Books Not to Read

[Frank Newgent]

He employed an assistant to write for him.


Then, as I suspect most will be aware, he arranged for this to happen.

I have actually left a couple of Pratchett's unread. The last Tiffany Aching one (Shepherd's Crown), the non-Discworld one I can't remember the title of and the very last Discworld - Making Money.

I feel that when I've finished them, I'll be very sad, so I'm not doing it yet.

link says he had Alzheimer's... technically, not correct.

He suffered from Posterior Cortical Atrophy. My brother has the same thing.

eta: http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/wellbe...s-that-sir-terry-pratchett-had-11363967942621

 

[pgwenthold]

I reluctantly have to add Bram Stoker's Dracula. Astonishing considering what a huge impact it had on our culture, but the book itself is rather dry, dull, and underwritten. The story is great, it's the execution that is lacking. It's a disappointing read because one expects so much more.

It makes a better movie than a book, IOW?

 

[arthwollipot]

I don't know if the thread is intended to be restricted to fiction, but there is one book that I just could not get through - Rupert Sheldrake's The Sense Of Being Stared At.

Actually, I think I'd class it as fiction anyway. The way he manipulated data to show the result he wanted was as bad as anything else in this thread. I don't remember whether I actually threw the book across the room in frustration, but I remember wanting to.

 

[Michel H]

I don't know if the thread is intended to be restricted to fiction, but there is one book that I just could not get through - Rupert Sheldrake's The Sense Of Being Stared At.

Actually, I think I'd class it as fiction anyway. The way he manipulated data to show the result he wanted was as bad as anything else in this thread. I don't remember whether I actually threw the book across the room in frustration, but I remember wanting to.

But you bought it nonetheless

 

[theprestige]

But you bought it nonetheless

The point of this thread is for others to warn us before we make the same mistake they did.

It can backfire, though. I think Anne Rice captured lightning in a bottle with the first four Lestat books. Reports of an even better Gothic vampire romance sent me rushing to my Kindle. Unfortunately, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint-Germain reads to me like halfway-decent Lestat fanfic.

To each their own taste.

 

[arthwollipot]

But you bought it nonetheless

Actually it was given to me as a gift. But I'm sure quite a few people in this thread did buy the books they are referring to.

 

[Michel H]

Actually it was given to me as a gift. But I'm sure quite a few people in this thread did buy the books they are referring to.

Ah OK I didn't think about that (although it was a simple possibility). Somebody who likes you must have thought it would be a good book for you.

 

[arthwollipot]

Ah OK I didn't think about that (although it was a simple possibility). Somebody who likes you must have thought it would be a good book for you.

Yes, it was a while after I started being outspoken as a skeptic. They thought I should be more open minded.

 

[Loss Leader]

Heinlein annoyed the crap out of me. I resolved never to read any of his books again.

When I was a kid, I read all of his pulp books and loved them - Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, the short stories, etc. They were just spaceships and adventure. But his serious "adult" books are dreadful. I think Glory Road may have been my breaking point.

 

[Minoosh]

Aside from Atlas Shrugged there is another long book I read that was an even greater waste of time.

Atlas Shrugged is a towering achievement - and I was extremely relieved to get to the end of it. I re-read it after reading a biography on Ayn Rand, and for a few hundred pages it held up better than I thought it would. I knew what was coming and stayed interested up until about the Galt's Gulch section but I knew it would end (not soon enough) with the courtroom speech that stopped the story in its tracks. As I was reading, I thought, "Atlas Shrugged is a towering achievement." It's an accomplishment, but not a great book.

1421, the Year China Discovered America was bad. I couldn't finish it, and I was reading a book a day at the time. Cloudsplitter, which is a work of fiction related to the life of abolitionist John Brown, was hell to get through. In relationship to working in schools I ended up reading The Hunger Games and finished the trilogy. I plowed through Twilight but had no desire to continue.

 

[Roboramma]

Ah OK I didn't think about that (although it was a simple possibility). Somebody who likes you must have thought it would be a good book for you.

Do you have any titles that you could contribute to this thread?

 

[SezMe]

I'm smack on topic, bro. Deal with it.

That may be (or not) but you've smacked and smacked and smacked again. We get it, ok.

 

[Darat]

When I was a kid, I read all of his pulp books and loved them - Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, the short stories, etc. They were just spaceships and adventure. But his serious "adult" books are dreadful. I think Glory Road may have been my breaking point.

Yeah for a young kid his books such as "Space Family Stone " can be enjoyable, but the thing that always got me about Heinlein is how preachy he was even in his pulp days. Much more so than most of his famous contemporaries.

 

[SezMe]

A Prayer for Own Meany by John Irving.
Truly awful tedious predictable and empty. Everybody seemed to love this book. I just don't get it.

If it's any consolation, neither did I. That said, I mildly enjoyed reading it but upon closing the book I thought, "WTF?"

 

[Darat]

Forcing kids to read Shakespeare is a mental exercise. Why? Because they're not books. They're plays. They're not designed to be read, they're designed to be performed and watched.

Why any teacher thinks reading Shakespeare is a good idea is now and will forever be beyond me.

Strongly agree, Shakespeare is not for reading its for performing.

 

[Brainster]

Thank FSM for that. I was afraid I was going to have to read more of that sort of crap in order to really get the point she was trying to make.

Dave

Communism bad, capitalism good.

 

[Darat]

Anything that describes itself as a "paranormal romance" or "urban fantasy romance"! Indeed justreading that in a description will give away 90% of the "plot"!

 

[SezMe]

link says he had Alzheimer's... technically, not correct.

He suffered from Posterior Cortical Atrophy. My brother has the same thing.

eta: http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/wellbe...s-that-sir-terry-pratchett-had-11363967942621

Both links say PCA is a form of Alzheimer's so, technically correct.

 

[PhantomWolf]

Being hugely into fantasy there are a couple of series and writers I'd add, though I am sure others will scream in disagreement.

The Shadow Trilogy by Chris Claremont and George Lucas really showed me that Lucas is wonderful at world building, but his storytelling is terrible. For those that don't know, this series is the sequel to Willow.

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. The story is meh, though I have to admit I did buy all 4 books to find out how it ended, and then regretted it. The writing itself is poor, and in places describes a world that just physically is not possible.

Lord of the Rings and other Tolkien works. Yes I know that they are beloved by millions, and are the grand-daddy if all fantasy, but they just haven't stood the test of time. Tolkien was a great world builder and linguist, but his storytelling is really bad when compared to today's writing. I'm of the opinion that these are books to read fully once, and then if you read them again, skip large sections to condense it all. They are worth reading to learn about the roots of fantasy, but those that read them all the time just need a life.

 

[PhantomWolf]

He employed an assistant to write for him.


Then, as I suspect most will be aware, he arranged for this to happen.

I have actually left a couple of Pratchett's unread. The last Tiffany Aching one (Shepherd's Crown), the non-Discworld one I can't remember the title of and the very last Discworld - Making Money.

I feel that when I've finished them, I'll be very sad, so I'm not doing it yet.

The final Discworld book is Raising Steam while the non-discworld book you mentioned is The Artful Dodger.