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Books you hate

The Holographic Universe.

What a ripoff! I'd read things here and there about the idea and it seemed intriguing. I'm by no means an expert in physics, so I thought I'd pick up the book and see if I could learn something solid. As soon as the author informed us it was lucky he "came from a very psychic family" so he was able to come up with this theory, I should have chucked it out the window, but no, I kept reading. Chapter after chapter of refernences to outmoded science and poorly designed experiments - the most egregious being that guy who removed a salamander's brain, put it back in upside down and claimed it had no effect on the salamander's behavior and therefore the mind is not part of the brain (something I'm sure will come as a comfort to people suffering traumatic brain injuries) - I had had enough. I might as well have spent my money on a set of tarot cards, then at least I could look at the pretty pictures.
 
Skiltch said:
My problems with the Dark Tower series:

1. Stephen King is a character. In his own book. And is apparently responsible for saving the world by writing his books. It actually works pretty well, but this could have easily been removed without harming the books.
2. Near the very end Stephen King (the author now, not the character) interjects a note saying, "Stop reading. You won't like the ending. Seriously, stop. Don't say I didn't warn you." Really. And... as it turns out he's absolutely right.
(One might wonder why he wrote that ending if he knew everyone would hate it, but... okay then).
It was bad because I really loved the series. There was some masterful prose and really elegant scenes through the whole thing. I loved the depictions of Lud, of Blaine, of the whole Mejis township, and Wolves was one of the best books I've ever read, in my view. But then books six and seven.. .they had great parts too (loved the description of the Breaker prison), but it didn't work near the end.
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I pretty much agree with this. The books held my interest until about half way through the series, when it felt the story was just spinning its wheels and not getting anywhere. And it all went downhill from there.
 
Book(s) I hate?

Well the first that springs to mind is The Illuminatus Trilogy. A 'classic'', apparently :confused:

To me it's just 7 quid and a couple of days that I'll never get back.:mad:
 
A few others I did not care for:

Atlas Shrugged - For me, it was way too long and drawn out (and self aggrandizing) for the point it was trying to get across.

Of Mice and Men - Too depressing (at least it was short).

Left behind - I would almost recommend reading these. They are so bad, it's funny. And my comment has nothing to do with the theology: The character develop, the plot movement elements, and the basic authorship is terrible.

Don Quixote According to wikipedia: "As a founding work of modern Western literature, it regularly appears at or near the top of lists of the greatest works of fiction ever published and is the best-selling non-religious, non-political work of fiction of all time."

But to this day, I don't know how I made it through it all.
 
Denver:

Jasper Fforde's "literary detective" "Thursday Next" is cursed with not being able to die untill she has read the ten most boring classics...

I found his books amusing
 
Denver said:
I pretty much agree with this. The books held my interest until about half way through the series, when it felt the story was just spinning its wheels and not getting anywhere. And it all went downhill from there.
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I don't hate the books, but I certainly have a measure of ire at some of the "plot twists" King took us on. Ultimately, I've always said that he wrote a very good first book, and should have left it at that.
 
Lars Walker - Wolf Time. reading the synopsis on the back I expected dark fantasy dealing with norse gods and Ragnarök. What I got was a piece of (fundamentalist) christan propaganda and weird rants against "secularism" (which would, for instance, apparently have suicide centers erected all over the world, as soon as somone was depressed and said "damn, I whish I was dead" secular consulars would be at your side poiting out the nearest place to commit suicide, amongst other things).
 
Denver said:
Left behind - I would almost recommend reading these. They are so bad, it's funny. And my comment has nothing to do with the theology: The character develop, the plot movement elements, and the basic authorship is terrible.
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A mechanic was trying to convince me to read those. I was waiting for something to get done and didn't have a ride to I was reading some Milan Kundera or something, and he started asking me about books and recommended those. I told him that I was sort of an atheist and not really big into Christian literature. He said that they were really good and I should read them anyway.
 
The Silmarillion- J.R.R. Tolkien.

Gah. I would like to state I read encyclopedias for fun, and I love Lord of the Rings (well, most of it) and The Hobbit.

I could not get past page 3. It's so unbelievably dull, it makes me wish I were dead. My god, how can anyone put up with this tosh?
 
MarkCorrigan said:
The Silmarillion- J.R.R. Tolkien.

Gah. I would like to state I read encyclopedias for fun, and I love Lord of the Rings (well, most of it) and The Hobbit.

I could not get past page 3. It's so unbelievably dull, it makes me wish I were dead. My god, how can anyone put up with this tosh?
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Skip the whole creation of the world bit?
 
MarkCorrigan said:
I could not get past page 3. It's so unbelievably dull, it makes me wish I were dead. My god, how can anyone put up with this tosh?
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I suppose we "put up" with it because we were more interested in the background and love The Lord of the Rings more than you. I won't deny it's dull, and I would never read it cover to cover again, but you did pose the question.

The Silmarillion really shouldn't be taken as a novel, but rather a compendium reference, and as Christopher Tolkien himself stated, a rather rushed one at that. It is, more or less, only intended for those who want to know more about the background of Middle Earth.

Now, The Children of Hurin, which is intended to be a novel, is quite a lot of rubbish. Here, again, I fault Christopher Tolkien, but not for being rushed, rather for thinking that he could complete what his father started. Telling a story, and telling it well, takes more than filling in the blanks of what someone else has crafted.
 
No-one has mentioned Tess of the D'Urbervilles yet. A depressing story of the mundane, with literature's most insipid heroine. A bleak wander through a world bereft of wonder, interest or characters I don't want to smack. I don't think I'll ever forgive my English teacher for making me read it. The worst book I've ever read, by a long, long margin.

Also, OP, I'd like to thank you for the Red Dwarf reference, which no-one else seems to have spotted.
 
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PenguinWarrior:

I avoided Hardy, ever since a friend doing A-level English described it as "drear -drear dreariness did dreary dreary..." he ranted about it for a lot longer
 
The Silmarillion- J.R.R. Tolkien.

Gah. I would like to state I read encyclopedias for fun, and I love Lord of the Rings (well, most of it) and The Hobbit.

I could not get past page 3. It's so unbelievably dull, it makes me wish I were dead. My god, how can anyone put up with this tosh?
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I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I really tried to get through it because I loved Lord of The Rings but alas, I was lost a few pages in. So, my nice edition keeps sitting in my bookcase, mocking and tempting me but I don't have the heart to give it another try.
 
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