My DNF: July 2023

Reading time: 2min

We’ve talked about not feeling guilty and putting books that are simply not for us in the DNF pile. I’ve tried to practice what I preach, and here are the books that were a DNF for July.

84K by Claire North ~ DNF 15%

In this dystopian novel, anybody can get away with any crime, with the right amount of money. Well, not exactly anybody – only the rich people that can afford it. When somebody close to him gets killed leaving him a mission, an employee from the state starts questioning what he previously accepted.

I’m all for experimenting in literature, but in this book it came out to be such a mess… I couldn’t believe it was for real!

For starters, how would you

No, probably won’t feel

Although today a bird reminded me of

Anyway

Confused? Well, if you pick up 84K prepare to scream into a pillow after a while, because this book thrives on this sh*t! I’m not sure if the author was trying to be different and edgy, or simply exploring another way of representing the stream of consciousness, but thanks to How to Read Literature Like a Professor, now I know there are ways that actually work. Okay, you can still debate if it actually is a true stream of consciousness, being still filtered by the author, but you get my point.

The fact that the premise of the book is interesting, but the characters are flat and the author doesn’t make you connect with them, is another reason not to soldier through that writing mess.

People on GoodReads have been saying that it’s the first book by Claire North to be the way it is, but it will be a long while before I give her another chance!

Death of the Scharnhorst, by John Winton ~ DNF 10%

I’d like to use the saying one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, except for the fact that this book is anything but trash!

Death of the Scharnhorst is an amazingly well-researched book. If you are crazy about learning about nautical technicalities and you’re interested in WWII, look no further.

Unfortunately, I’m interested in both WWII and ships, but this book was way beyond my knowledge of the latter, and the very interesting historical facts couldn’t make up for my scarce interest I had in learning everything else at such a degree.

For no fault of his own, but for its strong suits instead, Death of the Scharnhorst was simply not the right reading at the right time.

What books didn’t you finish this month?