Worst book you've ever read

[Dragonbreathp9d]

"I Am The Cheese" by some asshole. It was required reading summer before my 8th grade year.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. The Scarlet Letter, followed by Agamemnon.

Read Scarlet Letter in high school and hated the shit out of it. Awful, awful writing.

And even in high school I had become a big fan of classic literature, and read a lot of it.

We read Agamemnon in college and I hated it. I'm not familiar with Greek classical literature much, but I complained about it at the time to a friend who WAS studying Literature and he said, "Of all the Greek classical stuff, they're having you read that piece of shit? Sorry, man."

[deepthought42]

2. Ha ha. That one and A Farewell to Arms. n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. I love Farewell to Arms!

But I am a huge Hemingway fan. Huge! Love his writing.

[deepthought42]

8. Well I'll let you have that one...

but I almost didn't survive reading in it high school...lol

[otherlander]

62. I think he spent three paragraphs describing a wall once.

I mean, I can appreciate the idea of writing a book that shows how much war really sucks, to go against all the books that glorified WWI, but Jesus Fried Christ On A Stick, talk about tedious!

[Dragonbreathp9d]

7. Scarlet letter was pretty fuckin bad

I'll add "The Sun Also Rises," just because people think WAY TOO DAMN much of Hemmingway

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. OMG! I love The Sun Also Rises!! But then, I'm a huge Hemingway fan.

Love his writing!

[Dragonbreathp9d]

15. Ugg,

"Let me talk about bar hopping with friends, but I'm not going to describe the bars, nor my friends, nor the hopping. I'll ramble on about stupid conversations. And how I'm a drunk."

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. Not drunk, tight.

:rofl:

[Orrex]

20. Boy, you've really hit on the essence of it

:sarcasm:

[jobycom]

36. Add me to list who worship Hemmingway.

The greatest thing to happen to fiction since Edgar Allen Poe.

[LSdemocrat]

57. My nominee is also The Scarlet Letter

There are a couple of other minor works that I read in a German Lit class that could give The Scarlet Letter a run for its money, but The Scarlet Letter wins hands down, since at least in defense of the other books, I read those in translation.

I have no idea how that book, or any works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, came to be regarded as classic.

[lizziegrace]

3. "Must Like Dogs"

ick

[Shakespeare]

4. Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

An "epic poem" of such profound awfulness it almost can't be believed.

[AllegroRondo]

5. read, or finished?

Ive put down a lot of books after a couple chapters, because I cant bear to go on.

[skygazer]

9. Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Horrible, horrible, horrible. It may very well have been the boring teacher who droned on and on about it but I recall that book with horrified shudders.

[Cabcere]

75. Ugh, seriously!

:puke: Return of the Native, or whatever it's called, was pretty awful too, IMO. How Thomas Hardy ever became one of the "classic" authors is beyond me. :shrug:

[mainegreen]

10. Some Asshole, eh? I hope that's his pen name. Put's him in the A's so it's a good choice.

Right next to Asimov.

[malta blue]

11. I will now put on my flamesuit....

The Mists of Avalon....
Ugh - I could not get through the first 100 pages, much less the whole book.

Anything by Anne Rice - what a steaming pile!

[skygazer]

16. I agree with you on Mists of Avalon

Someone recommended it to me and it sounded like something I'd like.

:puke:

[malta blue]

21. Ditto

recommended and holy cow ...:banghead:

[Rabrrrrrr]

18. And other intolerable fantasy writing is Stephen Donaldson. Christ.

Talk about fucking dreck. Illearth War and all that nonsense - great concept, but the writing - OMG, some of the worst (not grammatically or typo-wise, just style-wise) writing I have ever come across.

I've tried to read that series since high school - I have a friend who fucking loves it. I gave up before the first book ended. I read it a number of years later, and made it into book two. Then tried it yet again when I was in my late 20s, and made it into book three, just barely, and only by pure strength of will but couldn't take it any more.

[Orrex]

32. I was just thinking about that

I'll credit Donaldson for setting up despicable characters and then giving us reason to sympathize with them, but you're correct in pointing out that the writing is sometimes insurmountable. It's a shame, too, because some of his concepts are really great.

One particular sticking point for me: in 36 years I've only ever seen one non-military person "turn on his heel and stride out," but pretty much everyone who exits a scene written by Donaldson exits in exactly that way. Too much! Too much!

