The Worst book you've ever read?

[Manic23]

Exactly what it says on the tin- what is the biggest pile of cack you've ever read?

Mine would have to be North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell- this was the bane of my existance in A level English

[Campbell]

there are a great deal of contenders, so i'll just put the two that stand out festering away deep in the back of my mind, full of hateful memories

sunset song - pants

emma - oh look, she's making a social commentry about early 19th century aristocracy. isn't that nice. shame she made it so mind-destroyingly, coma-inducingly dull.

[loretta]

Its a play-but definitely 'Death of a salesman.' I don't know what it is about A-Level syllabuses but they give the most dull material. Also 'Merchant of Venice.'

[bookworm]

2 books I hated most were for school English Standard Grade:

"Walkabout" - mind numbingly boring book about 2 kids in Australian outback with weird Aborigany boy. How many 10 page long descriptions of sunrises can one bookcontain? Too many. Yawn fest.

"Chocky" - I never made it past the 3rd page. No idea what the hell was going on. However, I strangly managed to get an A+ for for the essay I wrote about it for my English Standard Grade portfolio even though I never read the book. Mind you, I achieved the same grade for an essay on "1984" for the same portfolio, even though I never finished it.

[Agnus Dei]

Lord of the Rings trilogy. Totally boring and mind numbing.

[addiction]

wouldnt say its mind numbing exactly... what parts in particlular numbed you? the sense of adventure and quest, the themes of hope and freedom, or the thrilling fight scenes at helms deep etc?

[Agnus Dei]

[s]addiction wrote on 14:25, 6th Mar 2004:
wouldnt say its mind numbing exactly... what parts in particlular numbed you? the sense of adventure and quest, the themes of hope and freedom, or the thrilling fight scenes at helms deep etc?



All of it. Its just plain boring. Not my cup of tea at all. Sorry.

[Plette]

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy is definitely the most badly written book I've ever read.

[addiction]

suppose there's a distinction between badly written, and a book you simply didnt like. Often tho, the two probably go hand in hand...

[chittabeep]

...

[Dee]

"The Pearl" by John Steinbeck

Every slow tedious unengaging page of it should be burned, and afterwards we can keep the fire going by chucking on "Of Mice and Men".

Oh, I almost forgot "Moby Dick" - hours of my life I will never have again wasted on whaling and whiteness.

[hr]"Twenty-five years later, I dynamited Disneyland to rubble...but even in prison, I still see Goofy everywhere."

- "The Parking Lot is Full"

[quarterstaff]

sunsetsong by Mr. Gibbon

and one of my least favouraite authors is Terry Pratchett - i find his discworld stuff pretentious and boring... he makes in jokes and references that he seems to think are so clever, but i find are in fact obvious and coarse, or obscure in the extreme.

oh, and tolkein was one of the worst writers in history... he had one of the best imaginations, but couldnt write for toffee... there is NO charactisation in the hobbit or LotR! NONE! nice ideas though... he did effectively create a genre, but he has been outdone - see the first and second chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen Donaldson.... they are gold dust.

[addiction]

i cant help but defend dear Tolkein. When I read the description of helms deep the night of the battle, it took my breath away. I defy anyone to tell me that that wasnt written well: the imagery of the lightening showing up the thousands of uruk hai will always stay in my memory.

[Agnus Dei]

[s]addiction wrote on 15:13, 6th Mar 2004:
i cant help but defend dear Tolkein. When I read the description of helms deep the night of the battle, it took my breath away. I defy anyone to tell me that that wasnt written well: the imagery of the lightening showing up the thousands of uruk hai will always stay in my memory.


you should learn to respect other peoples opinion, they have a right to choose what they like and dislike, regardless if critics think highly of it. just because everyone likes it shouldnt mean i should throw myself in the pool and say i like it too. if i don't like it i don't like it. simple as that. and if you like it, thats your opinion and i will respect that. don't try and change my views about the books because my view will not change.

[milkshake]

Number 10 by Sue Townsend. Amazingly bad considering she also wrote the Adrian Mole series.

Also:
anything by Ben Elton; pure tosh and
PD James.

[Blanche]

Hi.

I'd like to second the mention of Walkabout; it's just boring, and add:

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice was so witty and perceptive it's hard to believe that this sentimental trash is by the same author.

and

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Again, from such an outstanding writer this particular work stands out for being crap. If you're going to write an allegorical tale about the Russian revolution make it subtle or else what's the point?

[addiction]

goodness, dont be so defensive! i have no intention of changing your mind - anyway, these sorts of debates are just harmless fun. I only wanted to defend what i thought is a well written book. if everyone stuck to their opinions, and never tried to influence others, the world would be very dull indeed. sorry if i offended you.

[addiction]

i was under the impression animal farm was a childrens book, hence not being very subtle

[Laura]

[s]loretta wrote on 14:01, 6th Mar 2004:
Also 'Merchant of Venice.'


For shame- my favourite play!

The worst book I ever read? 'Three Verdicts' by our own Donald Findlay QC...

[Rennie]

How can anyone possibly ever say that Animal Farm is a bad book? It is widely acknowledged as one of the best books of its type.