The single most important book in my life is one I did not finish reading.
As a teenager I spend a few weeks reading Ivan Hortan's beginning C++ in depth. But, I skipped the last few hundred pages focused on the STL. I wanted to know the ins and outs of the language, but after that I had what I wanted and I moved on. And considering it's been 15 years and I have never seen a reason to go back and read that section or even write much C++ it was probably a wise choice.
Now you could argue that different rules apply to fiction, but the choice is the same. Do I risk continuing or should I quit and try something else and it's the authors job to convince you that the rest of the journey is still worth it. Feeling you can only judge what you finish is just the sunk cost fallacy in another form, they failed and it's ok to call them on it.
As mentioned in the other reply, "For reference works, or almost any type of nonfiction these days, nonlinear consumption makes a lot of sense." So for your engagement with Hortan's C++, it makes sense that you would take what you needed and not what you didn't.
But yes, I would argue that different rules apply to fiction. Completion is an essential part of the process. If you don't like the book, or don't want to finish, by all means don't finish! I've quit books for a number of reasons. If the book isn't holding your interest, that's - well, to say it's the author's fault is perhaps assigning blame where blame doesn't apply, but rather say that the fault is not yours. It's the job of the book to entertain, and while it may entertain some, it doesn't for you. You can put a book down in good conscience, certainly. But I disagree with the author's idea that finishing a book is purely optional.
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The single most important book in my life is one I did not finish reading.
As a teenager I spend a few weeks reading Ivan Hortan's beginning C++ in depth. But, I skipped the last few hundred pages focused on the STL. I wanted to know the ins and outs of the language, but after that I had what I wanted and I moved on. And considering it's been 15 years and I have never seen a reason to go back and read that section or even write much C++ it was probably a wise choice.
Now you could argue that different rules apply to fiction, but the choice is the same. Do I risk continuing or should I quit and try something else and it's the authors job to convince you that the rest of the journey is still worth it. Feeling you can only judge what you finish is just the sunk cost fallacy in another form, they failed and it's ok to call them on it.
As mentioned in the other reply, "For reference works, or almost any type of nonfiction these days, nonlinear consumption makes a lot of sense." So for your engagement with Hortan's C++, it makes sense that you would take what you needed and not what you didn't.
But yes, I would argue that different rules apply to fiction. Completion is an essential part of the process. If you don't like the book, or don't want to finish, by all means don't finish! I've quit books for a number of reasons. If the book isn't holding your interest, that's - well, to say it's the author's fault is perhaps assigning blame where blame doesn't apply, but rather say that the fault is not yours. It's the job of the book to entertain, and while it may entertain some, it doesn't for you. You can put a book down in good conscience, certainly. But I disagree with the author's idea that finishing a book is purely optional.