Books you picked up and quit because you hated it.

Ok as the thread title says what books have you picked up, tried reading and just hated so much you had to put it down and never pick it up again? Why did you quit reading it?

I recently tried reading the historical fantasy fiction book Viking: Odin's Child by Tim Severin. I thought the idea of a book about a viking warrior would be awesome. However the book's central character is a scholar who grew up a viking before somehow becoming a christian monk who used church materials to write his memoirs and you're reading his memoirs where he goes on endlessly about how his mother was big and bear like. I ended up so bored by the first 100 pages I just had to quit reading it. This is the first time I figured a book would be enjoyable and then hated it.

I usually try to see books to the end, even if I dislike them. So I'm having trouble bringing some to mind...

I absolutely HATED Heart of Darkness. I was supposed to have read it fully, since it was for my British Lit class, but I really didn't. It was just... awful.

Only one I can think of is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I don't think that it was a terrible novel, it was just taking a long time to get into, the plot didn't seem very interesting, and I had a list of other novels I wanted to read. So I just said screw it. I think I quit right before the whole thing got juicy, too. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

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Originally Posted by Aurey

Only one I can think of is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I don't think that it was a terrible novel, it was just taking a long time to get into, the plot didn't seem very interesting, and I had a list of other novels I wanted to read. So I just said screw it. I think I quit right before the whole thing got juicy, too. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

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Read it. Agree with you totally. Classics are hard to get into. But it is still a great novel. Reminds me a lot of my ex strangely.

Ulysses! Tried to read it and gave up. Going to give it a go after I've read the Iliad and the Odyssey.

^ If you're hoping that the Greek epics will help shed some light on Ulysses for you, they most certainly will not - or at least not to the extent that most people hope they will. Nothing is really analogous between the two, and the references, allusions and structuring go so far beyond throwbacks that unless you've read and studied Ulysses thoroughly, you'll be just as lost as if you've not read them. That being said, read Iliad and Odyssey just for the hell of it! They're a ton of fun and even occasionally moving. If you can, get a hold of the Robert Fagles translations.

Recommended reading for the poor soul attempting Ulysses is Joyce's 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.' Stephen Dedalus' story in 'Portrait' will, if anything, at least give you some familiarity with the character, his family, and his situation - which in the end take up about a third of the main 'action' of Ulysses anyway. I also recommend Shakespeare's tragedies. Several sections of Ulysses are quite striking (the graveyard bits) when considered in context with Hamlet (or the death-obsessed poetry of a large number of English Renaissance poets).

As for myself, I generally see books through to the end unless I'm really struggling to get through them for whatever reason (boredom or general busyness). Lately I've put aside Chuck Palahniuk's (sp?) 'Diary' because I flat-out become bored by his characters about half way through all his novels. A lot of people love the guy, so maybe I'm just missing something. I feel bad because the book was a gift, too. Also, I returned China Mieville's 'Perdido Street Station' to a friend after 10 pages. In this case I just didn't feel like delving into and familiarizing myself with a completely new fantasy world - I find it exhausting.

The only book or series I can ever actually remember quitting reading due to how much I disliked it is Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, which I quit midway through the first book due to how thoroughly inept I felt the characterization was. I even tried to re-read it and had the same reaction, and I tried a later novel in the series (Faith of the Fallen) and wound up being just as disinterested, although for somewhat different reasons (the constant nonsensical political rants didn't help my appreciation of the book). I won't give Goodkind a fourth chance.

That said, I stop a lot of novels in the middle just because I pick up other novels. I work in a book store so I have the literary attention span of a kid in a candy store.

edit: oh, I also couldn't finish The Turn of the Screw in high school because I hated the Victorian dialogue. I should probably give it another chance one of these days because the concept still intrigues me.

Ehh, when I started reading Twilight I was into that sort of book. (I was 14, okay?!) Anyway all of my friends were starting this House of Night series or whatever one day and I picked up the first book at the library. About halfway through it I was starting to realize why the genre sucks horribly.

I've picked up A Suitable Boy to read about eight times and I always end up tossing it aside after a few pages before I throttle myself just to abate the boredom.

I've also tried to read a few Charles Dickens and just given up.

