I think the answer for this is different for fiction and non-fiction. If I don't finish a non-fiction book, I still sometimes consider it "read", if I have gotten the gest of it. This is especially true if the author goes into more detail towards the end of the book after making their point. Non-completed fiction books I usually don't recommend to friends.
Am I the only one who finds popular nonfiction books bloated? So often it seems like the core ideas could've been expressed in one or two insightful blog posts.
Many of them are an expansion on a good long-form magazine article, and the material doesn't really merit book length. But the author certainly is not going to say that. So you end up with an uncut version of the article, plus some chapters on related stuff to pad out the page count.
It depends on the book. Take "On the Origin of Species". The core idea can be summarized in a few sentences. So why was it written? The reason you make something like that a full book is to recount experiences, anecdotes, speculation, experiments, etc to further support your core ideas. Unlike math, many fields are based on ideas that cannot stand on their own, and once upon a time there were no journals to publish in.
Suppose you read 20 books a year. With 50 years of life, that's 1000 more books in your lifetime. (Or 2000, or 5000).
Why waste a slot on a book that isn't useful? Many books, esp. modern non-fiction, are needlessly padded to fill a length requirement (since a 20-page "book" can't be taken seriously).
Appropriately enough, I read about half his article, thought "this is quite interesting, but I think I've got the message" and then stopped reading any more.
I remember cheating on Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum. If you've never read the book, it's spent in double and triple flashbacks: "To understand where I am now, I must tell you about that night in the observatory. // There I was, cowering in a telescope, and I thought back on all that had come before, especially the job as an editor that I used to have. // While I worked as a publisher I remembered how I first met Jacopo Belbo...". I suppose we would describe it as a stack data structure, you keep pushing a new "present" onto the end of the existing one.
So here's how I cheated. At one point the main character suddenly takes a trip off to Brazil, and I thought, "man, this is getting ridiculous. I bet if I just skip ahead to whenever he comes back from Brazil, I won't have missed much." It turns out that while I had missed some important things, like a new girlfriend who becomes a major player in the story, I saw enough of them afterwards to conjecture about what had happened in Brazil.
What's more interesting to me is the set of books that I keep returning to. I have probably read Zelazny's Great Book of Amber (which is itself 10 novels) five or six times in my life, maybe more. It just captures me and takes me on a ride, each time.
There are very few books that pull off these mini-stories. I found the Arabian Nights (unabridged Burton version) to pull this off with amazing elegance. The characters usually use the mini-stories for some contrived example but the stories are very short, quick and on message and together the arabian nights is a solid read.
This reminds me of how I used to read series out of order (back when I read many books that were part of a series, in physical form so the whole series was often unavailable). Much as you learned about the new girlfriend through exposure, I found I tended to be able to put the important things together. Since exposition is one of my favorite parts of a book anyway, this sort of drew out the exposition, as parts of earlier books might be referred to that I'd not heard of before.
(Disclaimer: I also read choose your own adventure books straight through.)
Now, Amber.. Loved the first book and have read it repeatedly, but could never get far into the sequels.
More seriously I can see that it might well be a love it or hate it kind of book, sometimes the ability to provoke strong responses can be as important as the polarity of the response. Although by that measure teenage vampire lit has merit...
"Or are there occasions when we might choose to leave off a book before the end, or even only half way through, and nevertheless feel that it was good, even excellent, that we were glad we read what we read, but don’t feel the need to finish it?"
I finish most books I start, but I choose what to read very carefully. However, I stop playing video games partially through all the time and feel little to no remorse over not finishing them.
I've felt this way playing Civilization V, which I recently picked up during the Steam sale. I played a campaign and felt that I got all there was to be had out of the game. Though, I am ignorant of many of the core mechanics and I'm sure it's a much deeper game than I'm giving credit for. I started a new campaign (to feel that I'm getting my money's worth), and still managed to sink a few hours into that, however.
Case in point, I picked up a novel by Thomas Pynchon when the Borders stores were closing down. I read about a third of it and thought 'OK I get it, I understand this guy's style'. If I had more time I could see myself enjoying the entire thing. Instead I sold it at a used book store last weekend.
Also: It's been a long time since I read Godel Escher Bach, so I cannot trust this for sure, but at the time I got the feeling there were hints that the book as such ended before the last page, the remainder was just there as filler.
