Books left unread

Ever felt guilty of leaving a book half-read? Well, you are not alone. Though many avid readers do consider this a cardinal sin, many of us have put a book down halfway through. Now the reasons for doing so may begin from load shedding and busy schedule but sometimes, readers do have legitimate basis for not finishing a book. Here some readers put forth their defense.

Neema Sherpa

And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini

Hosseini’s Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns were an absolute delight. Like so many around the world, I too became a fan of his work. I liked how Hosseini weaves his stories in Afghanistan. We don’t get many opportunities to hear about the people, places, and customs of the country in fiction so it was one of the reasons I was looking forward to And the Mountains Echoed. I guess I had been talking a lot about it because my friends actually ended up buying it for me. They thought it would make for a nice gift.

One-third into the book and I was actually glad that I didn’t have to spend my money on it. There were too many characters. What I also didn’t understand is why the story’s focus shifted from the brother and sister who were the protagonists to the other relatives. The writer begins to pay them equal attention and that was quite off putting. It became a little confusing as well. I felt that Hosseini couldn’t grab the reader’s attention as he had in the previous two works. I found myself thinking that the chapters were too long and that’s never a good sign. Has he lost his touch? Let’s hope he will be able to redeem himself.

Kartika Yadav
Shantaram
by Gregory David Roberts

I have always been and still am openly biased towards fiction novels. However, it is always nice to take a breather from the stories and sort of change the tone with a different genre. When I decided to start reading Robert’s Shantaram that was the intention, to take a little break from my usual diet of fiction. It was certainly an ambitious endeavor because the book is huge, really thick plus a couple pages in and one instantly realizes it is going to be a complex read as well.

I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy the story. It paints a very vibrant image of India. The writer also writes in a descriptive way and actually there were some lines that I couldn’t resist highlighting. Having said that though, the thing that got me were the long scenes. The plots move at an incredibly slow pace. No matter how many pages I read, there were these frustrating moments where it felt like the book just wouldn’t finish. I have reached half way through and even that feels like quite the feat. I believe you need to be in the right mood to tackle books like Shantaram so I am waiting for that I guess. Indeed I haven’t given up yet. I would like to finish this book one day. It’s just that I can’t tell you when that might be.

Jagdish Raj Baral
Damini Bhir
by Rajan Mukarung

A lot of people were recommending Mukarung’s Damini Bhir. They seem to have nothing but nice things to say about the writer and his story. Further the title of the book itself had me intrigued. Like most of the younger generation, I too tend to get swayed by the title, the illustrations and Damini Bhir held a lot of mystique and promise. Further, I learned that that Murkarung was awarded the Madan Puraskar for this very book so I admit, my expectations were high from the start. Though I actually remember, just as I was beginning to read Damini Bhir, an acquaintance told me that it didn’t live up to the hype. Despite the fair warning, I was eager to give it a go.

I believe I ended up reading around 100 pages or so. After that my interest sort of waned. Perhaps, it is because the book is solely focused on a certain caste. The novel is trying to depict the circumstances of Nepali society that is going through a transitional phase but the writer misses several opportunities to incorporate a boarder view of the country and its people. I wish he could have accommodated more voices. It would have helped to make the story more diverse and relatable. I felt a little bored of the one dimensional view and unfortunately, I haven’t finished the book yet. I doubt I want to either.

Kushal Acharya

The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari
by Robin S Sharma

I have a habit of reading whatever book I get my hands on so the last time, I left a book half way through was a long time back, around six months ago and unfortunately it was a work of one of the authors I admire. It’s been a while that I have followed Robin S Sharma. I subscribe to him and I absolutely enjoyed his previous reads such as Leadership Wisdom, and Who Will Cry When You Die? So it was with much enthusiasm and anticipation that I picked The Secret Letters of the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. After going through 75% of the book though, I couldn’t shake off this feeling of disappointment.

It seems like he was reiterating the same messages from his previous books. The characters and the stories were different but they all came to the same conclusion that had already been presented in the previous works. I was expecting a new outlook or a more in depth analysis from Sharma but for a reader like me who is familiar with his work, there weren’t any. Thus it wasn’t worth the time. I didn’t see the point in reading on.

Now I haven’t been completely been put off by Sharma but the next time, before purchasing his book I shall definitely check out the synopsis, reviews and ratings fir

And the Mountains Echoed
by Khaled Hosseini
Hosseini’s Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns were an absolute delight. Like so many around the world, I too became a fan of his work. I liked how Hosseini weaves his stories in Afghanistan. We don’t get many opportunities to hear about the people, places, and customs of the country in fiction so it was one of the reasons I was looking forward to And the Mountains Echoed. I guess I had been talking a lot about it because my friends actually ended up buying it for me. They thought it would make for a nice gift.
One-third into the book and I was actually glad that I didn’t have to spend my money on it. There were too many characters. What I also didn’t understand is why the story’s focus shifted from the brother and sister who were the protagonists to the other relatives. The writer begins to pay them equal attention and that was quite off putting. It became a little confusing as well. I felt that Hosseini couldn’t grab the reader’s attention as he had in the previous two works. I found myself thinking that the chapters were too long and that’s never a good sign. Has he lost his touch? Let’s hope he will be able to redeem himself.