Oh! I tried to read Wuthering Heights because everyone said it was good, and I just hated it. I have the most difficult time getting into books of that period.

Dickens. Any Dickens. Aside from page 1 of Bleak House, which I find to be fantastic beyond compare.

I loved the style and all, and most of the characters and I guess it may be a silly reason atm to have quit reading Shadow's Edge - Brent Weeks, I found two of the characters got together and for some strange reason I must be one of the most opposed people to this. It's kind of a personal issue too, to me, for various reasons I won't go in to but whatever - until I cool down and get over the (stupidly foreseeable) idea, I shall not be picking it up for a while. :greenie:

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Originally Posted by Rye

Oh! I tried to read Wuthering Heights because everyone said it was good, and I just hated it. I have the most difficult time getting into books of that period.

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Wuthering Heights is a good book - Heathcliff is such a great character. I suggest you try and read it again. What didn't you like about it?

Well the thing that started me thinking on this was the fact that I have never prior to this book quit reading anything. I never particulary liked James Joyce's work everyone went on about how great it was but having studied Dubliners, I found it incredibly boring.

the bible. Lotta Awl :bou::bou::bou::bou:e.

Acorna

Ulysses by James Joyce. I'm not a big fan of prose. Couldn't understand what the smurf was going on.

I just started the Wheel of Time series and so far it's pretty boring. Of course, I'm only on chapter 3 of this 800 page monster. I usually give it 25% through before I decide to continue. It's a real commitment to read this series so I'm going to be pretty judgmental on this first 25% to determine whether or not to finish it.

I can't recall any books I've tried to read on my own time (not for school) that I hated so much I couldn't even make it through most of it. Sometimes I get bored of a series and don't finish it, but I'm usually discriminating enough that the books almost certainly won't be absolutely terrible.

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

I just started the Wheel of Time series and so far it's pretty boring. Of course, I'm only on chapter 3 of this 800 page monster. I usually give it 25% through before I decide to continue. It's a real commitment to read this series so I'm going to be pretty judgmental on this first 25% to determine whether or not to finish it.

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I read all of the series that existed about 6 years ago. It does get a little less boring, but the biggest change is that many of the characters become more irritating. Not a series I recommend.

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Originally Posted by Cuchulainn

the bible. Lotta Awl :bou::bou::bou::bou:e.

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So very true.

The Great Gatsby, The Moviegoer, and just about everything from my American literature class. American literature sucks.

^ Cormac McCarthy is pretty darn good. Check out Blood Meridian (that is, if you're not averse to a little (a truckload) of gore). Inspiring prose. He's getting a lot more press lately because of The Road and No Country... movies. Hell, the hermit even did an Oprah interview if I recall.

However, if you're a fantasy/sci-fi genre fan (I only assume this because of the nature of the forum that has brought us all together), check out John Crowley and Gene Wolfe. Little, Big and The Book of the New Sun, respectively, are the absolute peak of the genre. I cannot recommend them higher. Like McCarthy, these guys are inspiringly good at the top of their game.

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Originally Posted by The Man

The only book or series I can ever actually remember quitting reading due to how much I disliked it is Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, which I quit midway through the first book due to how thoroughly inept I felt the characterization was. I even tried to re-read it and had the same reaction, and I tried a later novel in the series (Faith of the Fallen) and wound up being just as disinterested, although for somewhat different reasons (the constant nonsensical political rants didn't help my appreciation of the book). I won't give Goodkind a fourth chance.

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Check out some of Goodkind's Youtube interviews. The man's insufferable. I even remember reading once that he claimed that his books aren't fantasy (not in the sense that he thinks magic really exists, but in the sense that he's so high up on his thematic interests that labeling his work 'fantasy' is a disservice to his wonderful ideas).

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Originally Posted by Menses

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Originally Posted by Del Murder

I just started the Wheel of Time series and so far it's pretty boring. Of course, I'm only on chapter 3 of this 800 page monster. I usually give it 25% through before I decide to continue. It's a real commitment to read this series so I'm going to be pretty judgmental on this first 25% to determine whether or not to finish it.

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I read all of the series that existed about 6 years ago. It does get a little less boring, but the biggest change is that many of the characters become more irritating. Not a series I recommend.

