Worst thing you've ever read

[Tvtyrant]

Wading very slowly through the second book of that series. (By which I mean, I started it late lasy year while on holiday and got about half way through and have read to odd chapter since.) My Mum, who's read the whole series, said it got much better in the third and forth books, so we'll see.

It's... definately slow, to put it mildly, and there seem a few too many pointless character deaths for my liking, but we'll see...

Still, it's not as bad as some stuff I've read, and it's something for holiday reading. (I have a policy of only buying and reading books for holidays, since we can't afford the storage space otherwise; other times, I tend to voraciosuly read fanfic. (Well, decent fanfic, anyway; which does exist, you just have to be prepared to find a fanbase with a modicum of intelligence and do a lot of wading through crap!))

I actually loved the Dragonbone Chair as a kid. Different strokes for different folks.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

I hated Stephen R. Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane, but I didn't finish it.

You didn't finish it? Why not? The first TC trilogy was amazing!

[Rhydeble]

The only book that I can remember stopping reading in disgust is the sixth dune book (yes, of course, magical space jews that were TOTALLY THERE ALL ALONG. That, combined with the uberpowerful superspeed general, who was totally the best general ever even though he did not know that his enemy had build a city a few miles from his home.) There's other books i stopped reading out of boredom, but never really thrown across the room out of stupidity.

[Aotrs Commander]

I actually loved the Dragonbone Chair as a kid. Different strokes for different folks.

Well, seeing as I've not given up on the series, it can't be that bad!

(If anything, I think the second book is probably less interesting than the first, as not much seems to happen other than everyone running around and getting picked off. Still, I'm only about 60-70% of the way through book two, so... It's certainly very slow-paced though.)



I forced myself through the Thomas Covenant books, but I wasn't very impressed. I think it says something that the only character I liked in the entire set of books was Vain, and he had like one line of dialogue.

[Avilan the Grey]

The two books I have enjoyed the least were Atlas Shrugged and Catcher in the Rye; the latter actually made me talk my teacher into letting me read another book instead after reading a third of it (it was a reading assignment in High-school).

[Das Platyvark]

The two books I have enjoyed the least were Atlas Shrugged and Catcher in the Rye; the latter actually made me talk my teacher into letting me read another book instead after reading a third of it (it was a reading assignment in High-school).

What do you have against it? I loved that book. It's called a classic for reason.
Sure, it's angsty, but it's also quite well written, has interesting (though occasionally unlikable) characters, and tells an good and unusual story.
Not trying to be agressive here, I just wanted you to explain in depth.

[Telonius]

Personally, Catcher never did it for me. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but it just didn't stack up to the hype. I'd read The Chocolate War just before I read Catcher, too; Catcher just looked shoddy in comparison. (I think I must have been about 13 when I read it - I understand the "started the genre" thing now, but it didn't help the reading experience at the time).

[Avilan the Grey]

What do you have against it? I loved that book. It's called a classic for reason.
Sure, it's angsty, but it's also quite well written, has interesting (though occasionally unlikable) characters, and tells an good and unusual story.
Not trying to be agressive here, I just wanted you to explain in depth.

I honestly don't remember more than it made my head hurt. Seriously, something with the way it was written felt very "off" to me and made my head feel funny. It felt like being in some kind of dream and not being able to wake up, and I can't explain it any better than that, really; like I was desperately trying to peel away the "weirdness" and get to the story.

[fergo]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Just out of interest, why?

I haven't read many of Gaiman's books, but I love that one.

Thinking about it, the worst book I can recall finishing was Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl, which I read about ten years ago. Its antagonist, Artemis Fowl, was described as prodigal genius, yet none of his actions actually demonstrated that he was one. Its plot was unmemorable, especially since Artemis was supposed to be some sort of criminal mastermind. Its other characters were one-dimensional - they had maybe one trait and that was that. Its humor lacked wit and the action lacked excitement; both seemed really contrived. But really, what bothered me so much about it was that are actually a lot of good books aimed at preteens that are much better and that I could have read instead.

I (think I) read it as a pre-teen and loved it. Of course I would see its flaws if I went back and read it again, but I think I'd still enjoy it.

For what it's worth, I've been reading the series as it continues, and have been pretty much enjoying them less and less; but at the end of the day, they're aimed at an audience a good bit younger than me, so that's to be expected.

As for children's writing that seems just as good now... may be a little controversial, as I know lots of people don't like them, but I've always loved His Dark Materials. In fact, I think I apreciate them more now than I did when I first read them.

[Aotrs Commander]

Ooh, another thought.

Kes, which we had to read for our GCSEs. I have never read a book that was so insipid that it managed to turn a subject I like (falconry) into a dull, tedious morass of boredom.

