This book is not one to be simply tossed aside. It should be thrown with great force. [Archive]

TheAbominatrix

05-01-2004, 05:40 AM

Forrest Gump.

The movie was beautiful. I loved it. But the book (in which the movie was based on, but there's so few similarities) is awful. Forrest is a massive, dumb guy with a downright bland mama. He winds up becoming an idiot-savant math whiz... goes on a space shuttle mission with an ape and a feminazi, crashes in the Amazon, plays chess with the head of a tribe of cannibals, becomes a pro-wrestler, cheats on Jenny and loses her completly, and then later becomes a traveling entertainer with the ape and legless Lt. Dan.

It's written from his perspective, like he's writing it, which makes it terrible to read sometimes. The characters suck... loveable black Bubba from the movie is a mean redneck white guy in the book... the story is just stupid and Forrest as a character doesnt really endear himself to the reader. Bad, bad book.

Luckily I got it at a thrift store for a dollar. :D

DMKA

05-01-2004, 08:38 AM

"The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Spear

We were forced to read it for English in 7th grade *shudders at horrid memories*.

Ichy

05-01-2004, 02:06 PM

Just about anything that has been made the focus of highschool study. I'm sure they're good books and all, but after all the class reading and essays and book reports... It just takes all the fun right out of it.

Doc Sark

05-01-2004, 02:48 PM

Mansfield Park, Jane Austen. Not really my cup of tea Mr. Darcy.

Dragonflame

05-01-2004, 03:28 PM

I don't know what the worst book I've ever read was. There are so many crappy ones. If I had to choose one, I guess I would say Moby Dick.

Phil

05-01-2004, 04:22 PM

ROll of thunder hear my cry- it was a story about black people being prejeduced against. It blew. Not that I have anything against black people, the book just stank.

TheAbominatrix

05-01-2004, 05:01 PM

I don't know what the worst book I've ever read was. There are so many crappy ones. If I had to choose one, I guess I would say Moby Dick.

I couldnt stand Moby Dick. Yeah it's a literary classic and blah blah blah but it's just so boring and hard to read. I never read the whole thing, just the first chapter or so.

Del Murder

05-01-2004, 05:06 PM

Mby Dick was hard to get into, I agree, but once you did it wasn't that bad. The same thing happens in Dickens's writing. I'll start it and wonder why I'm reading this crap but by the end I'll be loving it.

For me I would say Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton. It was very unlike anything else he's done and it was pretty boring/too weird for me. I enjoy his other stuff though.

Kirobaito

05-01-2004, 05:58 PM

"The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Spear

We were forced to read it for English in 7th grade *shudders at horrid memories*.

OMG I think I read that book once. What was it about?

Mr. Graves

05-01-2004, 06:38 PM

Of Mice and Men. Was there even a point to it?

fire_of_avalon

05-01-2004, 06:44 PM

:(
I like The Poisonwood Bible and Of Mice and Men. You guys stink.

Kidding.

My least favorite book ever is probably..... I don't know.

Kirobaito

05-01-2004, 06:54 PM

The Of Mice and Men movie was funny. He got his hand crushed. :)

Lord Chainsaw

05-01-2004, 09:55 PM

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

I really hate that book. It's just so slow. Runner up goes to the Swiss Family Robinson. Why oh why did I even read that book in the first place?

Skogs

05-01-2004, 09:56 PM

'The Valkyries' by Paolo Coehlo. 'The Alchemist' was good, but this one was a pile of self-indulgent toss.

BatChao

05-01-2004, 11:33 PM

Forrest Gump.

Have you read the sequel, Forrest Gump and Co. ? I really like that one... I haven't read the original, though. But then sequel was pretty fun!

As for worst book ever... hmmm... Beloved was painful to read. As was Tess of the D'Urbervilles (sp?) and Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Shlup

05-01-2004, 11:40 PM

I read Mars and Venus in the Bedroom after it was recommended by one of my professors. It was so stupid that I doubt she ever actually read the book herself. The entire book was basically restatements and reasons why a man has to tell a woman he loves her to get sex, and if a woman wants a man to love her she needs to give him sex. It was retarded.

gokufusionss1

05-01-2004, 11:42 PM

a tale of two cities, as a peice of literature it's masterful, as a story it's downright boring

Ariel

05-02-2004, 12:02 AM

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

I loved that book as a kid. =P *runs*

Violin by Anne Rice was one of the worst. I couldn't find the Vampire Chronicles book that I was looking for, so when I saw this, I picked it up. It was excrutiating. I didn't even bother finishing it before I took it back to the library.

