According to a recent YouGov survey, roughly four out of ten Americans didn’t finish a single book in 2025. Even among those who did read, most only managed a handful of titles. Let’s be real, finishing books is hard enough when you pick something light and breezy.
Think about that intimidating novel sitting on your shelf right now, gathering dust, silently judging you. You bought it with the best intentions. Maybe you even cracked it open, powered through the first chapter, then… nothing. Here’s the thing: you’re far from alone. Some of the most celebrated books in literary history are also the most frequently abandoned on platforms like Goodreads, where readers track which titles they couldn’t finish.
We’re talking about books so notoriously difficult that simply admitting you gave up on them has become a strange badge of honor. Are you one of those readers who couldn’t quite make it through? Let’s find out.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
With a whopping 1,079 pages, Infinite Jest is among the longest novels ever written. The novel has an unconventional narrative structure and includes hundreds of extensive endnotes, some with footnotes of their own. Many readers report needing two bookmarks just to keep track of where they are in the main text and the footnotes.
The writing style and theme make the book further difficult to read, and it’s written in the opposite of a reader friendly style. It’s not the size that should scare off potential readers, but a very complex structure and various plotlines that follow one after another and seem to be completely unconnected. Some readers have spent nearly a year trying to finish it, and honestly, I think that says everything you need to know about this literary mountain.
Ulysses by James Joyce
It is very understandable that so many people do not finish this novel, combining the heavy use of cryptic and dated allusions, obfuscating narration, an enviable vocabulary and pages of dense prose to decipher. The most experienced, intellectual, and seasoned reader can come to a crossroads when they pick up this book, as it’s widely known as one of the most difficult novels due to Joyce’s layered allusions and stream of consciousness.
James Latham, editor of the University of Tulsa based James Joyce Quarterly, recently described Ulysses as probably the most purchased and least read book in the world. This is a book that has been deemed by many as impenetrable and unreadable, a book that many count as a badge of honour to say they began reading but did not complete. People literally brag about how far they got before giving up.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 appears among the top books based on thousands of votes for the most begun read but unfinished book ever on Goodreads. Joseph Heller’s novel is shelved 585 times as unfinished. The circular logic and nonlinear timeline can leave readers feeling like they’re stuck in the very bureaucratic nightmare the book satirizes.
Some people consider it one of the funniest books ever written, yet plenty of readers can’t push past the first fifty pages. The repetitive structure that makes the book brilliant is also what drives many people away. It’s frustrating when you know something is supposed to be genius, yet you just can’t connect with it.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude is shelved over a thousand times as abandoned and 589 times as unfinished on Goodreads. This book is difficult for several reasons, as García Márquez incorporates magical realism into the telling of this family’s history, and readers must be ready to forget their expectations of what counts as real, with extensive family history and the recurrence of character names making it hard to follow.
Tracking seven generations of the Buendía family would be challenging enough without the added complication of multiple characters sharing the same names. Throw in supernatural elements presented as everyday occurrences, and you’ve got a recipe for reader confusion. It’s a masterpiece of Latin American literature, no doubt, yet many readers find themselves lost in Macondo.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones is shelved 897 times as abandoned. The Goldfinch and even the hugely popular The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo were also abandoned hundreds of times. Despite the massive success of the television adaptation, the book itself proves too dense for many readers.
The sheer number of characters, plotlines, and locations can overwhelm even dedicated fantasy fans. Martin’s detailed descriptions of feasts, heraldry, and medieval politics slow the pace to a crawl in places. Some readers pick it up expecting the show’s pacing and find themselves bogged down in political machinations that seem to go nowhere fast.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien appears among the most begun but unfinished books ever. The first time many readers approach this book, they find it terrifying and confusing and boring in equal measure, though some find the excessive world building and court intrigue appealing on rereading.
Tolkien’s elaborate world building is both his greatest strength and his biggest liability for casual readers. Songs, poems, lengthy descriptions of landscapes, and appendices full of elvish genealogy can test even the most patient fantasy lover. The first hundred pages move at a glacial pace before the real adventure begins, and many readers simply don’t make it that far.
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Moby-Dick appears on lists of the most begun read but unfinished books. The plot of Moby Dick is pretty forward, but the actual story, comprised of overly described prose and complex biblical and mythological references set at a slow pace can be particularly hard to grasp, and by the last page you may not understand what just happened.
Those pages are barnstormers, widely considered one of the Great American Novels, jammed front to back with dense themes, poetic language, and plenty of nautical terminology that can leave more landbound readers all at sea. The chapters devoted entirely to cetology (the study of whales) feel like reading an encyclopedia when you signed up for an adventure story.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace is brilliant. It’s also really long. Period. Leo Tolstoy’s novel is shelved 417 times as unfinished. The Russian names alone are enough to make readers give up before the first battle scene.
Characters are referred to by multiple names and diminutives throughout the text, so keeping track of who’s who becomes a full time job. The philosophical digressions about history and free will interrupt the narrative flow just when things get interesting. It’s a monumental achievement in literature, yet life is short, and this book is very, very long.
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman’s American Gods is shelved over a thousand times as abandoned and 402 times as unfinished. Two possible reasons for this one’s abandonment issues are Neil Gaiman’s frequent use of allusions and deep writing, or fans of the TV series realize that reading’s an entirely different experience from watching.
The novel jumps between the main storyline and tangential backstories about various gods and their histories in America. While these interludes are fascinating to some readers, others find them disruptive and confusing. The slow burn pacing doesn’t help either, as Gaiman takes his time building his mythological America.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged can be eye opening, but its philosophical and political ideas presented in lengthy monologues can be tough to grasp, as the novel uses elements from multiple genres including mystery, romance, and sci fi which may further confuse readers. A reader can quickly lose their enthusiasm to read Atlas Shrugged since it is an 1168 page novel, and timeline uncertainty in the book makes it hard for a reader to determine if the setting is in the past or the future.
The infamous radio speech by John Galt runs for over sixty pages of uninterrupted Objectivist philosophy. That’s a lot to digest, especially when the speech grinds the plot to a complete halt. Many readers put the book down during that section and never pick it back up.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Fifteen literary mountains that readers start climbing with enthusiasm, only to turn back before reaching the summit. The truth is, the median American read just two books in 2025, so finishing any book deserves recognition.
Here’s the thing though: abandoning a difficult book isn’t failure. Life’s too short to slog through something that brings you no joy, and sometimes the timing just isn’t right. Maybe you’ll return to that dusty copy of Infinite Jest in five years and find it clicks perfectly. Or maybe you won’t, and that’s okay too.
The real question isn’t whether you finished these books. It’s whether you’re brave enough to try them in the first place. Which one is sitting on your shelf right now, staring back at you? Are you going to give it another shot?
