So i borrowed Red Dead from a friend and have been trying to power through it, i went a while doing sidequests until i decided they are a waste of time and boring, but even now when i rarely will do anything that is not a main quest, i am still not compelled to play.  The story is neat, riding horses is neat, and hunting and skinning animals, also neat.  But I am not seeing anything special to bring me back for more.  I have this fear every once in a while when playing a video game that everyone else loves and not enjoying it.  Am I playing this wrong somehow?  I certainly hope so because I love rare and i love GTA games, but the game that i really see in this is Bully which was an absolute favorite.  Can someone help me love this game?

To answer the title- its the latter.

I'd say that's normal. I loved RDR but just because a game is widely praised doesn't mean everyone's going to like it. For example, I don't get the God of War series. I own the first two and lost interest halfway through both of them, never bothered picking up the third. Maybe RDR just isn't your thing.

Go watch some old westerns like hang em high, the good the bad and the ugly, a fistful of dollars etc. I watched aload of them before the release of RDR and was so pumped for its release.
 
Of course it could just be that you are a human capable of having a unique opinion and shouldn't be overly shocked if you don't have identical feelings towards the game as everyone else. 
 
I played GTA 4 for 3 hours and thought it was crap, I played RDR in 2 sittings pretty much. Different strokes for different folks

I think maybe it's that you are just doing the story stuff? I don't know, but for me RDR is a lot of fun because the world seems so fully realized that I can just decide to go out and play some poker, then ride to another town, but on the way, I have to break up a fight, which then, I notice an animal in the distance that I need for a hunting challenge, and after tracking that, I see some flowers that need picking...etc.... 
 
It's one of the more organic experiences in a game I've had, and spending time in the world is what makes that game special

There are a lot of people not into this game, so don't worry about it.

  I absolutely can not stand Red Dead Redemption.

I'm also having trouble getting tinto the game. So did I with Fallout 3, and eventually it took over my life. well, part of it.

" I'd say that's normal. I loved RDR but just because a game is widely praised doesn't mean everyone's going to like it. For example, I don't get the God of War series. I own the first two and lost interest halfway through both of them, never bothered picking up the third. Maybe RDR just isn't your thing. "

Red Dead Redemption starts off slowly, but it's the sort of game you need to approach in the right mindset. You need to be alone with the game to be really immersed into it. I recommend if you are not yet, that you play this game on an HD display. While this goes for all games, it goes twice for this one. Redemption has an absolutely beautiful world for you to explore, and I can't even imagine playing it squeezed into SD anymore. It genuinely does benefit from HD, as I imagine the HUD would be difficult to see on a standard definition set. I haven't tried RDR on SD, so if you play the game on both kinds of display, please do tell me what it's like in comparison.
 
In addition, I noticed you were trying to power through the game. This is most definitely the wrong way to enjoy Redemption. Take it slowly, and do everything you can / want to in the game world. It's a game that really benefits from being played through slowly. There is more to reward the slower player than the fast player of this game. It took me over 18 hours to complete the story, and I can see that it honestly was not a slow run, or a fast one. Complete side-quests, but if you find them boring try approaching them in different ways. For example, why not try using stealth and knifing your way along in missions where it would be possible? If you want to see how you're progressing I recommend that you sign up to the Rockstar Games Social Club (located here). It may help you want to do more with the game, and it's worth a shot seeing as it's free. 
 
If you still cannot get into the game, then try online. Single-Player might not really be the area that appeals to you, but you tried it, and that is the main thing. Should online not even appeal to you, it's likely Redemption is simply not the kind of game that might appeal to you.

" @tehnuggies:   Also, did you mean you love R* and not Rare? "  

Maybe the Western with cowboys and horses isn't really your type of setting for a game.  I do believe RDR is not really a game for everyone.  It requires not just the appreciation and patience for open-world games, but the appreciation for the Western setting as well.  Me personally, I thought I wouldn't like it, but playing a game where I can be a cowboy, ride horses, hunt for animals and simulate the life of a cowboy in that era, I learned to appreciate it completely.  I guess I like the game coz it's different from the GTA games where everything happens in a city and you drive cars.  After playing a lot of GTA games, I grew tired of it and RDR is a really great change from the GTA games. :) 
 
Try playing it for a couple more days and give it a go.  If you still don't like it, then it's not that you're missing something or just crazy, you just don't like the style of the game. :)

RDR is great, but for me I had played enough sandbox games lately, altho the minigames (the new one, compared to saint's row/GTA ones) were pretty fun and playing cards is always fun.
 
But it all got old, fast.
 
Story is alright tho.

"...just because a game is widely praised doesn't mean everyone's going to like it."

I was pretty bored by the game, so no your not crazy.

" Anyone else ever have the feeling that you should like a game though?"

I'd say I had similar feelings towards RDR. I mean, I looked at it and saw it as fairly consistently alright. Presentation was really good, but as far as the gameply goes, it seemed like there was a lot to do, but that none of it was all that compelling. 
 
Though, I didn't see it as something I should like, since I figured that this is another case of people suckling at Rockstar's teat. I haven't been a big fan of them since San Andreas.

It got pretty boring/ uninteresting in Mexico....

And it took my 2 days and 3 hours to complete the story :)

The gameplay is great and the world is awesome, but the story and the story missions were garbage. By the time they threw a second mandatory race in with the story, I know longer cared about the rest. In GTA4, I never skipped a cutscene because most of the time it was interesting and enjoyable. Then I get to the end of this one, and no spoilers, but I said, "Oh god, why am I herding cattle for the FIFTH fucking time!" Five herding story missions, two races, too much forced hunting, more than a handful of escort missions, five times on a Gatling gun which made it seem less special, and everyone screwing over the main character.

" So i borrowed Red Dead from a friend and have been trying to power through it, i went a while doing sidequests until i decided they are a waste of time and boring, but even now when i rarely will do anything that is not a main quest, i am still not compelled to play.  The story is neat, riding horses is neat, and hunting and skinning animals, also neat.  But I am not seeing anything special to bring me back for more.  I have this fear every once in a while when playing a video game that everyone else loves and not enjoying it.  Am I playing this wrong somehow?  I certainly hope so because I love rare and i love GTA games, but the game that i really see in this is Bully which was an absolute favorite.  Can someone help me love this game? "

" @marioncobretti: @FireBurger:    Anyone else ever have the feeling that you should like a game though?  I''m just curious at this point. "

I know how you feel...people's praise of No More Heroes always seems like a joke i'm not in on.
 
Oh yeah, and MGS 4 as well as the original Mass Effect. didn't do much for me.

I feel the same way about Fallout 3.  I love Oblivion, I've played it for hundreds of hours and I still install it every once in a while and get sucked right back in. I love open world wRPGs and I love all of Bethesda's work, yet for some reason I can't get into Fallout 3. I've tried and tried, I've installed gameplay and visual mods just looking for a way into it, but it just doesn't work.  
 
Something about it just isn't right for me. And perhaps something about RDR isn't right for you.