-N-

05-02-2004, 01:46 AM

A Passage To India. A gay white man thinks Hinduism rocks, but has no goddamn clue how to say it. Screw you and your messed up representation of colonial India, Forster.

BatChao

05-02-2004, 02:00 AM

Oh yea! Sense and Sensibility was boring as hell too.

Kirobaito

05-02-2004, 04:15 AM

Lord Chainsaw

05-02-2004, 04:50 AM

I loved that book as a kid. =P *runs*

I thank you for keeping the quote in green. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Nobody ever bothers to keep it green when they quote me.

Anyways, maybe I will give 20,000 another read someday. I don't know it was something along the lines of 2nd grade when I read it so I don't remember it much. It can't be that bad if Sci fi did had a movie on it, right? And to be honest, Jules Verne isn't a bad author.

Yamaneko

05-02-2004, 07:19 AM

The Great Gatsby

Dr Unne

05-02-2004, 07:38 AM

Return of the Native is pretty bad. I had to read it for HS. It did involve a street urchin who kept coins in his shoes, and a man who was solid red because he sold dye for a living, but unfortunately this wasn't enough to divert my attention from the mind-destroying pain of reading the rest of the book.

There are other books I had to read in HS, but I seem to have forgotten the names. This is probably a defense mechanism.

I liked Of Mice and Men very much, myself.

Doomgaze

05-02-2004, 07:46 AM

Their Eyes Were Watching God and House Made of Dawn both sucked horribly.

Also The Scarlet Letter.

Damn you HS English!

Shlup

05-02-2004, 07:55 AM

The Great GatsbyOh yeah, I remember having to read that in high school. I found it very dull.

Del Murder

05-02-2004, 08:20 AM

I almost picked Return of the Native. It is certainly down there.

TheAbominatrix

05-02-2004, 09:03 AM

Have you read the sequel, Forrest Gump and Co. ? I really like that one... I haven't read the original, though. But then sequel was pretty fun!

As for worst book ever... hmmm... Beloved was painful to read. As was Tess of the D'Urbervilles (sp?) and Their Eyes Were Watching God.

I havent, no. I'll keep an eye out for it. There was some of Forrest Gump that was okay, but it just went swiftly downhill.

And I loved of Mice and Men! Beautiful story... except that it was ruined for me. We were silently reading in class and I was ahead of everyone (because I read fast) and, in fact, only a few pages away from the end. My teacher was also the football coach, and one of the players passed by and came in for a chat. He looks around, then goes "Oh, they're reading Of Mice and Men? Did they get to the part were George shoots Lenny yet?"

I hate that guy to this day.

Rainecloud

05-02-2004, 09:06 AM

Lord of the Flies. I was forced to read it for my English classes, and I absolutely hated it.

The word "Boring" just doesn't do this book justice.

DMKA

05-02-2004, 10:20 AM

Originally posted by King Bahamut
OMG I think I read that book once. What was it about?
Heres a summary that words it in an attempt to make it actually sound semi interesting:

"In the summer of 1768, Matt Hallowell and his father establish a homestead in Maine territory. When his father returns to Quincy, Massachusetts to fetch Matt's mother and sister, Matt is left alone to guard the house. One day he is almost killed by a swarm of bees, but is rescued by Chief Saknis, a Penobscot Indian, and his grandson, Attean. To repay Saknis for saving his life, Matt agrees to teach Attean to read English. At the same time, Matt is learning to become a skilled hunter from Attean. Saknis offers to adopt Matt and take him north with the tribe as it moves to new hunting grounds. Matt knows that he would be proud to be Attean's brother, but he also knows he must wait for his own family."

