Well, that does sound pretty rubbish. Reminds me of struggling through that terrible conspiracy book on the Cathars and Jesus - the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, I think it was called. Quite involving for the first 30 pages or so, but got more and more tedious. Never started Ulysses because I...
I know what you mean. I soldiered on and finished it - last two chapters unfortunately are quite confusing, so I had to re-read them. Think I probably followed up with something a little lighter. I don't like not finishing a book. My worst was If On A Winter's Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino...