Most difficult book to finish reading...

The Wastelands- But my excuse is that I was only like 10 or 11 when the paperback came out and I hadn't read The Gunslinger or Drawing of the Three yet. Still have the same copy and now its well worn but between the first attempt at reading it and finally finishing it was a period of a few years. Was almost enough to put me off even reading the first two books but luckily that attitude went away.

The Talisman- Another one that I read a bit of in my youth and put down only to pick up when I had matured a bit. The first 100 or so pages are still a bit of a chore to get through even at the ripe old age of 30 but the remainder of the book is worth the struggle.

As for The Gunslinger and it being a hard read... Get through the events in Tull at the very least which may just hook you and you may just find the pages flipping by like you yourself were given access to the neat little trick with your fingers that took Roland years to learn when reloading.

Hardest for me to get through was Drawing of the Three, tried 3 times over a period of years and every time I got to the Odetta part I would put it down and not pick it up again for a year or more. The jarring stop in a story that was getting very interesting to me was just too much. Finally plodded through it a couple years ago, it is still my least favorite of the DT books.

Longest time to read had to be the uncut version of The Stand, so much back story to begin with just made it take me awhile to get through, the book is in my top 5 of his books, it just took me about a year to read it the first time. Now, I love all that back story, it's always interesting how different a book can be on re-read since you know the end already so you get to enjoy the little things that you may have missed the first time around.

Hearts In Atlantis. No difficulty getting through the first two-thirds, but the last third had more roughage than two fistfulls of kale. I'm sure it was good for me, but boy did it take effort to process!

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Originally Posted by Shoesalesman

Hearts In Atlantis. No difficulty getting through the first two-thirds, but the last third had more roughage than two fistfulls of kale. I'm sure it was good for me, but boy did it take effort to process!

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I read The Low Men In Yellow Coats right after I finished DTVII. Never read past it. At the moment I was on a "I wanna read anything connected to the DT series kick". I may come back to it one day and finish the other sections. So much to read, so little time!

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Originally Posted by unclelouie

I read The Low Men In Yellow Coats right after I finished DTVII. Never read past it. At the moment I was on a "I wanna read anything connected to the DT series kick". I may come back to it one day and finish the other sections. So much to read, so little time!

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Now that I think of it... it was probably my own expectations of what I wanted the book to be that affected the last part of HIA. It started out so strong, then drooped, and I remember being disappointed the closer the end got. Suppose it's not the best kind of attitude in giving the story a fair shake, is it?

Without a doubt the hardest book for me to finish was The Tommyknockers. I felt that SK just rambled and babbled for long stretches and it just bored me stiff. Seems like it took forever to finish. A close second would have to be From A Buick 8, which didn't involve me on any level.

For me it was 'Salem's Lot. I don't know why, but I just could not get into it. I will give it another chance sometime.

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Originally Posted by Tim D.

Without a doubt the hardest book for me to finish was The Tommyknockers. I felt that SK just rambled and babbled for long stretches and it just bored me stiff. Seems like it took forever to finish. A close second would have to be From A Buick 8, which didn't involve me on any level.

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I read Buick 8 when it came out and I wasn't too crazy about it either. But a funny thing happened a few years later. I found the audiobook in a thrift store and bought it because it was real cheap. I listened to the audiobook and loved it. Go figure.

The book I struggled with the most is probably his shortest, Tom Gordon. I just could not get into that one at all. I'm going to give it another try one of these days. Sometimes, you're just not in the right mood.

The Gunslinger, definitely. Insomia started slow, but was definitely worth the read.

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Originally Posted by unclelouie

I read The Low Men In Yellow Coats right after I finished DTVII. Never read past it. At the moment I was on a "I wanna read anything connected to the DT series kick". I may come back to it one day and finish the other sections. So much to read, so little time!

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Do it. HIA (the book, not just the story) is fantastic.