The Best Book You've Hated

[togre]

Have you ever read a book, been able to acknowledge its overall quality and value and still felt a profound subjective dislike or even hate for the work?

For me Vanity Fair is just such a book. I can't argue any defect of style or form. The satire was well crafted and well aimed. Yet I don't like it one lick. It made me sad, and angry and disappointed to see what the author made the characters suffer. Not rational? Sure, but that's my feeling nonetheless.


What about you? Are there any books where your objective assessment and your subjective assessment are at complete odds?

[tonywalt]

I would say Hunter Thompson's 'Fear and Loathing'. I really liked the book, but Hunter is self involved and there me alot of colouring in the book.

[Aspirational]

Lord of the Flies for me. I think it's terrible subjectively; a useless way of presenting something that would have been much more shocking if presented subtly. Not to mention that I find the writing a little unengaging at times. But as to the size, relevancy and importance of the book's message, none can be really questioned.

[TheFifthElement]

The Great Gatsby. Beautifully written book about a bunch of hateful people.

[Charles Darnay]

The Great Gatsby. Beautifully written book about a bunch of hateful people.

Delightfully hateful people :)

I would have to say "Handmaid's Tale" - or the book that completely turned me off Atwood until I read "Oryx and Crake". I just despised that book, despite there being no real evident flaws in it.

[Insane4Twain]

Crime and Punishment. A guy commits a murder just to find out how it feels? Plus, it's a Russian novel which means you have to put up with the variations of the names of all the characters. I hated it.

[PoeticPassions]

Crime and Punishment. A guy commits a murder just to find out how it feels? Plus, it's a Russian novel which means you have to put up with the variations of the names of all the characters. I hated it.

That's blasphemy
:P

But really, that hurt... still I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion or dislike for works of literature.

I have to say I kind of hated Moby Dick, but then again I read it when I was way too young to read it.

[Insane4Twain]

I have to say I kind of hated Moby Dick, but then again I read it when I was way too young to read it.
Moby Dick is a fine novel so long as you read every other chapter.

[Darcy88]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I don't get Joyce. I can picture all you litnetters' eyes blazing with inquisitorial disdain at such heathen blasphemy, but I just don't get Joyce. I probably will with time though. Things usually grow on me.

[JuniperWoolf]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I don't get Joyce. I can picture all you litnetters' eyes blazing with inquisitorial disdain at such heathen blasphemy, but I just don't get Joyce. I probably will with time though. Things usually grow on me.

Don't worry, I'm the same way. After most of Joyce's stories I'm left thinking "...what?"

The classic that I absolutely hated the most was by far The Great Gatsby. What a lifeless boring... well, nevermind. His prose is flawless, I just hated the characters and the story. I like a lot of his other work.

[Paulclem]

If I don't like a book, then I don't read it unless I'm studying it for something - which is why I read Emma by Jane Austen. I didn't hate the book; I'm just not interested in a book of manners however well written it is.

I found Crime and Punishment claustrophobic to read, but again I didn't hate it.

A fantasy book - series by Stephen Donaldson was the series I read but disliked. It meant I couldn't read his latest instalment, and I didn't get on with his foray into sci fi either. It's his psychological detail that I find absolutely irritating. In his The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - I could just put up with it because the stories were fresh with interesting ideas. H clearly has a psychological profile for a human mind which he constantly refers to, but I found it very false.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Uncle Tom's Cabin[i]. I loathe that book.

P.S. [I]Moby Dick rules, all chapters included!

[hanzklein]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I don't get Joyce. I can picture all you litnetters' eyes blazing with inquisitorial disdain at such heathen blasphemy, but I just don't get Joyce. I probably will with time though. Things usually grow on me.

'Getting' Joyce is a lifelong process. I recommend you read the biography on him by Ellmann (it's also considered one of the greatest biographies ever).

[Pensive]

Wuthering Heights.

[cyberbob]

The Sun Also Rises.

[Calidore]

Johnny Get Your Gun for me.

[KCurtis]

Delightfully hateful people :)

I would have to say "Handmaid's Tale" - or the book that completely turned me off Atwood until I read "Oryx and Crake". I just despised that book, despite there being no real evident flaws in it.

The Great Gatsby is my favorite book, the characters are hateful, but they are so well developed and keep you guessing- they are hateful yet I felt sorry for and had great compassion for Gatsby. I found the characters intriguing.
I HATED Handsmaid's Tale.

[KCurtis]

Don't worry, I'm the same way. After most of Joyce's stories I'm left thinking "...what?"

The classic that I absolutely hated the most was by far The Great Gatsby. What a lifeless boring... well, nevermind. His prose is flawless, I just hated the characters and the story. I like a lot of his other work.
I'm almost crying- I will try to keep an open mind and find you a good person even if you hate my favorite book.

[the facade]

I'm a Hesse nut, but Siddhartha without a doubt.

[Insane4Twain]

The Sun Also Rises.And everything Ernest Hemingway wrote, and the horse what brung him.

[PoeticPassions]

I'm a Hesse nut, but Siddhartha without a doubt.

What? Why!??

[PoeticPassions]

And everything Ernest Hemingway wrote, and the horse what brung him.

Hemingway should have stuck to writing short stories.

[PabloQ]

For me, it's The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The importance of the book in terms of its effect on reforms in food processing is undeniable. However, the overall journey of the main character was tough to watch as it unfolded.

[JuniperWoolf]

I'm almost crying- I will try to keep an open mind and find you a good person even if you hate my favorite book.

Haha, I used to get personally offended whenever someone on litnet said that they hated The Grapes of Wrath. Don't worry, if you hang out here long enough, it doesn't matter what your favorite book is, you'll get used to people who hate/offend it.

[KCurtis]

Haha, I used to get personally offended whenever someone on litnet said that they hated The Grapes of Wrath. Don't worry, if you hang out here long enough, it doesn't matter what your favorite book is, you'll get used to people who hate/offend it.

I'm not offended, just sad!:nopity: Grapes of Wrath is on my list, I used to love and read Steinbeck when I was very young.

[togre]

And everything Ernest Hemingway wrote, and the horse what brung him.

When I was in high school and knew everything and was smarter than every other person in the world, I said the three worst writers ever were Shakespeare, Twain and Hemingway.

Yeah. I actually said that to people. <facepalm>



I have come to love Shakespeare more than life itself and think him more brilliant than sliced bread. I now acknowledge Twain has an unparalleled gift for story-telling and a very keen insight into his times and society, even if his own world-view grates and his sarcasm can, at times, grow depressing. I still wish Hemingway was alive so I could punch him in the face.

[grace86]

I couldn't stand reading Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis. I read the book in its entirety about five years ago - and for the life of me I cannot recall what it was about - only that it drove me crazy to read.

Another one that makes that list is Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It depressed the crud out of me. I felt at times like I was suffocating.

.....CRIME AND PUNISHMENT?! One of my all time FAVORITES! Even despite the complicated names and depressing psychological progression...but to each his own I suppose. :D

[Insane4Twain]

I have come to love Shakespeare more than life itself and think him more brilliant than sliced bread. I now acknowledge Twain has an unparalleled gift for story-telling and a very keen insight into his times and society, even if his own world-view grates and his sarcasm can, at times, grow depressing. I still wish Hemingway was alive so I could punch him in the face.I wish you were here - so I could open some cold beers with you.