"… out of the plot gracefully"

From: mentormob

“'Sir—' remarked Samuel Johnson with droll incredulity to someone too eager to know whether he had finished a certain book—'Sir, do you read books through?'

     Well, do we? Right through to the end? And if we do, are we the suckers Johnson supposed one must be to make a habit of finishing books?
     Schopenhauer, who thought and wrote a great deal about reading, is on Johnson’s side. Life is 'too short for bad books' and 'a few pages' should be quite enough, he claims, for 'a provisional estimate of an author’s productions.' After which it is perfectly okay to bail out if you’re not convinced.
     …I start a book. I’m enjoying it thoroughly, and then the moment comes when I just know I’ve had enough. It’s not that I’ve stopped enjoying it. I’m not bored, I don’t even think it’s too long. I just have no desire to go on enjoying it. Can I say then that I’ve read it? Can I recommend it to others and speak of it as a fine book?"
— Tim Parks, The New York Review of Books
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