S. Worthen | Weblog

It occurs to me that I am least likely to finish non-fiction, not because it isn't well-written, but because finishing isn't the point.

Yes, I was about to say that when I noticed that you'd got there first. I usually finish non-fiction if it's intended to be read from start to finish (e.g. popular science books, biographies, and so on), but I rarely read the whole of a reference work (I've never finished the OED, for example...).

I don't see why opening a book is any sort of commitment at all. It's not like I'm going to hurt its feelings if I don't finish, and I highly doubt that anyone is checking up on me to make sure I read everything I own. And when I'm on my deathbed, I will not look back on my life and think "My greatest regret is not finishing that book that got stultifyingly boring on page 94".

I sometimes don't finish even really good books. It took me three tries to finish The Lord of the Rings, simply because I twice got distracted by something else that sucked up all my free time for a few months, and then had to start the whole thing again to make sure I hadn't forgotten too much of what had already happened. But I enjoyed it each time, even the bits I'd already read.