[Mutley]

12. Zodiac

I really couldn't deal with that guy's writing style. I never got past page 26.

[TOhioLiberal]

13. Recent fiction:

'Brother Odd' by Dean 'I'm a fucking asshole' Koontz. I loved the first two of the Odd Thomas books; But this last one was just odious. :puke:

[Orrex]

17. Hawk, by Ted Bell

Incredibly bad, even by "brain candy" standards.

[tonkatoy57]

22. I hate getting sucked into reading a bad book

All Time Shitty Book-Classic Division
Les Miserable
Fuck Jean Valjean.

All Time Shitty Book-Popular Division
The Bridges of Madison County
Robert James Waller should have been beaten to death by a gang of Iowa farmers.

[Seashell Eyes]

23. The Catcher in the Rye

Snow Falling on Cedars

[Dragonbreathp9d]

24. WHHHAAAAATTTTT!?!?!??!?!?!?!

Oh, you're in for it now, quick, don the flame suit!!!!!


CITR is an AMAZING book

[tonkatoy57]

27. We're going to have to rethink our relationship

What didn't you like about Snow Falling on Cedars? I thought it was a wonderful story, very descriptive and well written. Plus, it was a story that illuminated a topic, the story of Japanese Americans during WWII, that I knew little about.

Catcher in The Rye on the other hand, I have to agree with you about. It wasn't by a long shot the worst book I've read, but I read it when I was much older than the target audience. I just found Holden to be a pretentious upper class twit. Even if I had read it when I was younger I don't think it would have resonated with me, a working class, rural, southern boy.

[Seashell Eyes]

30. .

Snow Falling on Cedars could have been good. It needed about two hundred pages of useless information cut from it. I didn't really care who grew what in the summer and felt annoyed having to read all of that. Also, I didn't need to know about the judge's problems getting an erection. With Catcher in the Rye, I thought Holden was annoying. "Wahhh, wahhh, my life sucks. Goddamn it, goddamn it, goddamn it."

[tonkatoy57]

40. Well, there you go

Those tangents and digressions are some of my favorite things in literature. For me, they seem to deepen and illuminate the characters and the story.

It's like Moby Dick. If you took the away the excursions into 19th century whaling techniques and scrimshaw carving Moby Dick is about 150 pages.

[Seashell Eyes]

73. I usually like tangents

just not in that book.

[begin_within]

39. I didn't "get" what was so great about "The Catcher in the Rye."

Just some dumb story about some disaffected teenager is all I could get out of it. So what...

[WritingIsMyReligion]

42. Heathen. CATCHER IN THE RYE is amazing.

:evilgrin:

[GOPisEvil]

55. Let me guess, you read "Catcher" as an adult.

I did, and I think it's the most over-rated bunch of crap I've ever read. Not that it's a bad book, but for the life of me I can't see why ANYONE would think Holden Caulfield is a hero.

[ellisonz]

104. I think Holden Caufield is much more a play on the anti-hero than a hero.

[Rabrrrrrr]

70. Read Catcher in the Wry, instead.

:P

[EFerrari]

25. Best of the worst, Hemingway and Joyce.

Far more influential and so far worse than anything by "Nora Lofts".

[cobalt1999]

106. Hemingway seemed like he was trying too hard.

It's like he sat down and decided to write "great literature" instead of focusing on the story. His short stories are much better.

[bamacrat]

26. I know its almost blasphemous but....

I really had to force myself to finish Fear and Loathing, and its not even long. Just became hard to read toward the end, dont know why. I've read other Hunter Thompson books and loved them, Hell's Angels is the best, but F&L just was not enjoyable at all.

[styersc]

34. Which F&L.

On the Campaign Trail 1972 or in Las Vegas?

[bamacrat]

41. Las Vegas

[Taverner]

28. The Bible

Competing for a close second: The Book of Mormon and the Koran

[SaveElmer]

29. Fiction: "Neuromancer"...Non-Fiction: "All Cloudless Glory"...nt

[MrCoffee]

48. blasphemer! heretic! other bad things!!!

Neuromancer is FAN-DAMN-TASTIC.

[SaveElmer]

50. Ugh...sorry...almost unreadable...

I was forced to read it for a grad class on the History of Science...

