Oblomov Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I have only glanced through The Truth about Chickamauga by Col. Archibald Gracie, but know from reports that it is one of the most pointless, boring books ever written. Among classics, I found the Collins Library Giant edition of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables impossible to read. Some busybody who had nothing better to do gave me a beautiful copy of this book on my 12th birthday in 1967 and despite several attempts, could not maintain my concentration beyond the Fantine chapter. By the mid-70s I could no longer stand the sight of the big book on my bookshelf and so simply gave it away one fine day. Among modern thrillers, I found the grossly overhyped The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown very disappointing. Poorly plotted and written about a subject that has been speculated for decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 The Devil's Advocate, by Andrew Neiderman. See the film, because it's great, but the book is truly awful. Mourning Ruby, by Helen Dunmore. B-O-R-I-N-G. Bad Moon Rising, by Sheila Quigley. Supposed to be a crime thriller....I guessed the perpetrator about 1/3 of the way through (as did other people I know who have read it). Bad grammar, bad writing. Avoid!! The Accidental, by Ali Smith. I found this book a real drag, and felt that the author was just trying to show off how clever she is. I read it for a book group, and practically everyone found it boring. Several people gave up on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I'd like to add The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. It's got to be one of the dullest books I've ever finished. I kept waiting for something to happen and then realised that everything I'd been told in the first few pages was pretty much it. Talk about a major let-down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 1. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder Utter drivel 2. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth Soap opera set in India. Soaps are ok on TV 3. Perfume - Patrick Suskind Boring, boring, boring. Then a barking mad ending The above three I am especially disappointed with as I had looked forward to reading each of them. 4. The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy Egotistical bore. Grrr.... 5. With No One as Witness - Elizabeth George Sorry Missus, you've lost it. I thought you wrote Whodunnits, not 'Oh look we solved the murder behind the scenes its' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Oh, I forgot about Sophie's World. I really thought that was a let-down, after all the good things I had heard about it. Tedious with a capital T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 2. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth Soap opera set in India. Soaps are ok on TV Hahaha! Very true. I actually really enjoyed A Suitable Boy, but it was just a great big meandering family soap opera saga with very little apparent depth. I think it would have been insufferable had I not read it fairly quickly during a very long holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted July 31, 2007 Share Posted July 31, 2007 3. Dracula - Bram Stoker - Had to read this for English A-Level I think I skimmed half of it to tell the truth. Good writing ability I think, but bad plotting. It felt so all over the place. It's a shame as I think it could have been a lot better. 5. The Turn of the Screw - Don't know and don't care - Read this in year 11 in school. Hated it. Absolutely hated it. Hated the book, the BBC filmy thing of it and every bloody lesson about it. I was hoping they'd all die at the end and I could get some satisfaction. Can't actually remember much about it apart from thinking 'hate it' at the time. I'm pretty sure it was one of the most pointless classics ever to be written. hehe - I'm loving Dracula (Only 100 pages in though) and I LOVED turn of the screw! My 5: White teeth - Zadie Smith - well written but I could not sympathise with any of the characters. They all seemed quite self absorbed. Gave up half way. Captain Corelli's mandolin - well written but dull, too long-winded and not enough pace for me. Gave up half way. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot. Did it for A Level. Aaarghh!! The wives of bath - Wendy Holden. The most appalling drivel! The characters were gross caricatures and mostly very annoying. Ugh I hated it - utter nonsense. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley. Found the writing style quite annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyB Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 I'd like to add The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. It's got to be one of the dullest books I've ever finished. I kept waiting for something to happen and then realised that everything I'd been told in the first few pages was pretty much it. Talk about a major let-down! Yes and I found that I couldn't take to Jean Brodie at all which didn't help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted August 5, 2007 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Some busybody who had nothing better to do gave me a beautiful copy of this book on my 12th birthday in 1967 and despite several attempts, could not maintain my concentration beyond the Fantine chapter. Surely the though they were being kind when they gave it to you though? The wives of bath - Wendy Holden. The most appalling drivel! The characters were gross caricatures and mostly very annoying. Ugh I hated it - utter nonsense. I read something by her (I can't even remember what it was called, but it wasn't that one) and it was awful too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merflerher Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Captain Corelli - ugh! I really can't understand what people see in this, I've tried reading it three times, got three quarters of the way through last time but gave up in disgust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Surely the though they were being kind when they gave it to you though? No, Janet they were not. 