Recently I started reading a novel that I was excited to read. After getting approximately 45% into it, I lost the pace. It started becoming slow and lousy.
I thought to leave it unfinished but it was from one of my favorite writer (Paulo), so why not just complete it just to meet the finish line?
Sometimes we complete work just because we have started it, regardless of its interest. Is there a word or phrase for this situation?
The expression :
Finished for the sake of finishing, may express the idea you want to convey.
- For the sake of something: (from www.macmillandictionary.com)
- for the purpose of doing, getting, or achieving something
In economics, the sunk cost fallacy is used to describe the tendency to keep investing in something because you've already invested in it, because you feel that to stop investing in it would make your previous investments a waste. This is usually used in terms of money (for example, a manager buys a computer system that doesn't work well, but keeps using it because he thinks that if he doesn't use it, the money he paid for it will be wasted), but it can also be referred to in terms of time, as in your example: You've already spent time reading 45% of the book, so you might feel that to stop reading it now would make the time you already spent reading it a waste. Of course, this is a fallacy because the manager has spent his money whether he keeps using the computer system or not, and you have already spent your time whether you finish reading the book or not.
A slog?
to keep doing something even though it is difficult or boring
You could say that you feel obligated to finish the book.
This could be due to a desire not to waste the money spent on the book, or to avoid disrespecting the author, or any number of things. If you wanted to reach the end just to see what happens, you would be looking for closure.
e.g.
Because the book was so expensive, I felt obligated to complete it.
Because I wanted closure, I felt obligated to complete it.
Completionism is how this is described in the video-gaming community. If a game has collectables and sidequests, a completionist will feel the urge to collect every item and complete every quest. It's done to earn the 100%.
I would use the word "persevere" or "perseverance" in this case.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/persevere
1. to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.
If you are speaking about the action of completing something you don't really feel inclined to do, you can use the phrase "push through".
I lost interest in the book but I like the author so I pushed through and finished it.
I know that this extra work is boring but please push through and finish it.
When you decide to continue a task until completion, you decided to see it through.
A grind
Hard dull work; Produce something dull or tedious slowly and laboriously.
This project is such a grind
Although not specifically stated, it implies something boring which must be completed.
Stickwithitness is a delightful, if somewhat uncommon, neologism that fits this description.
Two examples from the wild:
Stickwithitness!
It’s hard keeping a blog. Isn’t it?
Buying a Los Angeles Home Requires Stickwithitness
Note that the phrase “stick with it” apparently was not used, at least per published books, until 1964.
Compared with “Stick with it,” the exhortation “Hang in there” has similar, but distinct meaning. The latter is also more popular. However, note that Google only has 4 results, as of today, for the non-word “hanginthereness.” (Two words are actually individually quoted, in acknowledgement of their non-existence.) I would postulate that this lack of parallelism with “stick with it” is because “hanging in there” requires little action — merely the maintenance of hope; however, sticking with it requires continue action in the face of discouragement.
If you do something just because you have to do it, the adjective "perfunctory" can be used to describe the verb. But it doesn't fit neatly into your specific example, you'd have to say "I finished it, but in a perfunctory way" or "I gave the rest of the book a perfunctory reading" or similar.
Sounds like you are just 'going through the motions'.
A completist Feels compelled to finish a collection or series. Since the book is by a favorite author and that provides motivation to persevere, it could be called completism. Definition
You could say that you finished (or read) the book for posterity's sake.
The word posterity means future generations. So saying you are doing something for posterity's sake means that you are doing something, usually clarifying, on behalf of future generations. The phrase is often used to describe the act of finishing something for the sake of finishing it.
Saying that you read the book for posterity's sake, also implies that you may have read the book for the purpose of understanding future publications (either by the same author, or that are in reference to it).
This remind me of the impression when I struggled through "What is the life?: Physical aspect of the living cell" by Erwin Schrodinger. We call the continuation of action without any more interest, but because of habit or previous efforts "惰性的に...する (do job, read, speak, run on inertia, or on inertia force)" in Japanese. I wonder the concept of inertia can apply to this case.
All answers well praised for from my side. Thank you.
The well shaped answer I have come across is Commitment. An unspoken commitment plagued in subconscious mind. This happens often, we decide in our mind what have to do how long we have to continue doing it. They are Commitments and nothing else. 'The sake of finishing' is also due to these silent commitments.
so... Commitment is my answer.
This is not a single word but an idiom.
drag your feet/heels as in:
The government promised to provide universal health care, but now it's dragging its feet over the issue.
We expected the company to drag its heels when it came to paying compensation to the injured workers, but now it doesn't want to pay anything!
Examples from EnglishClub. The definition is:
Cambridge: to do something slowly because you do not want to do it
Merriam Webster: failure to do something quickly because you do not want to do it
OCD
This suggestion is not facetious. One of the symptoms of this disorder is to continue activities long after the usefulness is gone. Reading (and/or re-reading) a useless book may fall into this symptomatic illness.