Neal Stephenson might even have been more effective in some of his novels (I'm looking at you "Diamond Age" - a personal favourite nonetheless) if they had just stopped a chapter or so before the end.
I vote more for "What Happens Next" and less for the "Hollywood Ending".
Note: in keeping with the theme of the article, I didn't read the second half..
Perhaps not an argument for finishing all books, but I personally will read quite deep into books I am not enjoying in a bid to not miss something good. For as many books I have hated the entire way through (or put down partway through), I have read at least twice as many that I came to love as late as 1/3 of the way through.
50 pages into a rather short novel may be substantial enough; 50 pages of War and Peace only scratch the surface. I wasn't hooked in the first 50 pages of W&P, but I came to enjoy the book immensely in a few hundred.
I'm already saving plenty of time by picking what I read carefully.
I don't agree with this line of thinking, that the concept of the art in question lies entirely with the reader or viewer. If a piece of art (i.e. a book or painting) is conceived as a whole and executed as a whole, then finishing it is necessary to understanding and appreciating that piece of art.
If you are not enjoying a book, feel free to put it down. I have many times. But I don't pretend that I have formed a complete and valid judgment. I forfeit that when I fail to comprehend the work as a whole.
As for whether endings are "necessary" when you have enjoyed a book, it depends on how necessary the author intended it to be, not on whether (as the author was rightly, in my opinion, angered by) the reader felt he was "done." It's a bit like knocking the wings off a statue because you think it looks better that way. What you think looks better isn't the point. The statue was created that way because that's the way the creator wanted it created.
Personally, I think it is critical to read every word as the author intended. Otherwise you are appointing yourself as editor over their artistic imagination. You are in charge of your own time and enjoyment, but not the structure and content of their work.
The single most important book in my life is one I did not finish reading.
As a teenager I spend a few weeks reading Ivan Hortan's beginning C++ in depth. But, I skipped the last few hundred pages focused on the STL. I wanted to know the ins and outs of the language, but after that I had what I wanted and I moved on. And considering it's been 15 years and I have never seen a reason to go back and read that section or even write much C++ it was probably a wise choice.
Now you could argue that different rules apply to fiction, but the choice is the same. Do I risk continuing or should I quit and try something else and it's the authors job to convince you that the rest of the journey is still worth it. Feeling you can only judge what you finish is just the sunk cost fallacy in another form, they failed and it's ok to call them on it.
As mentioned in the other reply, "For reference works, or almost any type of nonfiction these days, nonlinear consumption makes a lot of sense." So for your engagement with Hortan's C++, it makes sense that you would take what you needed and not what you didn't.
But yes, I would argue that different rules apply to fiction. Completion is an essential part of the process. If you don't like the book, or don't want to finish, by all means don't finish! I've quit books for a number of reasons. If the book isn't holding your interest, that's - well, to say it's the author's fault is perhaps assigning blame where blame doesn't apply, but rather say that the fault is not yours. It's the job of the book to entertain, and while it may entertain some, it doesn't for you. You can put a book down in good conscience, certainly. But I disagree with the author's idea that finishing a book is purely optional.
IMO, it depends entirely upon the type of book. For works of fiction, or biographies, or for other books laid out in linear fashion, there's a tangible benefit to reading linearly. (And on through to the end).
For reference works, or almost any type of nonfiction these days, nonlinear consumption makes a lot of sense. How many of us have read a dictionary or an encyclopedia from cover to cover? How many of us have read a collection of essays in a perfectly linear manner? Any sort of book that does not confer a specific benefit upon linear consumption offers no real incentive for such. Linearity is largely a convention to which we've grown accustomed, and I would argue that the era of software and hyperlinks -- cross-references at the click of the button -- is steadily eroding that convention. And authors will start to intend for, and eventually optimize for, newer modes of consumption.
Moving from paper books to a kindle means my tolerance for poor quality writing has dropped massively. Instead of a few books waiting to be read and the need to hunt around bookstores for replacements I've got a dozen books I intend to read already at my fingertips and millions more a few minutes away online.
If I decide a book is not worth continuing (even if I spent money for it because the free sample was inconclusive) then I won't continue it. I'm too time poor to waste my life on bad books.
I think the answer for this is different for fiction and non-fiction. If I don't finish a non-fiction book, I still sometimes consider it "read", if I have gotten the gest of it. This is especially true if the author goes into more detail towards the end of the book after making their point. Non-completed fiction books I usually don't recommend to friends.
