What is the most boring book ever?

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10-09-2012, 03:10 PM
Ser Nevarc

Quote:

Originally Posted by WICKES

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. Depressed people are always boring, however deserving of sympathy they may be. Unhappy people are usually wrapped up in themselves and can't think of or talk about anything but their own pain- and as we all know, people who are wrapped up in themselves are bores. To be fair, it's a book for young women and not for 35 year old men!

I will wholeheartedly agree with you that Plath's novel is slumber-incuding but I do not agree that "depressed people are always boring."

Come on, are Hamlet, Holden Caulfield, Manfred, Raskolnikov, Meursault (from Camus' The Stranger), Frankenstein's monster, anyone from Beckett and Kafka, and probably a truckload of others I can't think of right now, boring characters?

What makes The Bell Jar boring are the features and style of that particular novel. Not the depressed state the protagonist is in.
10-09-2012, 04:46 PM
Emil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ser Nevarc

I will wholeheartedly agree with you that Plath's novel is slumber-incuding but I do not agree that "depressed people are always boring."

Come on, are Hamlet, Holden Caulfield, Manfred, Raskolnikov, Meursault (from Camus' The Stranger), Frankenstein's monster, anyone from Beckett and Kafka, and probably a truckload of others I can't think of right now, boring characters?

What makes The Bell Jar boring are the features and style of that particular novel. Not the depressed state the protagonist is in.

It depends to what degree, if the protagonist's story is simply a litany of woe then it will be tedious to the reader. Personally I have found Meursault, Raskolnikov, Becket and Kafka boring but not necessarily because of their depression.
10-09-2012, 04:53 PM
Volya

I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for saying this but...

I read the first chapter of the Brothers Karamazov, and I couldn't bear to read anymore. It was dreadfully dull.
10-09-2012, 05:49 PM
Emil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by Volya

I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for saying this but...

I read the first chapter of the Brothers Karamazov, and I couldn't bear to read anymore. It was dreadfully dull.

Although it may sound patronising, at 15 it is unlikely that anybody is going to find Dostoyevsky interesting.
One thing to be aware of in relation to this web site is that many members are, or have been, students of literature who have been guided by their tutors to read the standard classic writers, sometimes to the students' dismay.
I have read a few novels by Dostoyevsky but, except for The Gambler, I did not find him in the least particularly readable and dullness seemed to me to be a hallmark of his writing.
Perhaps when you are older, you will discover the deep psychological inferences in Dostoyevsky or, then again, shrug your shoulders and leave them where they lie. I don't think you will be any the worse for it.
10-09-2012, 06:09 PM
Volya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emil Miller

Although it may sound patronising, at 15 it is unlikely that anybody is going to find Dostoyevsky interesting.
One thing to be aware of in relation to this web site is that many members are, or have been, students of literature who have been guided by their tutors to read the standard classic writers, sometimes to the students' dismay.
I have read a few novels by Dostoyevsky but, except for The Gambler, I did not find him in the least particularly readable and dullness seemed to me to be a hallmark of his writing.
Perhaps when you are older, you will discover the deep psychological inferences in Dostoyevsky or, then again, shrug your shoulders and leave them where they lie. I don't think you will be any the worse for it.

I assumed that was the case :) I will attempt a re-read at some point. I don't think its entirely down to age though, since I've read other classics too with no problem.
10-09-2012, 06:15 PM
Emil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by Volya

I assumed that was the case :) I will attempt a re-read at some point. I don't think its entirely down to age though, since I've read other classics too with no problem.

That would depend on which other classics you have read.
10-09-2012, 07:55 PM
Mr.lucifer

I actually heard Dostoevsky is popular among young people. I heard thats why some people are annoyed by his popularity around. After all, Crime and Punishment was ranked number 1 around here. Really, most people would find Dostoevsky boring since they don't read real literature.
10-09-2012, 08:15 PM
SkyCetacean

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.lucifer

Most people would find Dostoevsky boring since they don't read real literature.

NOBODY UNDERSTANDS TRUE ART MAN.

Seriously, do you need to be so condescending?
10-09-2012, 09:37 PM
Mr.lucifer

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound that way. What I meant is that most would find any real literature boring since the most they read are conspiracy thrillers, wish-fulfillment romances, and teen fantasy series that got published because the companies want cash in on harry potter. Basically, everything you see at wal-mart.
10-10-2012, 02:53 AM
Volya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emil Miller

That would depend on which other classics you have read.

Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tolstoy, and Tolkein are probably the most 'classic' authors I've read. I'm reading Anna Karenina at the moment, and I'm finding it a LOT more interesting than Dostoevsky.
10-10-2012, 06:04 AM
Emil Miller

Quote:

Originally Posted by Volya

Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tolstoy, and Tolkein are probably the most 'classic' authors I've read. I'm reading Anna Karenina at the moment, and I'm finding it a LOT more interesting than Dostoevsky.

You are in the fortunate position of being able to read what you want rather than having your nose forced to the grindstone by a tutor. If by chance you should become a student of literature in the strictest sense of the word, you will not have that freedom of choice and you may be forced to read authors that you would otherwise avoid. Meanwhile, why not carry on reading books such as those you have listed without worrying about those that you currently find to be a slog?
10-11-2012, 07:55 PM
SkyCetacean

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.lucifer

Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound that way. What I meant is that most would find any real literature boring since the most they read are conspiracy thrillers, wish-fulfillment romances, and teen fantasy series that got published because the companies want cash in on harry potter. Basically, everything you see at wal-mart.

Okay, fair enough. I'd still contest the concept of "real" literature as it is vague and doesn't take into account personal taste, but I can understand what you're saying.
10-28-2012, 05:35 PM
Lisa-Marie

hmmmm most boring book ever? Its hard to say because theres plenty I have read first and hated and then went back to and loved....I've got to say and i know I am crazy but I wasn't the most avid fan of James Joyce's Ulysses. I know it was a great contribution to literature and holds a lot of value. Espicially in Modernism but I wasn't keen. There's appreciating that he is trying to get the reader to work hard and then there's Joyce. Dubliners was much better.
10-28-2012, 06:21 PM
OrphanPip

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emil Miller

Although it may sound patronising, at 15 it is unlikely that anybody is going to find Dostoyevsky interesting.

I'm not sure about that, Dostoevsky tends to be very popular with teenagers. I read The Idiot, C&P, and The Brothers Karamazov when I was 14, and I found them fascinating at the time.

Anyway, I am developing an increasing antipathy towards anything written by Richardson.
10-28-2012, 09:01 PM
qimissung

I loved The Bell Jar, although it's been years since I read it. I would have to go with Robinson Crusoe. It's a good story and it lures you in with its' intriguingness, and then hits you between the eyes with the antiquated language.

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