What is the worst book you've ever read?

Number27 · #1 02-21-2011, 04:38 AM

I've seen a thread on here for favorite books so i thought i'd throw out the antitheisis.

I'm doing a crossword at work and Silas Marner is one of the clues.. this reminded me of High School and all the terrible books we had to read; Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Ethan Frome, and Silas Marner, all stand out in my mind. I think i'd have to rate Ethan Frome as the worst, but Silas Marner comes close seeing as it's sooooooooo boring. I wondered while reading it how the author could bring himself to write that for 400 odd pages without falling into a coma

electracoyote · #2 02-21-2011, 04:50 AM

I found The DaVinci Code really disappointing. So much conjecture and speculation, it just got silly after a point.

Number27 · #3 02-21-2011, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by electracoyote

I found The DaVinci Code really disappointing. So much conjecture and speculation, it just got silly after a point.

Never read it... and it sat on my nightstand for weeks too! I dunno, sometimes when things get hyped up sooo much i lose my enthusiasm for them.

**Rune Bivrin** · #4 02-21-2011, 04:53 AM

I tried "Atlas shrugged" by Ayn Rand. zzzzz...

I've read "The DaVinci code". Pretty crappy litterature, but I just couldn't put it down.

champbassist · #5 02-21-2011, 05:04 AM

I don't think I could call it the worst on a literary basis, but a Hindi novel we had in our high school curriculum was by far the most depressing thing I've ever read. It's considered a landmark in modern Hindi literature, though

C.Linton · #6 02-21-2011, 05:27 AM

There are two, both by the same author, Samuel R. Delany. They were, respectively, "Dhalgren" a post apocolyptic end of the world story, and "Neveryon" a somewhat decadent fantasy tale. Both uber-long books that were very boring. It seemed the stories were taking forever to get anywhere, they were bogged down with a lot of minutiae that made it a chore to read, the pacing if any, was turtle slow. I gave up on both about halfway thru, as I just couldn't take anymore, it was so tedious. The only reaason I got Neveryon after having such a negative experience with Dhalgren, was Delany had a lot of very positive reviews and press from both fans and critics alike, so I figured on giving him a second chance, As even the best writers have a clunker now and then. Unfortunately for me, I found Neveryon just as tedious and boring, and I quit that one halfway thru as well. Those are the only two books I've ever quit before finishing.

Skitch it! · #7 02-21-2011, 05:40 AM

A biography I read lately of Alex James of Blur fame called 'A Bit of a Blur' which for me, totally summed that 'book' up. A Sloth could have written a far more interesting account, I wanted my 2 hours of life back, meh ; )

bassrique · #8 02-21-2011, 06:01 AM

If a book stinks, I don't usually finish it. Back in school, there were ways around that

I still can't seem to finish "The Brothers Karamazov". I'm not saying it's bad by any means; I just grow weary when reading it. It's my loss I suppose. I'll try again one day.

DanAleks · #9 02-21-2011, 06:32 AM

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

IIRC, it's about 900 pages.
At around 500 pages he was STILL setting up characters.
I said "Fornicate it!" and got rid of the book.

JacoLesFlea · #10 02-21-2011, 06:36 AM

Tried reading Mein Kampf, could not get thru the first chapter.

C.Linton · #11 02-21-2011, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanAleks

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

IIRC, it's about 900 pages.
At around 500 pages he was STILL setting up characters.
I said "Fornicate it!" and got rid of the book.

That was pretty much the problem I had with Delany. Very much a great big "YAWN!".

Phalex · #12 02-21-2011, 06:49 AM

Plutarch

It starts out kinda interesting, but it get's pretty dry. Really, really dry....

Woodchuck · #13 02-21-2011, 06:51 AM

"The El Chollo Feeling Passes". Meandering dreck.

tink9975 · #14 02-21-2011, 07:05 AM

Ethan Frome

*shudder*

BartmanPDX · #15 02-21-2011, 07:30 AM

Clan of the Cave Bear.

My mom convinced me to start reading it, and several hundred pages into it not much had happened and I decided I really didn't give a ****.

It remains the only book I have started reading but not finished. I'm not sure I'd go back to it even if I were stranded on a desert island with it and no other form of entertainment.

Phalex · #16 02-21-2011, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BartmanPDX

Clan of the Cave Bear.

Huh. I liked that one. Actually, I liked all three of them (in descending order)

Basshappi · #17 02-21-2011, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Linton

There are two, both by the same author, Samuel R. Delany. They were, respectively, "Dhalgren" a post apocolyptic end of the world story, and "Neveryon" a somewhat decadent fantasy tale. Both uber-long books that were very boring. It seemed the stories were taking forever to get anywhere, they were bogged down with a lot of minutiae that made it a chore to read, the pacing if any, was turtle slow. I gave up on both about halfway thru, as I just couldn't take anymore, it was so tedious. The only reaason I got Neveryon after having such a negative experience with Dhalgren, was Delany had a lot of very positive reviews and press from both fans and critics alike, so I figured on giving him a second chance, As even the best writers have a clunker now and then. Unfortunately for me, I found Neveryon just as tedious and boring, and I quit that one halfway thru as well. Those are the only two books I've ever quit before finishing.

Ha, same here! There used to be buttons people would wear at Sci-fi conventions that read "I read XX pages of Dhalgren" I think I made it 100 and some-odd in before giving up.

I am a voracious reader and have been from the age of 10, so there have been plenty of dogs in my past that I have had to put down before finishing them. Life is too short to read crappy books.

As far as the horrid reading lists required in high school and college, I think it is a conspiracy to discourge as many children as possible from becoming literate.

Cabazon · #18 02-21-2011, 08:38 AM

Call of the Wild. Jack London has an annoyingly pretentious vocabulary he's more than willing to destroy a story with.

HaMMerHeD · #19 02-21-2011, 08:39 AM

I read a biography of William Tecumseh Sherman that was pretty awful. I'm not sure how you can make that guy seem like a lifeless twit, but the author did.

After that, I have to say anything written by Tolkien gets little more than yawns. Don't get me wrong: I love the guy's stories and the whole universe he created. I am a big fan of the legendarium. But DAMN he was just an awful writer. He was just murderous with details when they were completely unnecessary, and frustratingly sparse with details that actually mattered. The Silmarillion, for example, was simply dreadful. The underlying stories were very interesting, but Tolkien absolutely murdered the subject matter with his writing style.

finalrequiem · #20 02-21-2011, 08:53 AM

Somewhere around the 6th or 7th book, the Sword of Truth series becomes unbearably thinly-veiled political/social commentary and I put the book down and it will end up as the only series that I've started and will never ever finish.