To finish, or not to finish?
Just like choice in food – taste in books varies. Like apple and cereal varieties, book genres are a plenty. But do we shove food we don’t like into our mouths? Should we read a book we’re not enjoying? There are a multitude of opinions about this in the bookish world. Booklovers have assigned the acronym DNF (Did Not Finish) to the action of quitting a book. Some profiles on Goodreads have a shelf named DNF, that lists the books they didn’t finish. I recently posted the question to two bookish Facebook groups and the answers came flooding in. Some were very surprising.
The general consensus is that you wouldn’t finish a book you’re not enjoying. Life is short, so why waste it on a bad read, or as someone said: “When it’s more a chore than a joy”. So you decided to give this book a pass, but when do you actually stop? Well, readers have their own rules: if you read 10, 20, 50, 100 pages (or any number in between) and it doesn’t “grab” you, then stop. There’s also a percentage rule (probably for the more scientific readers) 10%, 25% or 75%. Yes! People do stop when they are almost finished. Although, that was also given as a reason to go on as in “I might as well finish if I’ve read this far”. The story and the characters are also a factor for readers when they choose to stop. Some won’t read about characters that they hate or “couldn’t care less about”. The story, but more often elements of the story, such as ‘triggers’ are a popular reason to put the book down. Bad writing are also a consideration. A commentator was very adamant that spelling, grammar and editing are not being followed as closely as they used to be or as they should be. Personally, a spelling mistake in a book is a turn off for me.
It’s interesting that many people referenced their age as a reason to stop: “I used to finish every book, but now that I’m older, it’s not worth my time”. In the answers, this had a correlation to guilt. “I don’t feel guilty anymore”, wrote one reader. Some said that when they were younger, they felt guilty not finishing a book. Some assigned the guilt to the fact they paid money for the book: “I paid money for it, so I better finish it”. I’m imagining that person finishing an unappetizing dish they ordered just because they paid for it.
Another argument is coming back to a book you previously gave up on, or giving books a second (and even a third) chance. Some placed the book on the reader’s community oh-so-beloved bed side table, to see if they would pick it back up. This was also a popular reason to finish a book: “I keep thinking about books I don’t finish, so I save myself the grief and read to the end”. The dreaded FOMO (fear of missing out), was also brought up because what if you read 50 pages but on page 51, or 134, 207 or at the end, something ACTUALLY good happens… people had solutions to this – Some (more than I’d like to accept really do this) go and read the last chapter!!! If they like the end, then they go back and read the rest (insert surprised face!!!). Readers also skim words, pages, and chapters to make sure they don’t miss anything worth reading. Some have admitted to giving up on a book, and then checking reviews or book spoiler sites for “Plot Resolution” rather than continuing to read.
Some middle ground opinions were that it’s okay to put a book down for a while and then pick it up again at a later date. A friend of mine went to the countryside a few months ago to stay with her friends in their cabin for a couple days. She recently went back and when she was unpacking, her companion commented that she brought the same book she had the last time she visited. after the last visit she got bored of the book but took it with her so she could continue reading in hopes of finishing. On Facebook, a reader remarked that sometimes she returns a book to the library unfinished, with the intention of borrowing it again. Seems that the time frame between putting down the book and picking it up again doesn’t really matter, as long as the intention is there.
The polar opposite, and the minority in my unscientific survey, is the reality that some people actually finish every single book they read. The most popular reason to finish a book is obligatory: you want to finish the book because it’s the book club pick this month (for a very small number of readers even this wasn’t a good enough reason to finish). As we all know, the bookish types don’t turn down a conversation about books, and we don’t dare to disappoint each other (when it comes to books). So Book Club picks are the most finished books. Same with ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copies), where there seems to be a commitment to a publisher or an author, to give an honest review. Not finishing a book falls under the ‘unfinished’ category, and for some that is not an option, so they finish. One comment was: “My dad told me always finish what you started”, and you should always do what your parents say. Completing a book is also an accomplishment for some, who also often count how many books they finish in a frame of time. Finding the smallest redeeming quality to ‘drudge through’ to the end, was also a reason. What hit closest to home for me was: “I’m an optimist, so I give the book the full chance, and if I didn’t enjoy it – I try and gain something from it”.
Ultimately, the right answer is what works for you. Whether it’s “Life is too short. Read what you like. Stop when you please”, “Every book is a story worth reading to the end”, or anything in between – just like your taste in Ice Cream, it’s yours and it’s personal and it’s okay that it’s different from anyone else’s. Personally, I never finish a food I don’t like but I read every book to the end, whether it be bitter or sweet.