I can see why some might like it, but boy reading that book was excruciating!!!!

[Rabrrrrrr]

71. No, Neuromancer is a half-way decent book

It's good enough to read, but it didn't inspire me, either.

[Liberal Veteran]

89. I think I only liked it because of the game based on it for the Commodore 64

Any game where you sell your organs for seed money and the organ dealer says "Enjoy your cheap plastic replacements" is a winner.

[YankeyMCC]

56. I don't know if I would say 'worst' but I'm kinda with you on "Neuromancer"

I made my way through it but just barely...and I'm a big computer geek and big SF reader. I like Victor Vinge better for that kind of story.

[SaveElmer]

58. Well I don't read much fiction....

I read this cause I was forced too...so my population of fiction to compare it too was pretty small...still...not my cup of tea

[Rhythm]

87. I couldn't get into Gibson, either...

My wasband LOVED reading him, though... go figure.

[ceile]

31. "Salem Falls" Jodi Piccoult (sp)

Horrible, horrible!

[Dragonbreathp9d]

33. Oh, and although I love the man

Jimmy Carter's "Hornets Nest" was pretty terrible

[Z_I_Peevey]

35. Julian, by Gore Vidal.

I admire the man, but that novel almost defeated me.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

37. I just put a book down called "The Descent."

About monsters that live underground. Really, really fucking dumb.

[democrat2012]

38. Many, not even sure.

[terrya]

43. Anything by L. Ron Hubbard

I don't know which was worse: "Dianetics" or his sci-fi. Horrible, horrible writer.

[AllegroRondo]

52. ah, yes, that "Mission Earth" series was truly awful

I really TRIED to read it, made it to about book 5, when I thought "WTF??? Is he just trying to see how long he can drag out this story?"
It seemed like it was just one damn cliffhanger after another, endlessly.

[TechBear_Seattle]

44. "Eragon"

Unbelievably formulaic. I can point to long sections of the book and tell you, "At this point in the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf arrives" or "Wait, where are the hobbits?"

[MysticalChicken]

45. I'm a huge JD Salinger fan, but...

I bought Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters and Seymour, An Introduction one day--it's two books in one. I liked Roof Beam. But I just could not finish Seymour. It was so boring and repetitive. It's the only book that I hated so much that I didn't even finish it. I don't even have that book anymore.

I also struggled to get through Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I finished it, but it took me like three weeks (usually I can finish a book in a few days).

*puts on flame suit*

[underpants]

46. The Count of Montechristo

Boooooooooooooring

[triguy46]

47. Of Human Bondage, Somerset Maugham

Yea, I know its a top 100 of the 20th century, but after putting poor Philip through countless scenes in which he makes stupid, horrible, decisions, the last 10 pages are a rush to finish the thing. If not the worst book, certainly the worst ending of a major work of fiction. its like Maugham was tired and bored with it. Only a step above an "Oh I just woke up and this was a dream".

[Aristus]

49. Let me start by saying how much I love books in general. Not just the writing in them,

but books themselves. The covers, the paper, the binding, the ink. I LOVE books. So maybe you'll understand how bad a book has to be for me to throw it across the room. I read a couple of chapters of "Left Behind", just to see if it was awful as I'd heard.

I threw it across the room, it was so much worse than I had thought. Truman Capote's snarky, dead-on zinger, "creative typing", was too good even for that misbegotten piece of hate-filled shit passing as the written word...

[taught_me_patience]

51. "Sula"

by Toni Morrison. In fact, everything she's written is pure dreck.

[elehhhhna]

53. Who Moved My Cheese. ATROCIOUS!

[Dervill Crow]

60. Oh, let me tell you a story . . .

I finished my book on the plane on the way to PA for a wedding. I figured it was unnecessary to buy a book in the airport as I was staying with my sister-in-law, who introduced me to Rosemary Rogers and assorted bodice-rippers back in the 1980s, who would undoubtedly have a stash of light reading material. So I get to her house and at bedtime I discover that, as a result of her becoming a born-again Christian/Amway dealer, her bookshelf is full of nothing but Christian books, a variety of versions and translation of the Holy Bible, and motivational shit. The closest thing to a decent book I could find was "Who Moved My Cheese?" Said sister-in-law told me it was "a fantastic book."

I cannot go to sleep without a cup of tea and a minimum of a half hour of reading. I wanted to fuckin' kill myself.

