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Thread: Most pointless book you have read

  1. #16
    Registered User bounty's Avatar
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    yet another chance to bash a catcher in the rye! its certainly the type of book that should have a point, but i think the author, and therefore the characters, failed to deliver.

  2. #17
    The Grand Inquisitor jcjp's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bounty View Post
    yet another chance to bash a catcher in the rye! its certainly the type of book that should have a point, but i think the author, and therefore the characters, failed to deliver.
    Do you dislike it because countless english teachers throughout the years have bored it into the ground?

    I'd be very interested to hear your criticism...
    ". . . and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes." - James Joyce in one of the most seminal novels of the last century: Ulysses

  3. #18
    Registered User bounty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jcjp View Post
    Do you dislike it because countless english teachers throughout the years have bored it into the ground?

    I'd be very interested to hear your criticism...
    actually, i wasnt made to read the book during high school but i dont doubt that over the years, its common use created a sort of hype where i was expecting great things from the book. plus, ive constantly heard other people praising it. it had a lot to live up to.

    but the short of it was, i couldnt find anything redeeming in the book, either in the main character (holden was more of an undifferentiated wanderer than an angst ridden anti-hero) or in the author's writing, which i found redundant and non captivating.

  4. #19
    Wandering Child Annamariah's Avatar
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    I really didn't get the point of The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye either. Both were rather easy to read, but after I finished, I didn't feel like I'd really gotten anything out of them.
    Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as the sun's rays and her soul as clear and blue as her eyes.
    Gaston Leroux - The Phantom of the Opera

  5. #20
    madman kevinthediltz's Avatar
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    How bout the harry potter books?
    Kinda fun to read, but pretty pointless.
    Everyone knows what's in room 101.


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  6. #21
    The Grand Inquisitor jcjp's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kevinthediltz View Post
    How bout the harry potter books?
    Kinda fun to read, but pretty pointless.
    Yes, they are: but those aren't really novels, now are they?
    ". . . and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes." - James Joyce in one of the most seminal novels of the last century: Ulysses

  7. #22
    The Poetic Warrior Dark Muse's Avatar
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    This thread really isn't amied at comercialized books that are written just for entertainment, becasue books like that typically are not suppose to have a deeper meaning behind the surface. It is sort of a given that they are pointless beyond thier ablity to entertain.

    Quote Originally Posted by bounty View Post
    yet another chance to bash a catcher in the rye! its certainly the type of book that should have a point, but i think the author, and therefore the characters, failed to deliver.
    I think it is funny how so many people hate the book. When I read it I absolutely loved it and consider it among my favorites.

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

  8. #23
    Springing Riesa's Avatar
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    King James Version
    "Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house, they are company and don't let me catch you remarking on their ways like you were so high and mighty."

  9. #24
    Wandering Child Annamariah's Avatar
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    I can add The Lord of the Flies to my list. I was really disappointed with the ending, I was waiting for something great and it never happened, the book just ended as if the author no longer knew what to do with it.
    Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was golden as the sun's rays and her soul as clear and blue as her eyes.
    Gaston Leroux - The Phantom of the Opera

  10. #25
    The Grand Inquisitor jcjp's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bounty View Post
    actually, i wasnt made to read the book during high school but i dont doubt that over the years, its common use created a sort of hype where i was expecting great things from the book. plus, ive constantly heard other people praising it. it had a lot to live up to.

    but the short of it was, i couldnt find anything redeeming in the book, either in the main character (holden was more of an undifferentiated wanderer than an angst ridden anti-hero) or in the author's writing, which i found redundant and non captivating.
    That's precisely what JD Salinger wanted in Catcher in the Rye: he wanted you to be able to relate on a down-to-earth level with the main character, hence why he chose first person rather than the boring-ole' third most english writers have employed.

    As stated earlier, I found it appealing that he neither wanted to be the "hero" nor any type of angst-ridden person, he just wanted the normal, everyday life of your typical American teenager at the time but he couldn't help but see the hypocrisy in all of it.

    I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.
    ". . . and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes." - James Joyce in one of the most seminal novels of the last century: Ulysses

  11. #26
    Registered User Bastable's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annamariah View Post
    I can add The Lord of the Flies to my list. I was really disappointed with the ending, I was waiting for something great and it never happened, the book just ended as if the author no longer knew what to do with it.
    I would have to disagree with you there, I love Lord of the Flies. I think it is a brilliant analysis of human nature, and how our moralities, and ideals and societal norms fall apart when pressed with extreme situations. It's an ultimately cynical book, one of the reasons I like it .

  12. #27
    Ataraxia bazarov's Avatar
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    Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck

    So...So...So...what the hell is your point?! That was my question through whole book.
    At thunder and tempest, At the world's coldheartedness,
    During times of heavy loss And when you're sad
    The greatest art on earth Is to seem uncomplicatedly gay.

    To get things clear, they have to firstly be very unclear. But if you get them too quickly, you probably got them wrong.
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  13. #28
    Asa Nisi Masa mayneverhave's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bazarov View Post
    Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck

    So...So...So...what the hell is your point?! That was my question through whole book.
    Hah, I loath that novel as well. Good call.

  14. #29
    Registered User kelby_lake's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Annamariah View Post
    I really didn't get the point of The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye either. Both were rather easy to read, but after I finished, I didn't feel like I'd really gotten anything out of them.
    Um, if you don't realise the point of Gatsby, you can't really have been reading it...
    It's basically sacrificing yourself for what everyone else around you can see is an empty dream. It's the Valley of Ashes for those who never got their dreams...WE can all judge Gatsby as being a bit of a stalker who should have got over her but that's easy for us to say- 'not everybody in the world has had the advantages you've had'

    Catcher in The Rye doesn't have a point- it's more about your teenage misfit kinda person- who says 'phoney' too much!

    Twilight is the most pointless series.

  15. #30
    Registered User bounty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jcjp View Post
    That's precisely what JD Salinger wanted in Catcher in the Rye: he wanted you to be able to relate on a down-to-earth level with the main character, hence why he chose first person rather than the boring-ole' third most english writers have employed.

    As stated earlier, I found it appealing that he neither wanted to be the "hero" nor any type of angst-ridden person, he just wanted the normal, everyday life of your typical American teenager at the time but he couldn't help but see the hypocrisy in all of it.

    I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.
    im okay with first person narrative, i read diaries for my dissertation and despite it not being the norm in higher education, i used first person in my writing.

    as to what else youre saying jc---i am not unwilling to be educated about the book and the author---maybe the opportunity will present itself someday down the road...

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