And heres a shot of the cover:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/covers/0-440-47900-2.gif

Basically 98.5% of the book is about this boy sitting in an empty cabin alone in the middle of nowhere, describing how things look, and how "Johnnycakes" taste, and how to make them. Then he talks about bees flying in the cabin, he runs off outside, runs into some "half-naked red people" (yes, thats what the book says), talks about how scary and weird they are, except one he kinda becomes 'friends' with, and he ask him to become his "tribe/spirit brother" or something to that effect and live with them but he says no and goes back and continues to wait in that empty cabin...then they come back and theres like 2 more paragraphs remaining in the book that just talks about the boys dad coming back and his mom died while they were gone or something. THE END.

It was so bad that I swore to myself if I ever have a kid and he/she takes a class that requires him/her to suffer reading it I'll say no, and change their school if necessary.

Spuuky

05-02-2004, 10:46 AM

When the Legends Die, without question. I would not care to remember who wrote it.

Female Ryuichi

05-02-2004, 11:39 AM

Lord of the Flies. Probably most borning book I have ever had the displeasure to read.

BatChao

05-02-2004, 11:45 AM

"The Sign of the Beaver" by Elizabeth George Spear

We were forced to read it for English in 7th grade *shudders at horrid memories*.

DUDE! Sign of the Beaver was great! I read it for fun on multiple occasions! Heehee. :D

Del Murder

05-02-2004, 06:01 PM

I enjoyed:

The Great Gatsby - Come on, old sport, this was an entertaining battle between old money and new money. And Nick reminds me of myself, always the observer, never the participator. But I do think this shouldn't be the 'great American novel' that so many claim it to be. The Grapes of Wrath should be reserved for that honor. But Gatsby's contradictions and witticisms alone were enough for me to like it.

Of Mice and Men - The dynamic between George and Lenny was great. This book actually made me feel an emotion, so it can't be all that bad.

The Scarlett Letter - Only good because Hawthorne has a very distictive style of writing. Also the demon references toward the child were very interesting. Too bad the back cover told me who the father was before I even started. Oh well.

Lord of the Flies - Not for everyone, but the statement about man's savagery is pretty powerful. Simon was my favorite. :cry:

Burtsplurt

05-02-2004, 06:08 PM

'War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells. Dull and with no real characters as such.

eestlinc

05-02-2004, 06:47 PM

I hated The Scarlett Letter when I read it in 10th grade, but I don't know if I would still hate it. The Great Gatsby is awesome.

The worst book I read for school was The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston.

Kirobaito

05-02-2004, 07:53 PM

Heres a summary that words it in an attempt to make it actually sound semi interesting:

"In the summer of 1768, Matt Hallowell and his father establish a homestead in Maine territory. When his father returns to Quincy, Massachusetts to fetch Matt's mother and sister, Matt is left alone to guard the house. One day he is almost killed by a swarm of bees, but is rescued by Chief Saknis, a Penobscot Indian, and his grandson, Attean. To repay Saknis for saving his life, Matt agrees to teach Attean to read English. At the same time, Matt is learning to become a skilled hunter from Attean. Saknis offers to adopt Matt and take him north with the tribe as it moves to new hunting grounds. Matt knows that he would be proud to be Attean's brother, but he also knows he must wait for his own family."

And heres a shot of the cover:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/covers/0-440-47900-2.gif

Basically 98.5% of the book is about this boy sitting in an empty cabin alone in the middle of nowhere, describing how things look, and how "Johnnycakes" taste, and how to make them. Then he talks about bees flying in the cabin, he runs off outside, runs into some "half-naked red people" (yes, thats what the book says), talks about how scary and weird they are, except one he kinda becomes 'friends' with, and he ask him to become his "tribe/spirit brother" or something to that effect and live with them but he says no and goes back and continues to wait in that empty cabin...then they come back and theres like 2 more paragraphs remaining in the book that just talks about the boys dad coming back and his mom died while they were gone or something. THE END.

It was so bad that I swore to myself if I ever have a kid and he/she takes a class that requires him/her to suffer reading it I'll say no, and change their school if necessary.

Yeah, I read that book in 5th grade, I think, for Reading class. I hated it soooo much.

Lindy

05-02-2004, 08:31 PM

The Lord Of The Rings

The Hobbit = Good.

DMKA

05-02-2004, 08:34 PM

OMG I jsut remembered one thats even worse than Sign of the Beaver...its called "Sarah, Plain and Tall". Yet another hellish book I was forced to read in school (6th grade I believe). :eep:

Ouch!

