Thanks for mentioning that. Twain was right, Fennimore -Cooper wasn't a good writer. 18 of a possible 19 literary sins.Quote:
Originally Posted by HandBag
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Thanks for mentioning that. Twain was right, Fennimore -Cooper wasn't a good writer. 18 of a possible 19 literary sins.Quote:
Originally Posted by HandBag
I never finished this book as well...
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Originally Posted by Edmond
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald was AWFUL and it was a major ordeal to get all the way through it.
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Originally Posted by PeterL
I had to read it for my uni course....
i forgot to mention my dislike for dickens also, but i suppose indicating i hated James was a hint of that.
I am happy that I have avoided reading much of Fennimore-Cooper, but I understand why he was a noteworthy author. It is a pity that he didn't learn how to wwrite well.Quote:
Originally Posted by HandBag
The problem that I have with Dickens and many other authors is that they toss too much into a book. Perhaps they want to create an extremely detailed picture for the reader, and perhaps they have multiple reasons for writing a given book. I think the reason varies.
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Originally Posted by PeterL
Indeed, Realism is not the best.
If a book is descriptivly ornate and beautiful, thats fine. But if a writer proceeds to go on for 3 pages about some laundrette/ dusty victorian kitchen....im just not interested.
It isn't that realism isn't good, but a reader already has a concept of what the details would be like in a "dusty victorian kitchen". Even if the reader doesn't have a clear concept of the victorian part, a dusty kitchen should be meaningful and Victorian would simply mean from more than a hundred years ago. What goes on in that kitchen? That's what I wnat to know about.Quote:
Originally Posted by HandBag
Dickens wrote many or most of his stories in serial fashion. I'm not an expert, but I think that they were weekly. And each week he was required to provide so many words. This forced him to write some overlong portions. I'm not sure if he later edited out sections he wrote, or maintained them for the integrity of the work. I believe the latter. I can barely read any of his stories anymore, but knowing this helped me to finish the few I have read.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterL
Worst book-
"Great Expectations" Charles Dickens.
Usually I really like the guy's works but this absolutely put me to sleep. I mean, I was expecting something that was ok- at least passable. I had to read it for English class yet I never finished it. THey say to not judge a book by it's cover. I say not to judge it by its title because I had 'great expectations' for this book and I was disappointed.
I liked "Catcher In The Rye" but I can see how it might be aggravating.
Yes he did write them as serials, but he could have written a novel, then chopped it up instead of what he did. I think that they were monthly rather than weekly. I just looked it up and found that he was writing several at once.Quote:
Originally Posted by B-Mental
"In 1838, while OLIVER TWIST was still running in the MISCELLANY, Dickens began writing and publishing NICHOLAS NICKLEBY. Like PICKWICK, NICHOLAS appeared in twenty 32-page monthly parts."
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/dickens/life_publication2.html
The Monkey for Stephan king , i couldnot complete it cause it was stupied
DA VINCI CODE dan brown.....most say it's really agood book.But most say it's full of blasphemy...makes me scared to read it!
I have been trying to get my hands on the DeVinci Code for so long now because I want to find out for myself. I just haddent had the time between school and reading otherstuff.
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I liked Great Expectations. Perhaps it was because a friend told me it was wonderful and I went in with a predisposition. But Dickens isn't the only classic who tends to run on like that. Did anyone read Lord of the Rings? Half was painfully slow and half as thrilling.
I reread Jonathon Sergull by Richard Bach I believe it is? But I remember reading it in high school and now that I am reading some of it over. It's like, "What did I see in the book.?, other than a seagull that learns to fly, then goes off to learn how to fly some more and even better.. gee what am I missing here??
The worst book, hands down, is The Pact by Drs. Hunt, Davis and Jenkins. I had to read it for a class over the summer and it was the biggest waste of time. There has never been a book before, so filled, cover-to-cover, with cliches and dull sentence structure. Page 210: "Alone in my room I listened to 2Pac. He rapped about the pull between his old life as a thug and his new one as a rich rapper. I related to his isolation." On the NY Times Best-Seller List, this trash does not belong.
i think the worst books are the books that are based on the unfortunate things that happen in the world (rape, autism, racism, war, etc.) and turn them into lengthy chicken soup moments. it's even worse when they become best-sellers. (i'm thinking, for example, the kite runner and the lovely bones :p) it's not the author's fault, of course, and who knows, maybe the author's motive in writing the book is sincere after all. but every time i encounter a book like that, i can't help thinking that the author is just taking advantage of these unfortunate events because who would dare to criticize an, ah, moving book about a boy in afghanistan or about a boy with autism? (i've also noticed if you write about heaven, no matter how politically incorrect, you're probably going to get your book on the next best-selling list.)
as a sidenote, i will also add that the worst readers are (1) those who read best-sellers and instantly love them because all of the wonderful reviews they've heard prior to reading (2) those who are anti mainstream books and resolve to every single one they've read (3) those who read only classics and think every modern book is trash :p (fear not, i'm also mocking myself on this one)
Somehow I doubt you actually read it. Das Kapital was written solely by Marx. As his friend and supporter, Engels did play a part in commenting it, but this hardly qualifies as being a co-author. And it's pointless commenting the endless amounts of concepts and innovations in the field Marx presented in Das Kapital, and this is a student of economics speaking.Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterL
Perhaps you're mistaking it with the Communist Manifesto? That one was indeed a collaboration between the two, and it probably resembles more what you can consider as a "load of inaccurate drivel". Personally, I wouldn't go that far.
On topic, if we grant the mercy of considering them books, then probably something along the lines of Coelho earns the prize in my opinion.