'They' was in fact my foster-mother, one of the nastiest pieces of work that ever lived....I mean it. The only reason she bought me that book was because it was supposed to be a status symbol. I had just started Summer holidays (April & May in India. I recall now that it was not, in fact, a birthday present as I mentioned earlier) and was busy classifying my large comic collection. Some equally catty friend of my FM remarked that her daughter only read classics during the holidays - I clearly recall that she mentioned Vanity Fair & The Moonstone at the time. My FM thought that this implied comparison was terrible and before I knew it had thrown out all my carefully collected comics and bought me the biggest classic that she could find - the Collins Library Giant edition of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. This was over 40 years ago and I was 11 years old at the time. Still think 'they' were being kind? I think Jean val Jean might have disagreed too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteffieB Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 I'm going to whisper this...((The Life of Pi)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 I'm going to whisper this...((The Life of Pi)) I liked it but can understand why somebody may not So don't whisper, say it loud and proud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 White teeth - Zadie Smith - well written but I could not sympathise with any of the characters. They all seemed quite self absorbed. Gave up half way. quote] Quite agree - I finished it and wondered what all the fuss was about - some reviews even said it was funny amusing I don't think so!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mbwun_Lily Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Captain Corelli's mandolin - well written but dull, too long-winded and not enough pace for me. Gave up half way. Captain Corelli - ugh! I really can't understand what people see in this, I've tried reading it three times, got three quarters of the way through last time but gave up in disgust. LOL - not surprised with this. Apparently it's one of the top 100 books most likely to go unfinished. I see tons of copies of it show up in the thrift stores around here. I'm not even going to bother to try to read it. Has anyone seen the movie? I haven't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster1976 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje Harry Potter (any) - J.K Rowling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeltree Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 Harry Potter (any) - J.K Rowling There's a lot of people on here who wouldn't agree with you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster1976 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 That's okay - it's the point of a forum I would suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazeltree Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 I always find it interesting when people have completely different opinions of the same books. A lot of people here have enjoyed Margaret Atwood's books. I've not read them but my husband was given one and he didn't enjoy it. What is it you don't like about the Harry Potter's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buster1976 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 It's tough to properly justify it - I've had a look at them all (my girlfriend likes them) and found them puerile. Also I worry as a lot of my friends who do like them say that "there are no other books anywhere near as good" (I'm quoting one of them). There really are - even as someone who admittedly criticises them without ever having finished one of them I know that wizards and strange creatures are done brilliantly by Tom Holt, Tom Sharpe does bespectacled nerds doing well for themselves and James Herbert (on his lazy books) manages to do heroes winning out through luck quite well without any help from JK Rowling. With any luck I'll be proved wrong and my normally non-reading friends who are devouring Harry and his magical chums will go on to read other books. The problem is that I really doubt it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mia Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 ...My FM thought that this implied comparison was terrible and before I knew it had thrown out all my carefully collected comics and bought me the biggest classic that she could find - the Collins Library Giant edition of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. This was over 40 years ago and I was 11 years old at the time. That is terrible, Oblomov. I'm so sorry (and I mean that sincerely). My mother also had her beloved possessions thrown out by her mother, so I am lucky that she would never do that to mine, knowing what it's like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 That is terrible, Oblomov. I'm so sorry (and I mean that sincerely). My mother also had her beloved possessions thrown out by her mother, so I am lucky that she would never do that to mine, knowing what it's like. That's OK. My FM was a delightful woman. She would have made a wonderful wardress ar Auschwitz or Treblinka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValenCina Posted March 7, 2008 Share Posted March 7, 2008 1. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 2. Waiting for the Barbarians - Coetzee 3. The Tartar Steppe - Dino Buzzati 4. Tomorrow in the Battle Think of Me - Javier Marias 5. Anything bu Alessandro Baricco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 pernicious goblinsh!te? Could you have the grace to add a after that please? I'm going to add some new 'please don't waste your life with this book' books to my five (I'm a rebel, shoot me). 6. Maggie's Tree by Julie Walters. This book truly upset me that I had wasted good reading time on it. Very rarely has that happened. I would have dumped it after a couple of chapters but a) I love Julie Walters, It was short so I figured i could read it quickly (I couldn't) c) I kept hoping it would improve (ha!) d) It had good reviews on the back e) the cover was pretty (yes, I know). I should have read the Amazon reviews first. 7. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards. Am I the only person in the world who thought this was just too precious for words? How any story can be told without an ounce of humour must be an achievement but not one I would applaud. It was all just far too worthy for my liking, saying you don't like it almost feels like saying you eat kittens for breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 5 Lord of the Rings - JR Hartley, or whoever How many trees died to print this? Where's the story? How many songs can a hobbit sing to waste another 100 pages while I cry for all the time wasted trying to plough my way through this pernicious goblinsh!te? Hahahahahaha! How very right. I liked it as an 11 year old though (who skipped past all the pointless Elvish poetry. I would recommend it to nerdy 11 year old boys. Not to anyone else, mind you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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