I also was having this exact same issue. I tried reinstalling many times. Read all the help here, but none of it helped me. I even tried installing old version 1.2.1 (which was a pain to find). Even that was failing during install but did create the tables. But it never finished the installation totally. So I could not get 1.2.1 or 1.5.2 to finish installing. The web host I was using is Interland. I’ve seen other people who blog using them, but for some reason the install was not working for me. I don’t know if it is something in the server config or what.
Anyway, I signed up with bluehost.com since the folks here at wordpress recommend them and hey they’re cheap too :o) . I used the exact same files I tried with Interland on Bluehost and the install of 1.5.2 went flawlessly!
So if you are still having this issue I’d recommend talking with your web host or getting another one.