[flvegan]

65. Oh, sweet corporate hell, YES!

[Maccagirl]

79. Yes, the real message of "Cheese" was

We (the powerful) are going to do what we want and if you aren't ready for "change" you are stupid, lazy or both and will be royally screwed. Petty much how life is...but with a decidedly "blame the victim" viewpoint.

[Adsos Letter]

54. "Militarism" by some guy named Berghahn...

...it was required reading for a college class on "War and Peace in the 20th Century"...it was an appallingly bad translation of the original German version...

edit: felt compelled to add puking smiley :puke:

[Breeze54]

59. I thought that book, "I am the Cheese" was a riot!

:P

If I find a book boring, I stop reading.

Simple.

[Seashell Eyes]

61. I forgot about the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series

ech.

[Liberal Veteran]

90. Chicken Soup for the Soul is to literature as Thomas Kindade painting is to art.

I can't stand either.

[maveric]

63. "The Adventurers" by Harold Robbins.

My Dad passed that on to me about 20 years ago and I had to hold my nose to finally finish that POS.

[Fire Walk With Me]

64. But... I liked "I am the Cheese" and "Neuromancer".

On the other hand, there is one book I forced myself through because I'd noted others as being unable to rip themselves from, despite the buzz and hum of everything going on around them.. "The Pet Goat". Tell you what, I could have finished that AND saved western civilization in the same day.

[TZ]

66. Tie: Wuthering Heights, The Dead by James Joyce

"Wuthering Heights" the worst kind of romantic tripe. "The Dead" you would have to be brain dead to enjoy that one...booooring!

[Arkham House]

67. Proust--

--Remembrance of Things Past, In Search of Lost Time...whatever the hell you call it...my eyes glaze over just thinking about it. So I'm a Philistine...

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

68. "Naked Emprie" by Terry Goodkind

I bet he was really loving when the protagonist hacked and slashed his way through a group of people changing anti-war slogans simply
because they were in the way.
Goodkind can take his Ayn Rand-ian Fantasy novels and shove them where the sun doesn't shine.

Come to think of it, any book by Terry Goodkind after his fourth pretty much is in my Pile Of Suck™.

[TZ]

69. Yeah that was bad

His first few books were really good. Did you catch the characters in one of his books (I forget which at this point) that were so OBVIOUSLY Bill and Hilary Clinton?

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

72. No, I didn't.

If you remember who they were, let me know. I admit I never saw any parallel, but that'd be interesting to read again.

And I agree. His first books were positively enthralling.
Then came Soul of the Fire; Goodkind's rant against democracy in the face of an obvious threat.
And then came Faith of the Fallen; Goodkind's rant against socialism in all its forms (and apparently a near-ripoff of Rand's The Fountainhead\.
After that: The Pillars of Creation; Goodkind's rant against the media.
And Naked Empire; Goodkind's rant against those who opposed the Iraq Invasion, even though he still insists it's not an allegory for the Iraq Invasion.

And yes, I read them all up to that point Why? Because I though that Goodkind had some trick up his sleeve and was going to absolve the plot.
I was wrong. Oh boy, was I wrong.
And I'm not touching his "final trilogy" that will wrap up the entire series. I will give him not one more cent of my money. He's received too much of it already.

[TZ]

100. Its in "Soul of the Fire"

He has a head of state, I think, whose name is Bertrand Chamboor and his wife Hildemara. See the parallels and they both behave in the manner of the worst behaviors attributed to the Clintons him a philanderer and unethical and her as a cold power hungry witch. I saw it almost right away ( I enjoy picking out symbology in literature) and thats when I started getting really irritated with Mr. Goodkind (and thats got to be a made up name IMHO)

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

105. Okay, now I remember them. Wow.

I think that's when I was still trying to believe it was a fantasy series.

And I wish I had seen the parallel there; I might have stopped reading his drek at that point and saved me some money and time.

But no, I had to want to find out what happened to the protagonists. It wasn't until "Naked Empire", when Richard became the enemy he was fighting
by slaughtering all those people who were coincidentally chanting anti-war slogans that I wanted to have a little talk with Mr. Goodkind and tell him
he's a pile of excrement.

[Liberal Veteran]

86. Bwah-ha-ha! That was my pick too! I ended up destroying my copies.

I didn't want to be tempted to trade them in at the paperback exchange and inflict that garbage on some poor soul.