Actually, my A level in English literature (which I only did because language conflicted with my other three A levels) did no less than two books on black American culture/history, which I felt was perhaps a tad narrow on the field, given that I was in England... No offense to Maya Angelou, but her autobiography was not especially enthralling reading, even given historical context, to a seventeen-year old Englishman... (Those were my pre-Lich days.)

The other one of the two was absolutely dreadful, even though it was sort of about what I identified as a revenant, and included such delightful topics as implied beastialty (you know, for literature!) I didn't even read that one properly, I merely got away with skimming the bits I needed for the assignments and exam, and tried to purge the memory afterwards, with reasonable sucess, since I can't remember the title.

Actually, that probably has to count as my top one, under the circumstances, doesn't it? So bad I actually didn't read it except as forced...

[Sith_Happens]

As for children's writing that seems just as good now... may be a little controversial, as I know lots of people don't like them, but I've always loved His Dark Materials. In fact, I think I apreciate them more now than I did when I first read them.

Oh yeah, that was a great one.

[Rhydeble]

Ooh, another thought.

Kes, which we had to read for our GCSEs. I have never read a book that was so insipid that it managed to turn a subject I like (falconry) into a dull, tedious morass of boredom.

Actually, my A level in English literature (which I only did because language conflicted with my other three A levels) did no less than two books on black American culture/history, which I felt was perhaps a tad narrow on the field, given that I was in England... No offense to Maya Angelou, but her autobiography was not especially enthralling reading, even given historical context, to a seventeen-year old Englishman... (Those were my pre-Lich days.)

The other one of the two was absolutely dreadful, even though it was sort of about what I identified as a revenant, and included such delightful topics as implied beastialty (you know, for literature!) I didn't even read that one properly, I merely got away with skimming the bits I needed for the assignments and exam, and tried to purge the memory afterwards, with reasonable sucess, since I can't remember the title.

Actually, that probably has to count as my top one, under the circumstances, doesn't it? So bad I actually didn't read it except as forced...

Actually there is probably a good reason behind having you read two books about the same subject. It makes you able to compare them better with each other. I had to read two books about orthodox jews in america, and while I didn't like them or the subject, it was quite interesting to see one subject from two different perspectives and writers.

[Arcane_Secrets]

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy was absolutely excruciating. I had to read it for a high school English class.

Empire by Orson Scott Card. I can't really discuss why it's so terrible, but if I had known about its reputation in advance (the one time I don't google a book in advance...) I probably never would've even read it in the store. I felt soiled after reading it.

The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler. Again, undiscussable here.

Slander by Ann Coulter. I'm not sure if it even counts as the worst thing I've ever read because I haven't been able to get more than ten pages into it without setting it down again and wanting to kill it with fire.

With regards to Lord Foul's Bane, I'm not sure I'd call it the worst thing I've ever read but it seems to be written in a style so as to deliberately make it as hard to like as possible. The protagonist is an honestly terrible person and something about the writing style is nigh-impenetrably dense. I get the feeling that it might have actually been a much better book if someone aside from the author had written it instead.

[Douglas]

Worst I've actually finished: Crossroads of Twilight, Robert Jordan. I bought it hardcover, right when it came out. Most disappointing reading experience I've ever had. I felt cheated out of my $20. On the plus side, it was a motivating factor to really get to work on my own book. It was my, "And he gets paid for this?!" moment.

I hope that didn't put you off the series. It got a lot better again in the next book.

[Nerzi]

Just out of interest, why?

I haven't read many of Gaiman's books, but I love that one.

Personally I just didn't find it very good.

Not the worst thing I've ever read by a long way but the only reason I finished it is that I made a deliberate choice of making sure it was the only book I had with me on a day that involved a lot of queuing (I read the first half during the morning queue for day passes at Wibledon, put it down without the remotest interest in picking it up again and then decided the next year when I was getting ready for Wimbldon again that I might as well see how it ended). It was all 'this is a really clever rerence' and not enough 'this is a compelling story'. It's the sort of subject matter I really should like, given my interests and such, but the execution was just tedious and even by the end I felt nothing for any of the characters.

Actually that's a problem I have with Gaimen in general. Very neat ideas, but something about the writing style and characterisation leaves me unimpressed and bored.

Now for worst book I've ever read...that's a hard one but The Time Traveler's Wife is by far the worst book I've read this year.

[Verte]

You didn't finish it? Why not? The first TC trilogy was amazing!

I was about a quarter of the way through when I realized I wasn't enjoying it since he reached the Land, so I decided not to finish, especially since I had other books to read.