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[ 2.3 ms ] story [ 93.3 ms ] threadI read "The Evolution of Cooperation" and it honestly could have been done in 30 pages. Instead, I foolishly suffered through 215 of them.
Suppose you read 20 books a year. With 50 years of life, that's 1000 more books in your lifetime. (Or 2000, or 5000).
Why waste a slot on a book that isn't useful? Many books, esp. modern non-fiction, are needlessly padded to fill a length requirement (since a 20-page "book" can't be taken seriously).
So here's how I cheated. At one point the main character suddenly takes a trip off to Brazil, and I thought, "man, this is getting ridiculous. I bet if I just skip ahead to whenever he comes back from Brazil, I won't have missed much." It turns out that while I had missed some important things, like a new girlfriend who becomes a major player in the story, I saw enough of them afterwards to conjecture about what had happened in Brazil.
What's more interesting to me is the set of books that I keep returning to. I have probably read Zelazny's Great Book of Amber (which is itself 10 novels) five or six times in my life, maybe more. It just captures me and takes me on a ride, each time.
(Disclaimer: I also read choose your own adventure books straight through.)
Now, Amber.. Loved the first book and have read it repeatedly, but could never get far into the sequels.
More seriously I can see that it might well be a love it or hate it kind of book, sometimes the ability to provoke strong responses can be as important as the polarity of the response. Although by that measure teenage vampire lit has merit...
I finish most books I start, but I choose what to read very carefully. However, I stop playing video games partially through all the time and feel little to no remorse over not finishing them.
Also: It's been a long time since I read Godel Escher Bach, so I cannot trust this for sure, but at the time I got the feeling there were hints that the book as such ended before the last page, the remainder was just there as filler.
I vote more for "What Happens Next" and less for the "Hollywood Ending".
Note: in keeping with the theme of the article, I didn't read the second half..
I'm already saving plenty of time by picking what I read carefully.
If you are not enjoying a book, feel free to put it down. I have many times. But I don't pretend that I have formed a complete and valid judgment. I forfeit that when I fail to comprehend the work as a whole.
As for whether endings are "necessary" when you have enjoyed a book, it depends on how necessary the author intended it to be, not on whether (as the author was rightly, in my opinion, angered by) the reader felt he was "done." It's a bit like knocking the wings off a statue because you think it looks better that way. What you think looks better isn't the point. The statue was created that way because that's the way the creator wanted it created.
Personally, I think it is critical to read every word as the author intended. Otherwise you are appointing yourself as editor over their artistic imagination. You are in charge of your own time and enjoyment, but not the structure and content of their work.
As a teenager I spend a few weeks reading Ivan Hortan's beginning C++ in depth. But, I skipped the last few hundred pages focused on the STL. I wanted to know the ins and outs of the language, but after that I had what I wanted and I moved on. And considering it's been 15 years and I have never seen a reason to go back and read that section or even write much C++ it was probably a wise choice.
Now you could argue that different rules apply to fiction, but the choice is the same. Do I risk continuing or should I quit and try something else and it's the authors job to convince you that the rest of the journey is still worth it. Feeling you can only judge what you finish is just the sunk cost fallacy in another form, they failed and it's ok to call them on it.
But yes, I would argue that different rules apply to fiction. Completion is an essential part of the process. If you don't like the book, or don't want to finish, by all means don't finish! I've quit books for a number of reasons. If the book isn't holding your interest, that's - well, to say it's the author's fault is perhaps assigning blame where blame doesn't apply, but rather say that the fault is not yours. It's the job of the book to entertain, and while it may entertain some, it doesn't for you. You can put a book down in good conscience, certainly. But I disagree with the author's idea that finishing a book is purely optional.
For reference works, or almost any type of nonfiction these days, nonlinear consumption makes a lot of sense. How many of us have read a dictionary or an encyclopedia from cover to cover? How many of us have read a collection of essays in a perfectly linear manner? Any sort of book that does not confer a specific benefit upon linear consumption offers no real incentive for such. Linearity is largely a convention to which we've grown accustomed, and I would argue that the era of software and hyperlinks -- cross-references at the click of the button -- is steadily eroding that convention. And authors will start to intend for, and eventually optimize for, newer modes of consumption.
If I decide a book is not worth continuing (even if I spent money for it because the free sample was inconclusive) then I won't continue it. I'm too time poor to waste my life on bad books.