Red Dead Redemption. what am I doing wrong?

I bought red dead redemption in the first week it was released since it got so many good reviews. I played it for a bit and I tried very hard to get into it. But I just couldn't. I mean I beat the single player, I played some online.... but nothing really had me saying "wow".... Is there something I'm missing? Because I know fallout didn't appeal to me a lot when I first got it, and then I really started getting into it. But I have tried so many times with Red Dead.... but I just dont know what it is that has people so amazed about it.

for those that play it, what aspect of the game do you focus on? (online, single player, side missions, etc etc)

SP is the best, the reason why it was so popular. It had a great story and really was the only good westren game in a while.

Single player was spectacular and was the one of the only Rockstar games where the protagonist actually made sense. It was a serious story, but damn enjoyable. That being said, I tried multiplayer once and the fact that I went from having the best horse to an ass (donkey) and some Mexican hombre killed it for me. Why did they want me to start with such crappy stuff? Anyway, I've never played a Rockstar game for it's multiplayer. I kinda hope that one day they'll come out with something with a fun multiplayer (GTA V I'm looking at you), but the single player was by far the best that they've put out. I know my friend didn't finish it, but that was because he did exactly what I told him not to. He tried to do all the side missions when the option arose. He would save people from bandits, go hunting, etc, etc. and by the time he got to the story he was already bored. I did find the beginning to be a bit boring, the middle somewhat interesting, and I was hooked by the end. Then I died a little when it was over.

Some games just don't 'click' with some people. You can tell it's a good game but it just doesn't speak your language. For me it was GTA IV, great game but I was so completely uninterested in the side activities that I ended up just rushing through the story missions to get it over with, while in RDR I'd play a story mission every 2 days seeing how busy I was exploring, failing at treasure hunting and doing a million other things. I hated multiplayer though, from the first secondBlack_Knight_00

Pretty much this. Different people have different tastes. If you don't enjoy a game, you shouldn't force yourself to try to like it - you will just end up hating it more. Find something else to play that you find entertaining.