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I on the other hand do reccomend the Wheel of Time series, book one does start kinda slow it is true but I feel the series really picks up pace. The last book (which has been split in to 3 parts due to the fact that the source material left by Jordan after his death is too much to make a single book out of) written in part after Jordan's death has a lot of different things to tie together and since they have ruled out any new books entirely it will be very fast paced. Oh and it must be said, Matrim Cauthon becomes a complete mother smurfing bad ass!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I never understood all the hype around this book, I found it in-your-face-melodramatic and was simply bored by the whole thing. I haven't read anything else by him but I was so put off by The Road that I can't see myself doing so in the near future.

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Originally Posted by I Took the Red Pill

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I never understood all the hype around this book, I found it in-your-face-melodramatic and was simply bored by the whole thing. I haven't read anything else by him but I was so put off by The Road that I can't see myself doing so in the near future.

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This one too. I tried reading it two or three times, but I just couldn't get through it. I recognize the writing isn't bad, but I just wasn't taken in by it.

Read 1/3 of Bleak House, and didn't really care for it. Saw the incredible mini-series, and decided to force myself to read the rest. I found a new sense of joy in reading it.

Side note: Bleak House is one of the most finely-produced series I have ever had the pleasure of feasting my eyes upon.

Wow! I thought The Road was a pretty easy read, relatively painless, and it only took me about six hours or so to get through. We are all unique snowflakes, I suppose! ;}

Oh, just realized I never finished Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski. I had no idea what was going on, and just did not take to the stream of consciousness aspect (which is not always bad, but). I don't remember whose narrative I started with either. However, I still really want to read House of Leaves, it sounds a lot better.

Grapes of Wrath. I hated (what I read of) this book.

I loved Gatsby. And I even studied it, which makes it really unusual for me to enjoy! I don't know where I would place Gatsby, but it's near the top (where Lolita is sitting).

My step-dad raves about Cormac McCarthy, so going to try read him some time.

I got put off the Wheel of Time during the 2nd last book. It had just got ridiculously long.

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Originally Posted by Flying Arrow

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Originally Posted by The Man

The only book or series I can ever actually remember quitting reading due to how much I disliked it is Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind, which I quit midway through the first book due to how thoroughly inept I felt the characterization was. I even tried to re-read it and had the same reaction, and I tried a later novel in the series (Faith of the Fallen) and wound up being just as disinterested, although for somewhat different reasons (the constant nonsensical political rants didn't help my appreciation of the book). I won't give Goodkind a fourth chance.

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Check out some of Goodkind's Youtube interviews. The man's insufferable. I even remember reading once that he claimed that his books aren't fantasy (not in the sense that he thinks magic really exists, but in the sense that he's so high up on his thematic interests that labeling his work 'fantasy' is a disservice to his wonderful ideas).

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Yeah seeing/reading his interviews and realising what a jackass he is was one reason I decided not finishing any of his works is no great loss. Especially since his "wonderful ideas" aren't all that wonderful, apart from his critique of organised religion.

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Originally Posted by Flying Arrow

^ Cormac McCarthy is pretty darn good. Check out Blood Meridian (that is, if you're not averse to a little (a truckload) of gore). Inspiring prose. He's getting a lot more press lately because of The Road and No Country... movies. Hell, the hermit even did an Oprah interview if I recall.

However, if you're a fantasy/sci-fi genre fan (I only assume this because of the nature of the forum that has brought us all together), check out John Crowley and Gene Wolfe. Little, Big and The Book of the New Sun, respectively, are the absolute peak of the genre. I cannot recommend them higher. Like McCarthy, these guys are inspiringly good at the top of their game.

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I need to check out all three of these authors. I have a copy of The Road somewhere, and I picked up something by Wolfe at a Clearance sale but I really should start with The Book of the New Sun first I think.

The only books that I give up on are books that I have a hard time latching onto, usually because of the style of prose. Not necessarily because it's a bad book. Bad books, I can read through fairly quickly.

Da Vinci Code
Sword of Truth - Wizard's First Rule
Twilight
Heart of Darkness

These are bad books. But I read them all. With a couple of them, after I finished I chucked the books at the wall and told it, YOU ARE A :bou::bou::bou::bou:TY :bou::bou::bou::bou:TY BOOK.

