Eragon. I might still be bearing a grudge against it though, having paid twelve pound upon its release and then never managing to read past the first few chapters. That's the only book that really comes to my mind as 'bad'.
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Eragon. I might still be bearing a grudge against it though, having paid twelve pound upon its release and then never managing to read past the first few chapters. That's the only book that really comes to my mind as 'bad'.
Not surprising considering that the author was a teenager when he wrote it.Quote:
Originally Posted by cral
I know that this is a play, but Our Town by Thorton Wilder is possibly the worst thing I've ever read. The point of the plot is to be as mundane as possible, and, well, isn't the point of literature to escape from the mundane?
Otherwise, I would have to say the Lord of the Flies was dreadful.
I personally enjoyed Lord of the Flies, it was not the best think I have ever read, but I liked it well enough
The message was fine, and I believe that the ending was the best part because of what it revealed about civilization. And beside that, it provided for a release from the book...
Love Story by Erich Segal.
I didn't like The Old Man and the Sea - yes,I know talking against Hemingway is a blasphemy around these boards,but I really hated this book.
This is,of course,as far as serious literature is concerned - I shall not take authors such as Coelho,Rand or Brown into account - if I did,this post would turn into a VERY tiresome rant.
Lemme think:
1) To Kill A Mockingbird. No, to bore it to death. It might have been a very good book had it not been for the rubbish that is part 1 and atticus' moral lessons. Really, I understand that to backwards towns in South America in the '60's, the idea that racism was bad was revolutionary but nowadays we've realised that it's kinda pretty obvious. All it's doing, at least now, is saying 2 +2=4 in a very smug white middle class way
2)The Immoralist by Andre Gide. It was a bit strange but nothing really happens. Just right at the end he goes super-weird and paedophilic: it's never mentioned for that even though the narrator says some quite creepy things (he only likes young boys)
And some of the best books, a mon avis, that I've read (if we balance it out we can see why people have put these books as being the worst they've read):
Lolita, the Great Gatsby, Les Enfants Terribles, Brideshead Revisited, Giovanni's Room...
I've read loads good stuff.
Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
I am reading The Sun also Rises and finding it quite pointless. Nothing has happened in the first 60 pages that I have read so far. Getting tired of all the monosyllabic drones! Read A Farewell to Arms 18 years ago for my first MA and loved it, read The Old Man and the Sea last year and didn't hate it either (although can't recall anything!) but The Sun also Rises is heavy going. I hated As I Lay Dying as well.
Interesting. I hated The Sun Also Rises as well. Couldn't stand it, in fact. I've been told that if you really like the characters, the book is a lot better. But I didn't. I couldn't stand Jake or Brett, and I thought they were whiny and meaningless. But oh well.
I loved As I Lay Dying, on the other hand, but I'm nuts for Faulkner.
I also really hated Great Expectations. But I'm loving A Tale of Two Cities.
Also strongly disliked Wuthering Heights. Too many characters with the same name, not enough plot.
But as far as the WORST book I've ever read, I think I'll nominate The Joy Luck Club. Could not under any circumstances get through that book. I thought the characters were incredibly whiny and pathetic. Maybe I missed the point. I don't really hate the book per say, but it bored me to tears and I quit reading it. Probably the worst thing I've ever tried to get through...saw no literary merit.