Terry Goodkind owes me a number of hours of my life back and an apology for insulting my intelligence.

[XemaSab]

74. Cryptonomicon

n/t

[Rabrrrrrr]

107. No way! That's one of my five favorite books!! Brilliant!

I've read it a couple times.

I *love* Stephenson's writings! Except his Baroque cycle is a little tedious.

[XemaSab]

108. I didn't get into any of the characters,

there was only one female character who had any personality, and my copy was full of typos.

And any book where you need an appendix to understand what's going on= lame.

[Cabcere]

76. Anything by Thomas Hardy.

x( Just...bad.

[no name no slogan]

77. "Left Behind"

what a flaming pile of turd.

[gmoney]

81. yeah... written for idiots by idiots

It was good for a laugh the first 20 pages or so, but then it just got unbearable. The movie is equally bad, but somewhat more amusing and only about 90 minutes of torture.

Read one of the parodies, "Right Behind" I think, which was actually pretty funny about just how horrible the writing and story were in the "real" book.

[Liberal Veteran]

88. Oh man, I really thought that they must be well written or something when I picked up a copy...

....and read about two chapters before I concluded that it was poorly written crap.

[Jean Louise Finch]

78. The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen

I hated it so much that I refused the read the last six pages, just so I wouldn't give the author the satisfaction of a reader finishing it (because he would obviously know one way or the other). I just thought it was a vicious novel about vicious people in vicious circumstances and I hated it.

BUT I LOVED "I am the cheese" (it's by robert cormier). You should try reading it again!

Jean Louise

[fudge stripe cookays]

80. "Possession" by A. S. Byatt...

made me want to dig out my eyes with a grapefruit spoon.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

82. Great Expectations and Silas Marner.

Had to read 'em in high school.

Then I found out why Dickens was nuts. He was a court reporter in London courts. I used to be a court reporter and I ran off screaming from the stress.

I was so pissed about Great Expectations that I read Oliver Twist on my own to read some decent Dickens.

The only good thing about Great Expectations was that they showed us a B&W movie of it made in the 1940s, which had handsome young John Mills (Hayley's dad) as the main character, Pip.

[LibDemAlways]

96. I had to read Great Expectations in 9th grade. Enough

to turn any kid into a non-reader. BORING!!

[Liberal Veteran]

83. The Sword of Truth series.

In a nutshell, interesting premise makes for decent if not highbrow reading until it takes a hard right and turns into a neocon wet dream and gets downright preachy with it's bad and hideously hackneyed Ayn Rand knock-off.

[mondo joe]

84. Secret Life of Bees. It was painfully bad - just emotion-porn.

[Heidi]

94. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven,"

and all similar emotionally-manipulative stuff. Like you said: emotion porn. :ick:

[Alexander]

85. A Seperate Peace

Some boring story about prep school kids who no one can relate to.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

91. Clan of the Cave Bear.

Couldn't get thru it.

It was like people today talking, only dressed in bear skins and living in caves.

[TZ]

101. Really?

Have to admit I like that whole series alot, although I actually think the second book "Valley of the Horses" was a bit better.

[Generic Brad]

92. Naked Lunch

Guy takes a variety of drugs. Writes incoherently while under the influence. Hmmm. Yeah.

[Left Is Write]

93. I don't know. I've read some really bad books.

I think I either purge or repress those memories.

[BurtWorm]

95. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy comes immediately to mind

I don't know why I made myself read the whole thing.

[WindRavenX]

97. I'm just gonna say this and get it out in the open: The DaVinci Code

There. I've said it.

:hide:

[Zavulon]

98. Ron Guidry's autobiography.

When I was a kid I used to read sports autobiographies. The most entertaining of them was by Dick Butkus, the worst by far was Ron Guidry's. It was all "Don't tell me I can't do that, Jack, I'll come back and prove you wrong." Like on every other page. Just awful.

For fiction, I'd say the first Dan Brown book, the one about the NSA. Anyone who couldn't figure out the final puzzle is too stupid to be reading books.

[Neoma]

99. Birdwing by Rafe Martin

[ellisonz]

102. Great Expectations - Dickens

[billyskank]

103. Windmills Of The Gods by Sidney Sheldon

That guy sucks.