Thanks for the kudos, still can’t seem to finish Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky no matter when I try to ‘give it a second chance.’
secondchancescomemorethanoncepeace

Of course those Narnia stories are a given…we even read aloud bits and pieces of each book to the kids during ‘family’ time when they were young.

I loved Lewis’s space trilogy. That Hideous Strength was such a different book!
Honestly, Screwtape Letters is not my favorite of his. I prefer the Narnia stories and The Great Divorce.

I agree that if a trusted source encourages me to ‘press on’ through to the end, acknowledging the fact of the boredom factor and all, well I’ll go for it, too. And then there are those novels I’ll plow through regardless just to say, “Yes, I’ve read that…” But those are conscious choices I made to read it through, not because of guilt or obligation (see other comment).
I’ve read several by C.S. Lewis, but not the one you mentioned and also, quite a long time ago. I remember not liking the Screwtape Letters, and now you’ve got me wondering if I should consider re-reading that! 😉

Yes, obligated is a good choice of verbs…and what author really wants an obligated reader? Looked in that way, we’re not doing ourselves or the author any favors in fighting our way to the end of a book that doesn’t connect.

In HS, everyone was reading Lord of the Rings, some guys were even writing notes in middleearthspeak… 😀
I tried to read further than the Hobbit, but it all just didn’t click…Until my twenties and then I read/reread the trilogy all the way through every two years or so!!! Crazy, eh?