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Actually, this is my favourite book; i read it at least three times and I translated it into german — the result is not a very good one, though …Quote:
Originally Posted by Idril
The worst book I read was "The Da Vincy Code" — in my opinion the most superfluous book ever …
Ah...DragonLance... I was such a DragonLance dork in elementary and middle school. In fact, I dressed as Raistlin for Halloween as a kid :) I haven't read one of those books since Dragons of Summer Flame came out in 1996...Quote:
Originally Posted by moose gurl
Christopher Paolini's Eragon series. No offense to him but his main character is a total Mary-sue and the story is basically Star Wars with dragons. The first book was okay, but I never could struggle through the second and I'm not even going to look at the third.
Ivanhoe was another that I just never finished. I got about half-way through and just stopped reading. Nothing was happening, and there were so many characters to keep straight...meh.
I never could finish War and Peace. I will someday though! And I am currently reading a pathetic book called The Song of an Innocent Bystander. I'm going to finish the book, because the story's interesting, but the writing itself is awful. Lots of misused vocabulary, and poor grammar. It irritates me.
The Elven Exiles Series set in the Dragonlance setting was the most inane and boring thing ever.
just joined---my first post---i have not looked through what anyone else has said (i look forward to doing that), and i am almost sorry to have to say it, but moby dick and a catcher in the rye. the two worst books ive ever read.
Though I have not read Moby Dick, I am familiar with Melville's writing, and I can say I understand your feelings there, as just his short stories can be exhausting to read, though he is not the worst I have read, he is not my favorite, and I cannot imagine reading an entire novel of his.Quote:
Originally Posted by bounty
Though I absolutely loved Catcher in the Rye and rank it among my favorites
Really!? I just finished Middlemarch and I loved it, still, we all have different taste I suppose.Quote:
Originally Posted by Idril
One book I've assaulted a few times but not finished is Don Quixote, got to page 390/549 last time but just drifted off to another book. Thats the trouble with long books, its much harder to just grit your teeth and wade through without loosing the will.
The worst book I've read though was Wuthering Heights, I just hated all the characters.
Oh man, Don Quixote...I tried reading that when I first got into classics, got maybe five chapters in, and just stopped reading. It was way over my head at the time. I need to try again.
Another one that's terrible: Phantom of Manhattan!! That is THE MOST AWFUL Phantom book I have ever read--Forsythe must have been on something when he wrote it. Seriously.
I'm with you on this Antiquarian. Wuthering Heights, Don Quixote and Moby Dick are among my favourite novels. I also really liked Lord Jim, etc., etc., and while I haven't read Middlemarch yet I own a copy and am looking forward to starting it when I get a chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
Even though my vote for least favourite unfinished book is Adam Bede. I gave it a hundred and fifty pages and then gave up.
My least favourite finished book is The Robber Bride. I'm usually indifferent to Atwood's fiction but this was downright awful.
hi dark muse---i read billy budd and was okay with that. what i was hoping for out of moby dick was a high seas adventure, anywhere along the lines of horatio hornblower, mutiny on the bounty or the sea wolf. the latter two are amongst my favorite books.
technically i dont know what makes a book a novel, but moby dick was so much less "story" and so much more treatise on whaling. given what youve said, im guessing you wont be reading it, so this really wont be a spoiler but my goodness, the whale himself doesnt appear until the last few pages of the book. false advertising! :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
I just recently got the Sea Wolf, and look forward to reading it. I love Jack London, and find him to be very interesting.
its been years since ive read it, i remember the story itself being pretty harsh/brutal. i'll look forward to hearing if you like it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
theres a pretty neat star trek: the next generation episode where the characters travel back to earth's past and among other things, meet mark twain and jack london, and in fact, end up having a direct influence on london's futire in writing. its neatly done...
moby dick was probably the first classic novel i ever read and it was daunting then. good grief! but as an older student/college i had to reread it. i needed a professor to help me was what it turned out. once i learned the psychology driving it i enjoyed it thoroughly. the worst book ever for me was Northanger Abbey....oh my....i don't like jane austen's idea of a gothic good time. modern books, Where the Heart is by billie letts. everyone told me it was great. they lied.
right on..
moby dick was very hard-going- although i did read it when i was 13 so...although i don't think it will be less hard-going if i re-read it now. :)
my gosh yes, and the whale doesnt even appear in the book til the last few pages! ack!Quote:
Originally Posted by kelby_lake
I have just finished "Cinco Horas con Mario" by Miguel Delibes.I can't claim it is the worst book I have ever read, but still, I didn't enjoy reading it at all!
I liked the first few pages a lot, but then it got sooo boring and repetitive that I actually had to force myself through it.
Now that it is over, I can finally breath!
"The Zero Game" by Brad Meltzer. I bought it at an airport, having read all of the other books I'd brought along. Bad idea. It's a "Government conspiracy uncovered now they run for their lives" type of plot. Poorly written. Not compelling in any way.