MEIN KAMPF
by adolf hitler
the racist, anti-semitic ______________
seriously though, i am ashamed that a single member of my species agreed with this book and its morals.
Ian Hislop, editor of the satirical magazine, "Private Eye", once advocated a return of the death penalty in Britain for two classes of people; those that read Jeffrey Archer's books and those that write Jeffrey Archer's books. I couldn't agree more. :D
I agree with bootlegger!
For some reason, I had thought that The Communist Manifesto was solely by Marx, while Capital was a joint effort by Marx and Engels; I had it backwards. I haven't read all of Capital, but I have read significant parts of it. Referring to it as "load of inaccurate drivel" was for effect. There is too much in it to apply a single epithet to it. But I have major problems with the premises, and I doubt the validity of the a large part of the facts that he used.Quote:
Originally Posted by crisaor
On the other hand, The Communist Manifesto is almost funny.
Da Vinci code, because it's a speculation
I am reading "the Da Vinci Code"...it's not swaying me much.
"The Catcher in the Rye". I found the book terribly boring.
lol :lol: :lol: :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Levi 65
I couldn't have said it better myself.
Virginia Wolf makes me want to scream and The Grapes of wrath DID make me scream. I couldn't bear it, it was like listening to someone snoring loudly while someone else scratched their fingers down a blackboard.
I read about Jeffrey and thought his life quite amazing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xamonas Chegwe
Then I tried reading not a penny .... and couldn't get past the first chapter. I really tried. next i tried reading the president's daughter or whatever it was called and I couldn't stand more than a couple of paragraphs. I don't even know why. i will try again and be more fair by at least having read something of his.
Being a Jewish woman I found although I tried that even looking at the book made me hear the screams of my and other dear people, especially the children, in my head so I couldn't. But a gentleman who I don't remember the name of said in his book on Hitler that had the leaders of the other nations, including Germany read the book they would have been forewarned exactly of what Adolf Hitler was going to do. But sales were low even in Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by bootlegger
What a terrible shame.
There's this one terrible novel I read. Too many characters to keep track of, and nowhere near enough plotline. Far too formulaic for my taste.
Perhaps you've heard of it--if you have, then I strongly suggest you stay away from The Yellow Pages.
This sums up my opinion. If you don't like a book, be like Groucho Marx:Quote:
Originally Posted by Günter Grass
PS. This doesn't apply to Jeffrey Archer. His books should be burnt. Around a stake to which he is tied.Quote:
Originally Posted by Groucho Marx
Xamonas,
it is one thing to not like Archer, but to say that because he writes a certain way, to say even in fun that he should be tied to a stake rather undermines all I thought you believed in. I thought you were for freedom of speech and applauded others who say stuff that offends others.And isn't that what people did when they accused them of witchcraft? It just sounds rather, er violent. couldn't we just give him a one way ticket to a country we won't be visiting?
Um, he wouldn't be a relative that has done you ill or even cut you out of his will would he?
^^
dude, get off your high horse and unbutton the stiff collar. The world would be a much better place if more people were able to appreciate humorous and 'tongue-in-cheek' (you might wanna look that up in the oxford dictionary) responses.
First of all, rachel is not a "dude," and second of all, malignant opinions -- of anybody -- generally rub her the wrong way. That is simply how sweet she is.
yikes,
I was joking too, didn't mean to ruffle your feathers EAP. I was just trying to talk strongly like Xamonas does. Obviously I failed.
Funny, I've never been called a dude before.
Thank you M'Lord.
I am all for freedom of speech. But it's not what Archer says that I despise, it's what he is.Quote:
Originally Posted by rachel
He lied, cheated, stole and plagiarised his way to the top; and repeatedly sued anyone that said so for libel. Fortunately, he was caught and spent time in prison for perjury - but nowhere near long enough! Sending him to another country sounds fine, but he's such a slimy little creep, he'd just keep coming back. He's the proverbial bad penny.
Sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities, but I'm afraid it has to be burning (although I may be swayed towards a painless, lethal injection... Nah! Burn the ******!!!) ;)
btw - dude kinda suits you.
Dude suits me, but you don't know me, or anything about me ....do you?
Yikes I alwas thought a dude was a guy. you have me a little worried!!
Hmm. According to Merriam-Webster's, it's either a guy, a fastidious man, or a city-dweller unfamiliar with country life. I'm not sure I like "dude" as a description for rachel...
Too add in the list: all those readings who promote escapism (i.e. Harlequin searies).
By Harlequin series do you mean all those little romance paperbacks at the far end in the book section of local Wal-Marts?
And as to "promoting escapism," that almost seems like a blanket statement. All forms of fiction and story-telling, be it prose or poetry, do allow people to "escape" to some extent. Whether by immersing a person in the culture, politics & locale of a said world or just offering a peek into something that gets people away from routine, that is escaping from real life, if only for a while.
Seriously tho', I need to check the dictionary on escapism. Honest.
If I have to READ them, throw in Shakespeare. I don't mind seeing a good PERFORMANCE of certain plays. Toss in Stephen King as well. If I want good horror, I'll read Lovecraft. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/mi...smiley-083.gif
even seeing those books, whose authors by the way make a kazillion dollars, even seeing the covers makes my face red. Yikes!!! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by subterranean
By the way, Sub, I like your atvar! I agree! http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/er...smiley-021.gif
wahey someone else who detests simon armitage. I'm being forced to study him and Carol Ann Duffy. It's horrendous. they both seem to love talking about pointless murder but in a completely passionless way. Someone like robert browning i can cope with, although he often writes about murder, his murders are crimes of passion.Quote:
Originally Posted by RococoLocket
I would have to say Numbers in the Bible. Many of the books of the bible would fit this category.