But books that I can't finish are stuff like Atlas Shrugged, War & Peace, Catch 22, etc. I've never finished any of those. Books I've given up on most recently: Unbearable Lightness of Being (the philosophical prose just makes me so sleepy, I can never get around to reading more than a page or two at a time), & The Wind Up Bird Chronicle (what? Seriously wtf is this book supposed to be about? Got confused. Gave up).

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Originally Posted by Aurey

Wow! I thought The Road was a pretty easy read, relatively painless, and it only took me about six hours or so to get through. We are all unique snowflakes, I suppose! ;}

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Yeah, I thought it was a pretty quick read myself. Not exactly painless though, it was pretty haunting. I doubt I'll ever read it again, even for a dystopian book it's really grim.

The Road manages to make Threads look optimistic, so yeah... it's emotionally tough to read, but I didn't find it a difficult read.

I've not been able to get anywhere with Roadside Picnic. Maybe it's a bad translation or something but it just doesn't work for me at all.

The Soul of Rumi and On Photography by Sontag.

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Originally Posted by Aurey

Only one I can think of is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I don't think that it was a terrible novel, it was just taking a long time to get into, the plot didn't seem very interesting, and I had a list of other novels I wanted to read. So I just said screw it. I think I quit right before the whole thing got juicy, too. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

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Don't bother. It's horrible. The main character has no redeeming qualities much like the protagonists in The Great Gatsby.

It's sad that there's so much classic literature on here, because seeing as how they're pushed off into their own genre they're obviously different from other books and most of the ones mentioned are from the 1800s - early 1900s, and the writing is just different then.

Of course, I can understand that some people wouldn't want to sludge through the boring writing to get to the plot and characters, because I know I'm not willing to do that with any P.D. James books (and Children of Men came out in the 90s haha).

The thing with a lot of this stuff is that it becomes brilliant once you take into consideration it's historical and literary context, such as A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (I saw him mentioned a few times). Also, Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books! It's trying to get through the writing, but if you weather through it I absolutely love the dialogue and the characters, so, so much for their uniqueness. I had a two hour conversation about this book once because I nerd it up like that. :cool:

And if you say American Literature isn't good, try some Kurt Vonnegut! He's always fun.

Anyway, I couldn't get through Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Yech. And Catch-22 by Joseph Heller annoyed the living daylights out of me, I put it down 1/3 of the way through to the anger of several of my friends.

I just realized that my 'relatively painless' comment in regards to The Road was both vague and poorly worded. I was referring to the writing, not the actual story or mood, which were quite the opposite of painless. My bad!

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Originally Posted by Shiny

Don't bother. It's horrible. The main character has no redeeming qualities much like the protagonists in The Great Gatsby.

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Agreed on both counts. I didn't read very far, but I could still tell that Emma was a total bitch. Although I enjoyed reading Gatsby, the characters were all irritating, so the ending was pretty satisfactory to me.

Edit: Clo is also right! Kurt Vonnegut is great. He is an amazing storyteller.

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Originally Posted by Aurey

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Originally Posted by Shiny

Don't bother. It's horrible. The main character has no redeeming qualities much like the protagonists in The Great Gatsby.

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Agreed on both counts. I didn't read very far, but I could still tell that Emma was a total bitch. Although I enjoyed reading Gatsby, the characters were all irritating, so the ending was pretty satisfactory to me.

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Oh, but that was the point! You weren't supposed to like any of them. They were all terrible people. Though I did find that book a little bland, but I thought the point was nice. Bland though. :|

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Originally Posted by Shiny

The Soul of Rumi and On Photography by Sontag.

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Originally Posted by Aurey

Only one I can think of is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. I don't think that it was a terrible novel, it was just taking a long time to get into, the plot didn't seem very interesting, and I had a list of other novels I wanted to read. So I just said screw it. I think I quit right before the whole thing got juicy, too. Maybe I'll pick it up again later.

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Don't bother. It's horrible. The main character has no redeeming qualities much like the protagonists in The Great Gatsby.