Right now I am quite tempted to say A Portrait of the Artist as a Yong Man, becasue this is my second time reading it, having to read it now for school. And the frist time I read it I did not particuarly enjoy it becasue I really did not care about the character of Steven at all, and I was not drawn into the story.
And now I am currently trying to get through Chapter 3, which is just absolutely painful, becasue it is basicaly just an entire sermon written word for word, of a priest rambling on and on and on about the same thing for a ridiculous amount of pages, when really I got the point in the first couple of paragrahs.
Black by Ted Dekker. Also, House by Dekker and Peretti.
The Nonexistent knight by Italo Calvino.
I didn't like this book too much either. Had a hard time getting through it, but it's not the worst thing I've ever read.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakiryu
the worst thing I ever read was doing it by melvin burgess... i think i managed two chapters before it went in the bin... how it was ever published i don't know... utter utter utter garbage and deserving of the gallows
This one is meant to be painful. Joyce is setting the stage for his most lyrical and beautiful prose. Stick with it, the beauty of next chapters will amaze you. This sermon will dissolve in the sheer beauty of art. This is the whole point of this book. Go to your local library and look for James Joyce Audio Collection after finishing reading the book. There is a selection from The Portrait read by Cyril Cusack on CD 2. It will make you hold your breath, it will make you swoon with joy, it will make you fall madly in love with James Joyce!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...0/thelibyrinth
Agreed. That being said i don't particularly enjoy any of Austen's novels. I actually gave up reading 'Sense and Sensibility' in preparation for university, but was forced to read it recently for a final year module.Quote:
Originally Posted by lakeside_girl
I must admit that one book i always remember failing to finish was in fact 'Catch 22', and whilst i persevered and completed 'Moby Dick' i am definitely in agreement that it is a terribly trying read.
This was not my first time reading it, and I did not care for it the first time I read it. The second time I liked it even less. It just does not meet with my personal taste.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kafka's Crow
And I do not think we mean the same thing by "painful" it was painful for me to read becasue it was a drag and just went on and on about the same thing over and over. I got the point in the first parapgrah, it did not need to go on for a whole chapter.
The first time I read it my mind kept wandering, and I would just check back in every once in a while to see it was still talking about hell and sin, and than let my thoughts drift again.
Right now I am quite tempted to say A Portrait of the Artist as a Yong Man, becasue this is my second time reading it, having to read it now for school. And the frist time I read it I did not particuarly enjoy it becasue I really did not care about the character of Steven at all, and I was not drawn into the story.
And now I am currently trying to get through Chapter 3, which is just absolutely painful, becasue it is basicaly just an entire sermon written word for word, of a priest rambling on and on and on about the same thing for a ridiculous amount of pages, when really I got the point in the first couple of paragrahs.
Of course the argument could be made that art isn't merely about "getting the point". Certainly we could have "got the point" of War and Peace or In Search of Lost Time in far fewer words than were expended by the writers... but art isn't about "getting the point"... its not something that can be reduced to a definition or a mere menu.
Yes that is true, but I just did not think it was nesscary to the story to have word for word an entire sermon. Particuarly when most of it was just repeating the same thing. So no new information was being imparted, it was the same idea and much of the same words just arranged in different ways for several pages.
Weekend In Paris - chick literature. I don't see how it's possible for any classic to be the worst book someone has read unless s/he has only read nothing but classics in his/her life.
Frankenstein by Shelley...
i couldn't even finish it.
That is a surprising choice, I rather enjoyed it myself
I remember Nobel Laurette Wole Soyinka's "The Interpreters". It is a very difficult read. But they say it is a great work. Try it for yourself.
I have come back from my mission,
Across seven seas and seven deserts
Above mountains high above the clouds
Far from shores of Motherland
Bombs away - ordinance delivered,
Mission accomplished.
Severed limbs, smashed heads, torsos flying
Wailing, mothers searching, blinded
Children shrieking, groping
Fathers mourning, bitter, swearing, upwards pointing.
I have come back from my mission,
To the accolade of the Big Man,
To the gratitude of country.
Nightmares, cold sweat –
Who will calm the turmoil in my soul?
Mother! Mother! Who will calm the turmoil of my soul?
I have come back from my mission,
To the accolade of the Big Man,
To the gratitude of country.
??????
hmmm, am a big fan of frankenstein too...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Muse
Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
Antiquarian: I agree, The Kite Runner was poorly written! It bothered me the entire time, but I made it through the book because it was a simple read, but also I found that for me, the story was strong/heavy enough to pull me to the end. It still had an impact on me, but was by no means fulfilling.
I've never gotten around to finding out for myself, but I wonder if this novel was originally written in English or not, or what Hosseini's background with the English language is? Perhaps something was lost in translation... does anyone have any info on that?
Also, I am curious about your adjective - "purple" prose! I've never heard that before but it seems to work! Why did you choose to describe it that way? :)