Printable View
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, I don't see what the rave is about. It's poorly written and the characters just fantasize about each other. Oh also, Madame Bovary and The Awakening. Both books are dreadfully dull and pointless. I sense that I'm not liking a certain plot.
I just began reading Madame Bovary, and though it is too soon for me to really judge. It is true that so far, nothing has really jumped out at me in the book
I definitely agree with you there. I can't remember the main character's name, but his courtship/marriage with his wife made me squeamish... It was definitely overly sentimental for a romance I could not care about. He was not a likable character, and I think his relationship with his wife made my stomach turn because I myself would have recoiled from someone like him. But she seemed to love him just the way he desired her to regardless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
Right now I like her, but I will see what happens as the story progressess as there has not been that much of her yet, as I just got to the part where he fianlly praposed.
For me there have been three books I can safely say I didn't enjoy at all:
Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - Just could not get into it. I know its all to do with African culture, but I just could not relate, their strange rituals with foo-foo yams and beating the wife and kids for acedentally dropping a bowl I just could not see point in. But then again, I think thats my western culture kicking into it.
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson - I found the prose in this cold and distant, the dialogue stinted, and as a reviewer rightly said on Amazon: 'The characters are about as alive as my left shoe'. The plot I found uninteresting too, and jumped around too much.
and
Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger (Is that her name?) - The pinnacle of silly chick literature. I read this purely to pretend I'd seen the film of it with a friend and not the gory modern Australian adaption of Macbeth. Most of the novel is about a young woman who goes to her work, gets paid big bucks but whines the whole time about how her boss treats her. I spent the whole 3/4 of the novel I read thinking: 'Why doesn't she just sue her boss for harassment and defamation? Better still, change jobs? She could put the richest fashion mag job in her resume.'
Ahh, the joys of flaws in bad plots...
those Harlequin paperbacks :sick:
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand -- I don't understand how this book has endured and remained so popular. I knew when I picked it up that I disagreed with Rand's philosophy, but I hoped that the novel would be well-written and nuanced. Instead, I found it to be preachy and filled with one-dimensional characters.
I have not read that one, but I have to say I abolutely love The Fountainhead
i can never get past the first 2 or 3 pages hitchhikers guide to the galaxy
Awww, I loved that book but I can also see how it wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea.Quote:
Originally Posted by armenian
I just finished Somersault by Kenzaburo Oe and I have to say, that was one of the hardest books for me to finish, I didn't care for it one little bit. :sick:
Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Hands down the creepiest most depressing book I've ever read. You have to give him credit for how exquisitely he crafted this piece of slime. I can't even believe I managed to finish it.
That sounds intriguing
I glanced at bits which I liked. I wouldn't want to read it all the way through but I enjoyed smiling at some episodes I passed.Quote:
Originally Posted by armenian
Books I couldn't finish:
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines (British Lit)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
I think the book would be easier than the movie because there's a little more description and things flow slightly better...although even the book is pretty random and very, very silly.Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
Oh, it's brilliantly written all right. Otherwise it wouldn't have been so painful to read. Kind of like Eraserhead...Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
Anyway, read it and get back to us. But I doubt if I'll be tackling Remains of the Day anytime soon. Apparently the movie didn't do justice to how depressing it is.
I think the original radio series was the best version. The movie looked pretty awful, I stopped watching after 10 minutes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Idril
virginia wolf-mrs. dalloway omg i had to read this book for an advanced english class and i couldnt get passed 30 pages.
A Thousand Splendid Suns. Deary me, misery from start to finish.
I had a really, really, really hard time enduring Uncle Tom's Cabin. I know its an important historical work. And I appreciate that. But Heavens! Oh, is it ever so sentimental! The softened skin from under a poor child's tears could not tell of the immense sorrow that I had to face when this monstrous pile of sentimentally was laid heavy upon my shoulders! Woe! Woe! Exclamation points! Woes!!
I would have to say Grapes of Wrath :sick: I know it is standard for high school English class, but ugh... It is the one and only book I refused to read, and I'm certain my grade for it showed. I did take time to explain to the teacher that I just simply couldn't put myself through that kind of punishment:D
I feel the sameQuote:
Originally Posted by yellowfeverlime
Adolf Hitler´s Mein Kampf
Stupid, full of psychological lies, aggressive & lot of upside-down thinking, logic thinking is ridiculous - and filled with repeat, repeat, repeat...
The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg
Has no one here ever ventured to the sci-fi/fantasy section lately? Though, I admit, I've never read any of the entries into the HALO 2 saga, nor any of the Diablo books, but I have read a couple (yes, I am ashamed) of the Star Wars and Star Trek books in my youth. No es bueno.
Though I must confess that the books based on the DOOM video games were surprisingly well written... Did I just say that?
Did you read it? If you didn't, how do you know it's bad?Quote:
Originally Posted by mkhockenberry
Patrick
The Clansman, by Thomas Dixon, Jr. - read it for a race in literature course...important read, but unsettling.
Patrick
If this is true... then that's really sad.Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowfeverlime
I read it myself. It's honestly barely tolerable. The only thing that kept me reading was watching a family dynamic completely crumble, that was somewhat interesting.
So... have you ever actually read it?Quote:
Originally Posted by mkhockenberry
You can't say something is the worst if you haven't experienced it. :P
One of the worst books I've ever read was "The Zookeeper's Wife." The premise, and the actual backstory to the novel is powerful, but the author did a terrible job writing the book.
The story is constantly broken up by her need to dribble quotes from obscure historical sources, that can go on for 10 or more pages, leaving you completely confused to where her characters left off.
In short, it's a broken up, jumbled mess of a story. Maybe if it was re-written I'd like it more.
This is a joke, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Lord
... Really not trying to be mean here.
Stardust, by Neil Gaimen
:willy_nilly:
atlas shrugged.
---------
page one of this thread is hilarious btw -----
I still contend that Candide by Voltaire is drivel. I KNOW I got ripped for this on another thread. It wasn't intended for aesthetic value. It's a satire of (I'm confident it was, not completely sure) Liebniz's* philosophy. But still, Austen was satirical (although to the same degree) as Voltaire and her work is much more readable. Crap I thought.
I'm bothered with this post.. can you emphasize reasons for having this claim? or let's just say, were you able to understand the "book" when you read it? i can't believe you're tossing this up..Quote:
Originally Posted by mkhockenberry
i'm not trying to be mean here though.
kinda lenghy yeah, but It's not the worst for me..Quote:
Originally Posted by ktr
Worst book I've read the Alchemist
People keep mentioning things that are readable. Most of them aren't very good, but it is possible to read the whole thing. I defy anyone to read all of The Last Immortal by J. O. Jeppson. I don't know anyone who has managed to get past the fifth page.
A Million Little Pieces
That's when I knew how full of it Oprah Winfrey is. She picked this dreck for her BOTM Club. I picked it up off my mother's dining room table and... well, it wasn't pretty. Just bad from so many angles.
I know I'm going to be drawn and quartered for this, but Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I hated it when I read it and want it to be cut into very small pieces, and I think the fact that everyone else loves it doesn't help me like it more.
Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. It's bad to the point of parody.
Well, The most boring book that I couldn't complete is Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
I don't know the reason, I was reading it in order to improve my English, I couldn't complete it though. Maybe because it's about a group of kids, or maybe it's meant to be for children. I don't know. *shrugs*