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WHAT! I agree that Madame Bovary is hard to get into, but it is not horrible. And the main character is brilliant, if highly flawed. It's like saying don't read Crime & Punishment because Raskolnikov isn't the nicest.

And there are good characters in Gatsby. Gatsby himself, for example. And the author of the entire novel. Daisy (and all of those people in that circle) are meant to be horrible as a juxtaposition to Gatsby (and hence why the entire novel becomes tragic).

EDIT: Clo, I agree with you on classic literature being pushed aside. My own personal belief is that the advent of television and the creation of the "ADD" generation made novels more condensed. These classical novels tend to examine numerous characters, themes, locations etc, whereas modern novels are much more focused, more streamlined in a way.

I couldn't agree more. Plus, when you get down to it, the writing is different, in almost the same way as the plots. Less condensed, very drawn out. But often times because of this, the writing itself becomes just gorgeous to read, ie Virginia Woolf. I just enjoy almost every sentence, and love the expansive nature of the writing. Though she writes more slimly than say Emily Bronte, but different years, different types of writing.

Also, I didn't really mean to say Gatsby is a terrible character -- he does have good intentions while the others don't, and he is far more innocent. Though he does make ill decisions and is still jaded and essentially "wrong".

I teach writing, and hopefully one day will teach a full fledge English classroom, so my approach to books tends to be different than other people's. Really, you have to consider your purpose for reading. If you approach old books for concise plot and entertainment, you're going to be disappointed. Before reading a book you should ask, "What type of book is this and why am I reading it?" and people tend to not do that and expect the same thing from every book they pick up.

Though I will give it to everyone, James Joyce is hard to read, haha.

Just because someone doesn't like a particular style, author, or piece, does not make them unable to concentrate, a halfwit who can't follow more than one plot thread at once, or in any other way a Philistine, nor does it mean modern society is incapable (except for we geniuses, of course, who can singularly overcome what has dulled the rest of them) of appreciating such things. In fact, it most probably means someone doesn't like a particular style, author, or piece.

Oh and Vonnegut is overrated. For good American lit read Hemingway or, better yet, step away from the typically beaten drums like them and Salinger and Updike and read some real gold like Asimov, Heinlein, or Le Guin. I honestly believe it's in sci-fi where some of America's greatest and most important works have come, more than is true in other countries.

I just started reading Madame Bovary :O I found it really engaging! Maybe the French-styled understatement is what kept you from getting into it? I was actually thinking to myself when I was reading how it might be difficult for someone unfamiliar with the culture (not that you aren't; I don't know if you are or not!) to get into the novel, not because of the things the characters do, but just the way they're related.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Just because someone doesn't like a particular style, author, or piece, does not make them unable to concentrate, a halfwit who can't follow more than one plot thread at once, or in any other way a Philistine, nor does it mean modern society is incapable (except for we geniuses, of course, who can singularly overcome what has dulled the rest of them) of appreciating such things. In fact, it most probably means someone doesn't like a particular style, author, or piece.

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We're talking about the changes of society through time. Our generation is less patient than generations beforehand. We get our messages immediately, our phonecalls immediately, our business deals done immediately, etc. We expect things done now. This is not my opinion or others here, this is a social observation made by people more experienced in this field.

And my view on television is that it has negated the need for authors to create these massively descriptive locations, as television is able to do it better than novels. Therefore, novels have changed to focus on the comparative advantages they have against moving pictures - moods, feelings, themes etc.

So, the instant need for things to be done has made novels more direct and less round-about. And moving pictures has negated the need for massive descriptions of every scene (although some authors still do this, it's not quite like Tolstoy describing every dress, curtain etc).

Personally, there are some novels I think are over-rated. Midnight's Children, for example, is one that I have temporarily put down. And this apparently the greatest novel of the 20th century. So I certainly hope that not appreciating it doesn't make someone an idiot, otherwise I'm a bit stuffed.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Just because someone doesn't like a particular style, author, or piece, does not make them unable to concentrate, a halfwit who can't follow more than one plot thread at once, or in any other way a Philistine, nor does it mean modern society is incapable (except for we geniuses, of course, who can singularly overcome what has dulled the rest of them) of appreciating such things. In fact, it most probably means someone doesn't like a particular style, author, or piece.

