Flights of Fantasy discussion

Carrying over from the Zone One discussion....

The causes of DNF aren't too mysterious--being boring, the author being a "punching down" kind of guy or gal, themes or subject matter that you can't cope with, etc. What I'm more interested in hearing about is if anybody has actual DNF rules.

For example, are you more lenient toward authors you love before pulling the plug on their books? Do you give a book a certain number of pages or percentage before DNF-ing, or does it just happen?

One of my friends is one of those people who practically never DNFs, and recently I've been experimenting with doing things her way. Of course, everybody's different and eventually I'll drift back to my default, which is probably closer to MrsJ's and Becky's as stated in the ZO thread.

Ignoring books with "just no" subject matter, the gist is if I'm avoiding a book--with translated manga, usually--and feeling reluctant to pick it back up, that's when I bust out the DNF. For an author or book that I feel deserves a better chance (even if I'm kind of bored at the moment), I'll give them 'til about the 2/3 mark to make their case.

I used to force myself through books, even if I wasn't liking it I'd still make myself finish just to say I did. It's not worth the effort.

The chances of finding a book that actually is worth pushing through a shit beginning is really, really small. Mostly you end up wasting time, brain space and frustration that could've been better spent reading something worthwhile.

Nowadays if I bounce off a book in the first few chapters, I'm out. If I put a book down and forget about it for a few days, I'm out. If it's just a mood issue, I'll toss a book back on the TBR until I'm in the right head space for it. If it's a friends recommendation I'll give it a little more leeway. But basically I'll give a book one chance before moving on.

Plenty of other stuff to read to waste time on something that isn't working for me.

Ala has a good method.

My real problem over the last year or two is that I have to force myself through books I like. I seem to get stuck at some point no matter what I'm reading.

So I don't have any firm rules at the moment. Sometimes a DNF will end up that way simply because the statute of limitations on reading time has run out.

I agree with Ala's methods, too. That's mostly what I do as well.

I don't have any hard rules but it sorta boils down to "Am I having fun/enjoying myself?" If it really turns out to be no...why bother? I'm no longer in school.

Thirded, Ala's is good--straightforward and practical.

It gets tough to decide when a book starts off strong and has a mid-book slump. (very common in longer books) It's partly sunk cost fallacy, and partly curiosity to see if it makes a great comeback by the end.

Beth wrote: "Thirded, Ala's is good--straightforward and practical.

It gets tough to decide when a book starts off strong and has a mid-book slump. (very common in longer books) It's partly sunk cost fallacy, and partly curiosity to see if it makes a great comeback by the end. "

It depends on how slumpy that middle portion is for me in comparison to the beginning. If the beginning was fire and I hate the middle, I skip the end. If I like that...I backread until I get the whole story.

I mostly subscribe to Ala's method as well. But... I guess it depends on other factors too, because I will sometimes finish books I'm actively dying to toss into a fire, and drop books that I'm a little bored by.

I think some of those have to do with the author, and some have to do with my friends and hype surrounding the book.

The author situation has been weird lately, because the one that comes to mind most readily is Stephen King. He's been my favorite author for nearly 3 decades, and yet everything I've read of his lately has been complete garbage. But I can't bring myself to DNF one, even if I can tell from the first page that it's gonna be shit, so if I start it, I will finish it, no matter how much I may want it to DIAFF. I think I've reached the point of not even bothering now though.

But with authors I don't have that kind of history and familiarity with, if trusted friends highly recommend the book, or there's a lot of hype, I'll generally TRY to finish it unless I'm really hating it, or unless I notice (as I did with Zone One) that I'm doing everything I can NOT to pick up that particular book. Then I'll ditch it.

On the other hand, I think I have a rage/irritation threshold for books too, where if it pisses me off enough, I'll push through just for the satisfaction of being able to rip it to shreds while denying trolls the chance at the classic "bUt YoU DiDn'T aCtUaLly ReAD iT!" argument. I read every word, bitches, come at me.

So, that's a long-winded way of saying "it depends" but generally if I'm not enjoying something, and I think that the spiteful ranting in my review won't be cathartic enough to justify it, I will just DNF. lol

Becky wrote: "I think some of those have to do with the author, and some have to do with my friends and hype surrounding the book. "

Another one is if I'm leading a buddy read for the book. I might not have finished Jade War if not for leading the discussion on it. (and having bought the book rather than borrowed it from the library, since I enjoyed the first one so much)

Becky wrote: ""it depends" but generally if I'm not enjoying something, and I think that the spiteful ranting in my review won't be cathartic enough to justify it, I will just DNF. l

THIS! I might push through if I'm already planning my hate review in my head.

The review angle is something I no longer have to worry about. Back when I actually tried to write reviews for everything, I'd finish shit books just to trash them in a review. Hell, I used to seek out shit books just to trash them.

Without that, it just doesn't seem worth bothering.

Ala wrote: "The review angle is something I no longer have to worry about. Back when I actually tried to write reviews for everything, I'd finish shit books just to trash them in a review. Hell, I used to seek..."

Sigh. I miss your reviews though. :(

I'm really bad at not finishing books. I'm trying to get better, but I always feel kind of guilty - especially like the book I recently forced my way through that most people in the group I read it with were gushing over, and I just could not get into it. So I finished it. But I sort of wish I hadn't.

I once set myself the rule that I have to read 35% of it. That, to me, seemed like giving it a fair shake. I wish I stuck to it more than I do, though, and actually just threw in the towel more often - especially since I'm a little stressed at how big my TBR list is getting.

Becky wrote: "Sigh. I miss your reviews though. :("

Me, too

i really DNF if, by the time the inciting incident happens, i find myself forcing myself to read. that usually means about 10% of a book is what i allow. i used to force myself through books but when i read chronicles of narnia, i just... couldn’t keep going. forced myself through the first three books and DNF’d the fourth because there was so much on my shelf i’d much rather read

Sebastian wrote: "i really DNF if, by the time the inciting incident happens, i find myself forcing myself to read. that usually means about 10% of a book is what i allow. i used to force myself through books but wh..."

I feel you . No need to read what you hate when you can read what you love.