in the middle, and 100 at the end unless it was a 300 page book!!

What's there to figure out? The book was boring but the story was great!
I skipped three hundred pages at a time and still didn't miss much of the story.

This was MY opinion. It had absolutely nothing to do with trying to confuse you, or anybody else. So what? Eventhough most of them have horrible writers and editors, I love ALL Star Wars novels. And yet, I cannot finish a long winded Stephen King novel.

Stephen King used to write great books: Christine, Carrie and Pet Cemetery among just a few. As Richard Bachman he was even better, IN MY OPINION.

My favourite book ever is Great Expectation. I've read it at least once a year for the past 15years. And yet I've yet to finish Oliver Twist, by the same author. Started it just as many times and yet I can't get past chapter thirteen. Anybody else have that same 'problem'? It won't hurt my feelings if the answer is "no!".

modified7 take it easy! These were my opinions. Just because my reading habits are different than yours, doesn't mean I'm getting anything less out of it than you are. I have precious few years left in life and I have no tolerance for filler in writing. "Get to the point"

Thanks for your time

AdamR · 10-12-2003, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily

Or I wish I were like Danny Saunders, from The Chosen- he can read whole books in two hours and have them memorized by heart word for word so he never has to go back to them for reference or anything. Now that would be awesome, because then you could say that you're a child genius or something

I've actually heard of something like this. Not total recallection, but the ability, when asked a question about context in the book, be able to pull anything out almost exactly. It takes several years of training and practice to master, but 'supposedly' everyone has the ability to do it, which I believe to a certain extent, as the human brain is the most powerful and fastest computer ever designed...

blodren · 07-19-2007, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lily

Or I wish I were like Danny Saunders, from The Chosen- he can read whole books in two hours and have them memorized by heart word for word so he never has to go back to them for reference or anything. Now that would be awesome, because then you could say that you're a child genius or something

but then there would be no enjoyment of returning to a favorite book and remembering all the little subplots one has forgotten. I personally enjoy the feeling of returning to an old favorite (Brian Jacques' Marlfox is on my top 5 list and the only one i can ring off right now).

Blodren