I forced myself through the Thomas Covenant books, but I wasn't very impressed. I think it says something that the only character I liked in the entire set of books was Vain, and he had like one line of dialogue.

I have to agree with the above in that I didn't really like any of the characters. I mean, I'm pretty sure that Thomas was intended to be a terrible, unlikable person, but the others all seemed rather wooden to me.

With regards to Lord Foul's Bane, I'm not sure I'd call it the worst thing I've ever read but it seems to be written in a style so as to deliberately make it as hard to like as possible. The protagonist is an honestly terrible person and something about the writing style is nigh-impenetrably dense. I get the feeling that it might have actually been a much better book if someone aside from the author had written it instead.

This pretty much sums up the rest of my feeling here better than I could.

I (think I) read it as a pre-teen and loved it. Of course I would see its flaws if I went back and read it again, but I think I'd still enjoy it.

For what it's worth, I've been reading the series as it continues, and have been pretty much enjoying them less and less; but at the end of the day, they're aimed at an audience a good bit younger than me, so that's to be expected.

Yeah, after posting I realized I might have been a bit harsh, considering that it was a book targeted at 10 year olds. I mean, if I had read it when I was 8 or 9 (instead of 12) I might have enjoyed it more - especially since I can recall reading books that definitely weren't very good but seemed fun at the time. I think part of my annoyance was that it was that it seemed like it was promoted more than other, better books.

As for children's writing that seems just as good now... may be a little controversial, as I know lots of people don't like them, but I've always loved His Dark Materials. In fact, I think I apreciate them more now than I did when I first read them.

Yeah, those were some of my favorite books as a kid! And they definitely held up to rereading later. But yeah, I know some people are offended by them or don't think its themes are appropiate for kids.

[Telonius]

I hope that didn't put you off the series. It got a lot better again in the next book.

Unfortunately, it did. I'll probably get around to reading it one of these days, but my memory of wanting all the main characters to drown in a bog is still just too strong.

[Goosefeather]

Actually, my A level in English literature (which I only did because language conflicted with my other three A levels) did no less than two books on black American culture/history, which I felt was perhaps a tad narrow on the field, given that I was in England... No offense to Maya Angelou, but her autobiography was not especially enthralling reading, even given historical context, to a seventeen-year old Englishman...

I feel your pain, having had to study Caged Bird when I was fifteen. Given that GCSE English classes can make even Shakespeare seem dull and insipid, Angelou never stood a chance. I think I also kind of resented the fact that we were studying her simply because of her gender and race, rather than for any inherent merit in her work itself. And the rape scene was just ridiculous.

[SoC175]

Hello folks, pretty simple but odd request. I have a love of watching really terrible movies and poking fun at them. I'm curious if the same can be done with books, and was wondering if anyone had any good recommendation for terrible pieces of literature.

Baldur's Gate the Novels. Book 1 and 3 are the worst pieces of crap I have ever read. Book 2 is the best of the loot but still worse than anything save it's brethren

[Ninjadeadbeard]

I was about a quarter of the way through when I realized I wasn't enjoying it since he reached the Land, so I decided not to finish, especially since I had other books to read.

Alright. At least that's a reason. Personally, I still think TC's the best modern literature I've ever read, but it takes a bit before it gets good (although the last trilogy is starting to bog down).

Yeah, those were some of my favorite books as a kid! And they definitely held up to rereading later. But yeah, I know some people are offended by them or don't think its themes are appropiate for kids.

I really liked the first book (my best friend in 7th grade loaned me his copy and he was a HUGE fan). I'm not sure why I stopped. I think I heard some spoilers about the rest of the series and decided that I wouldn't enjoy it as much without the surprise. I wasn't actually aware of any "offensive" material* in the book until the movie came out and...died. I didn't think the movie was too bad either.

Also, yeah, Dune got weird at the end, but everyone here's got to admit it's better than his son's wretched work. Link may be NSFW.

*

[factotum]

I was about a quarter of the way through when I realized I wasn't enjoying it since he reached the Land, so I decided not to finish, especially since I had other books to read.

True story--I read the first trilogy out of sequence (2, 3, then 1) due to borrowing them off a sibling while he was still reading the first one, and I can actually say the first book is unquestionably the worst of the three. If you still have the books around, try reading the second one! You don't actually lose much from not reading the first one and you might enjoy it more.

