PSA: That famous sci-fi series I tried 3 times before quitting for good

Was at a coffee shop in Portland last Tuesday and saw someone reading the first book in the Foundation series. I've tried to get through it 3 times now. First time I made it 50 pages, second time maybe 80, third time I crashed out around page 40. The ideas are huge but the characters feel like cardboard cutouts. Anyone else have a classic book they just cannot finish no matter how many times they try?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim.dylan13d ago

Man oh man, I feel that so hard. I've done the same thing with Dune. Tried it three times and each time I got a little further but then just hit a wall where all the political scheming and jargon just made my eyes glaze over. The world building is incredible but the characters feel like they're reading a history textbook out loud to each other. I swear I've heard more personality from a bag of mulch at a garden center. It's like the author got so caught up in the big ideas they forgot people have to actually talk and act like, you know, people.

wilson.jesse13d ago

@kim.dylan You ever try the audiobook version? Sometimes hearing someone read it takes the edge off all that dry exposition and makes the political stuff flow better.