The Worst Book You've Ever Read?

[ben.!]

For me there have been three books I can safely say I didn't enjoy at all:

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - Just could not get into it. I know its all to do with African culture, but I just could not relate, their strange rituals with foo-foo yams and beating the wife and kids for acedentally dropping a bowl I just could not see point in. But then again, I think thats my western culture kicking into it.

Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson - I found the prose in this cold and distant, the dialogue stinted, and as a reviewer rightly said on Amazon: 'The characters are about as alive as my left shoe'. The plot I found uninteresting too, and jumped around too much.

and

Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger (Is that her name?) - The pinnacle of silly chick literature. I read this purely to pretend I'd seen the film of it with a friend and not the gory modern Australian adaption of Macbeth. Most of the novel is about a young woman who goes to her work, gets paid big bucks but whines the whole time about how her boss treats her. I spent the whole 3/4 of the novel I read thinking: 'Why doesn't she just sue her boss for harassment and defamation? Better still, change jobs? She could put the richest fashion mag job in her resume.'

Ahh, the joys of flaws in bad plots...

[Sir Bartholomew]

those Harlequin paperbacks

[EricP]

"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand -- I don't understand how this book has endured and remained so popular. I knew when I picked it up that I disagreed with Rand's philosophy, but I hoped that the novel would be well-written and nuanced. Instead, I found it to be preachy and filled with one-dimensional characters.

[Dark Muse]

I have not read that one, but I have to say I abolutely love The Fountainhead

[armenian]

i can never get past the first 2 or 3 pages hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

[Idril]

i can never get past the first 2 or 3 pages hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

Awww, I loved that book but I can also see how it wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea.

I just finished Somersault by Kenzaburo Oe and I have to say, that was one of the hardest books for me to finish, I didn't care for it one little bit.

[slobone]

Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Hands down the creepiest most depressing book I've ever read. You have to give him credit for how exquisitely he crafted this piece of slime. I can't even believe I managed to finish it.

[Dark Muse]

That sounds intriguing

[kelby_lake]

i can never get past the first 2 or 3 pages hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

I glanced at bits which I liked. I wouldn't want to read it all the way through but I enjoyed smiling at some episodes I passed.

[bej6s]

Books I couldn't finish:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines (British Lit)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

[Idril]

I thought the film would be easier, but I've tried several times and haven't been able to get through that, either. Still, I know some people who adore that film, so maybe it's "just not for us."

I think the book would be easier than the movie because there's a little more description and things flow slightly better...although even the book is pretty random and very, very silly.

[slobone]

It actually sounds good to me, too. I love Ishiguro's writing and this is the only book of his I haven't yet read.

Oh, it's brilliantly written all right. Otherwise it wouldn't have been so painful to read. Kind of like Eraserhead...

Anyway, read it and get back to us. But I doubt if I'll be tackling Remains of the Day anytime soon. Apparently the movie didn't do justice to how depressing it is.

I think the book would be easier than the movie because there's a little more description and things flow slightly better...although even the book is pretty random and very, very silly.

I think the original radio series was the best version. The movie looked pretty awful, I stopped watching after 10 minutes.

[maria4645]

virginia wolf-mrs. dalloway omg i had to read this book for an advanced english class and i couldnt get passed 30 pages.

[prendrelemick]

A Thousand Splendid Suns. Deary me, misery from start to finish.

[The Comedian]

I had a really, really, really hard time enduring Uncle Tom's Cabin. I know its an important historical work. And I appreciate that. But Heavens! Oh, is it ever so sentimental! The softened skin from under a poor child's tears could not tell of the immense sorrow that I had to face when this monstrous pile of sentimentally was laid heavy upon my shoulders! Woe! Woe! Exclamation points! Woes!!