05-02-2004, 09:13 PM

I also just read Lord of the Flies. Read it in sixth grade and then again in ninth. It was painfully boring both times.

TheAbominatrix

05-02-2004, 10:12 PM

I remember the cover of Sign of the Beaver... I dunno if we read it, though. When I see the cover all I can think of is The Hatchet, which was a darn good book.

And now I just remembered Lord of the Flies. I enjoyed that book, too. It wasnt outstanding, but it was pretty good.

The Man

05-02-2004, 10:17 PM

I very much liked both Lord of the Flies and The Great Gatsby. Couldn't stand Their Eyes Were Watching God, but I think I just didn't get it. Or something.

Spuuky

05-03-2004, 04:20 AM

I like The Scarlet Letter but stop spelling it with extra letters, please.

fire_of_avalon

05-03-2004, 05:22 AM

Agreed, The Scarlet Letter was awful. I also hated Wuthering Heights .

Awful awful awful books.

Calliope

05-03-2004, 05:23 AM

Spelling?! Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!

I despise Dubliners and The Hobbit.

eestlinc

05-03-2004, 06:13 PM

Dubliners is awesome though!

Doomgaze

05-03-2004, 08:27 PM

Yeah, I liked Gatsby as well, and "people" who don't like The Hobbit deserve to be shot.

Lindy

05-03-2004, 08:41 PM

The Great Gatsby made a good film, I liked that.

Phil

05-03-2004, 09:07 PM

OMG I jsut remembered one thats even worse than Sign of the Beaver...its called "Sarah, Plain and Tall". Yet another hellish book I was forced to read in school (6th grade I believe). :eep:
Dear gosh I remember that book. IT was horrible.
I also hated the Iliad and the Aenead. they blew hottibly.

Lord Chainsaw

05-04-2004, 04:36 AM

Dear gosh I remember that book. IT was horrible.
I also hated the Iliad and the Aenead. they blew hottibly.

You hated the Aeneid? That's the best book I've read in my entire life! I guess you kind of got to be a fan of Virgil and be into Greek Mythology to really enjoy it. I thought it was written wonderfully. Especially the way Virgil described the battles in Latium. He didn't just have nameless soldiers kill nameless soldiers. Every soldier that he had die in those fights had a name, and a story behind him. You could really feel for the enemies, mostly Camilla and Turnus.

Did they force you to read it? I can understand how someone might not like it if they were forced to read it for a class or something.

Rostum

05-04-2004, 09:07 AM

I really didn't like Lord Of The Flies.

I haven't read too many books but I did enjoy were The Hatchet, and there was the second one of The Hatchet which was good too... and I also liked the Myst books that were later created into a video game series I think.

Strider

05-04-2004, 09:25 AM

Of Mice and Men.That makes me sad. John Steinbeck is one of my most favorite authors.

Lord of the Flies. Probably most borning book I have ever had the displeasure to read.Say whaaaat? :eek:

Also The Scarlet Letter.Oh, dear God, yes. I had to read it in a week, and then analyze the whole thing in a day.

The Great GatsbyAnd to think I read this voluntarily. Downright face-numbing dull.

Jebus

05-04-2004, 09:41 PM

TidaRalique

05-05-2004, 03:27 AM

I agree. Scarlet Letter.

The Man

05-06-2004, 12:29 AM

"People" who don't like The Hobbit deserve to be shot.
Amen.

Rei

05-06-2004, 01:20 AM

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison. Very strange, very boring, very bad. There wasn't even a plot. I don't know how to explain it.

I loved Of Mice And Men. The end gave me a lump in my throat.

The Great Gatsby was alright, but that may be because I was forced to read it, and it was quick.

The Scarlet Letter was bad, and having to write endless amounts of papers on symbolism made it ferociously horrible.

I liked the Iliad, even though there was a lot of extra junk crammed in there. Haven't read the Aeneid yet.

The Sign of the Beaver and Sarah, Plain and Tall were as dull as all hell.

The Eaters of the Dead was completely different from his other works and just so, I dunno, way outta left field. I read it only to say I've read all of Michael Chrichton's fiction, but it wasn't worth it.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was pointless.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was pretty good when I read it in fourth grade, but I don't know about now.