The fact that you are reading this, means you sometimes read things, not because you enjoy them, but because if you don't read it, you feel you've missed out on something. Not to say that my writing is terrible, just that my blogging has never been terribly consistent. On the other hand, what has brought up this topic isn't blogging, but instead when it comes to reading novels.
Currently, I'm attempting to read a novel, that I will only refer to as "That piece of Crap" or [TPOC] for short. I'm also going to refrain from specifics on the plot, as I am sure that if I discussed it at all, it'd be evident pretty quickly as to what I was reading. All I can say, is that it's science-fiction, it's relatively new, and it's a load of horse manure.
I picked up the novel because it was supposed to be similar to some earlier stories I had enjoyed, although more up to date, and on today's heartbeat. Like other new novelists, the beginning was slow. Fine, I'm used to trudging through a hundred pages to get to the meat of a novel. However in TPOC, I'm half-way done, and I can already tell it's a half-assed merging of three or four other masters of writing, full of plot holes, one-dimensional characters, and a view of the world only an idiot could enjoy. Yet, I still trudge on, with the hopes the author will redeem himself.
My question though, is it worthwhile to finish reading something you consider that atrocious. Especially if you aren't a critic or editor? Or should you continue to give it the benefit of doubt, until you have completed it, then vow to burn the book and never case eyes on the likes of it again?
*UPDATE* Got about two-thirds through the novel and gave it up. Maybe I'll go back and finish it some time, but since then I've found a lot of other books to try that aren't nearly as bad. Also helps I've been enjoying them on a new electronic device, but that's another post far in the future.