[grimbold]

assuming the books should be english i hafta say strawerry shortcake and the talent show

i read it when i was 11, my 8 year old (at the time) sister had given me the book and said "this is the worst thing i've ever read"

and i read it

oh the horror


as for books on french
many of the classic are just 300 pages of description with 10 pages of plot

[Ninjadeadbeard]

as for books on french
many of the classic are just 300 pages of description with 10 pages of plot

Ya know? I thought that way too, and it's true for most classic French literature. But then I had to translate The Count of Monte Cristo for a Translation class, and it was a pretty brisk, entertaining read. Granted, I think the original (and most Dumas in particular) was written as pulpy penny-dreadful-type books, so YMMV.

[grimbold]

Ya know? I thought that way too, and it's true for most classic French literature. But then I had to translate The Count of Monte Cristo for a Translation class, and it was a pretty brisk, entertaining read. Granted, I think the original (and most Dumas in particular) was written as pulpy penny-dreadful-type books, so YMMV.

oh i agree that some of it is EXCELLENT

but a lot of it is horrific

[Emmerask]

I have read Wizard's First Rule and I loved the series so I gues YMMV on some books. LIke for me I felt "The DaVinci Code" Was just meh. One page chapters just didn't cut it for me. I understand the appeal but still. I work in a library so I see a Huge amount of books that make me go wtf. For as much hate as it gets "Twilight" isn't a bad read when you realize it is a sappy romance.

The DaVinci Code was actually quite "good" in comparison to "The Lost Symbol" so yeah either lost Symbol or Sword of Truth series (excluding the first book which was okay).

[Verte]

True story--I read the first trilogy out of sequence (2, 3, then 1) due to borrowing them off a sibling while he was still reading the first one, and I can actually say the first book is unquestionably the worst of the three. If you still have the books around, try reading the second one! You don't actually lose much from not reading the first one and you might enjoy it more.

Actually, I only ever got the first book. However, I'll keep that in mind if I come across them used or something.

I really liked the first book (my best friend in 7th grade loaned me his copy and he was a HUGE fan). I'm not sure why I stopped. I think I heard some spoilers about the rest of the series and decided that I wouldn't enjoy it as much without the surprise. I wasn't actually aware of any "offensive" material* in the book until the movie came out and...died. I didn't think the movie was too bad either.

I'd definitely recommend finishing the trilogy if you get a chance. I think they're definitely worthwhile reads even knowing some spoilers. I thought he really explained a lot of the mysteries that had been established in the first book well. Plus there was suspense and character development, and if I recall correctly, more interesting settings. However, I don't know how much was spoiled for you.

As for Dune, I stopped reading the series after finishing Children of Dune. I didn't hate it or anything, but I don't think I was in the mood to read about more of the weirder elements that had developed in that book. Then, after a couple years, I realized had forgotten just enough of the books that I'd have to reread them all if I wanted to continue with the rest of them, which I didn't feel like doing.

[Opperhapsen]

The millennium trilogy.
It's...
It's really bad.

I usually finish whatever I set out to, but this was pain.

The writing was stale, the main character became relegated to just going on about how awesome this bull**** "HACKING GURL" was, and she was a complete mary sue.
Who was not only THE BEST HACKER EVER FOR SRZ, but also capable of punching out a boxing heavyweight champion in one punch. (And despite being described as odd looking and plain in the beginning, we end up being told about how she's SO FRIGGING HOT GAIZ)

[Weezer]

oh i agree that some of it is EXCELLENT

but a lot of it is horrific

And that's different from all books how?

[Inglenook]

I have mixed feelings on His Dark Materials. I remember loving most of it, but the end left me confused. It was like "Okay, you have this brilliant, fantastic multiverse … and now they're killing God." It just seemed like Pullman was trying to be controversial for the sake of controversy by suddenly making the series into a dystheist Narnia. And I realize that the themes were sort of there throughout the entire trilogy, but it still felt jarring.

Of course, I haven't read them since I was like twelve, so it's very likely I might feel differently about it on a reread.

Ooh, speaking of lengthy slogs, how about Battlefield Earth? I read it in seventh grade at my dad's urging (he had the first edition copy, bless him), and it took me like two months to finish. Boringly perfect protagonist, comic book villains, and hundreds of pages devoted to crawling around in mine shafts or whatever.

[comicshorse]

The millennium trilogy.
It's...
It's really bad.

I usually finish whatever I set out to, but this was pain.

The writing was stale, the main character became relegated to just going on about how awesome this bull**** "HACKING GURL" was, and she was a complete mary sue.
Who was not only THE BEST HACKER EVER FOR SRZ, but also capable of punching out a boxing heavyweight champion in one punch. (And despite being described as odd looking and plain in the beginning, we end up being told about how she's SO FRIGGING HOT GAIZ)

I actually quite liked the first one, apart from a couple of times when the characters dsiplay mind boggiling stupidity because otherwise the plot wouldn't work.
But the second and especially the third. God yes