Oh and Vonnegut is overrated. For good American lit read Hemingway or, better yet, step away from the typically beaten drums like them and Salinger and Updike and read some real gold like Asimov, Heinlein, or Le Guin. I honestly believe it's in sci-fi where some of America's greatest and most important works have come, more than is true in other countries.

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A lot of Vonnegut's best stuff is sci-fi, and it's awesome :doublecolbert:

I agree on Asimov, Heinlein and particularly Le Guin though.

I wasn't saying anyone was simple because they couldn't read it. And it's true that books are obviously different than how they used to be, this only makes sense, because everything changes, and so do how authors write books. I acknowledged some people don't want to trudge through the dryness of some older books, which is true -- because it's not a style they're into. I read pretty much everything, just a lot of classic lit lately seeing as how English holds hands with my major. Anyway.

I love Kurt Vonnegut because his messages just seem so relevant to the times, and often his approach to his message is sweet and sad and bitter. I appreciate his humanism.

Another book I put down... Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck grew weird toward the end. I didnt' have patience for the awkward symbolism. And Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates was too neurotically aimless, though I think that was the point. But oh my god!

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

And there are good characters in Gatsby. Gatsby himself, for example.

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Gatsby is probably one of the worst characters in the novel. He woos a married woman. The author made the characters so unlikeable that the ending was so much less tragic for me.

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Originally Posted by Shiny

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

And there are good characters in Gatsby. Gatsby himself, for example.

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Gatsby is probably one of the worst characters in the novel. He woos a married woman. The author made the characters so unlikeable that the ending was so much less tragic for me.

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He woos a married woman? Come on now. Adultery? Seriously? Of a woman that he fell in love with before he had to go off to a war and who he has spent his entire life trying to get. His methods might have been impure (and that is kind of the point - an illustration of the shortcut many make to reach the American dream), but he is redeemed as a character because he did it all for love.

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

he did it all for love.

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He did it for himself because that's what he wanted. He is a self-indulgent character. Him and Madame Bovary can kiss my grits!

Oh and despite the fact that I hated The Great Gatsby, I did unfortunately complete it, but only because we had a test on it for English class.

I wouldn't necessarily say I quit because I hated it, but I had to stop about half way through the Two Towers. I enjoyed Fellowship and even the first half of Two Towers, but Tolkiens writing style was just really dragging the whole thing down for me. It just felt like everything was plodding along and I couldn't force my way through anymore. Never did go back and try to read it again.

My teacher suggested I read Translated Accounts by Kevin Sampson (It won a Booker prize according to the cover) I got 80 pages in, which i classify as a good go, but its just jibberish, literally some of its just various symbols for example "@@....///!!@::(cat)...'@@" and so on...

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Originally Posted by redxiiii

My teacher suggested I read Translated Accounts by Kevin Sampson (It won a Booker prize according to the cover) I got 80 pages in, which i classify as a good go, but its just jibberish, literally some of its just various symbols for example "@@....///!!@::(cat)...'@@" and so on...

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Just double check that cover. I'm fairly good with my Bookers and don't recall it or the author.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Dickens. Any Dickens. Aside from page 1 of Bleak House, which I find to be fantastic beyond compare.

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Seconded. I had to read Great Expectations for my freshman English class. Awful. Absolutely abysmal.

A Catcher in the Rye~ The writing style was just horrible.
War and Peace~ It was hard to read more than few pages at a time without falling asleep.
Moby Dick~ I just didn't have it in me to finish it.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Le Guin

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I totally loved the Earthsea stuff.

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Originally Posted by Hambone

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Dickens. Any Dickens. Aside from page 1 of Bleak House, which I find to be fantastic beyond compare.

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Seconded. I had to read Great Expectations for my freshman English class. Awful. Absolutely abysmal.

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Ugh Great Expectations is horrendously boring :( I had to do coursework on it and somehow managed to get an A having skipped huge sections of the book. I was more pleased about the fact that I wouldn't have to go back and read it properly than I was about the A. It completely put me off reading anything else by Dickens ever. Although I won't say no to the Muppet's Christmas Carol...

The only other book I can think of is Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, again because of its severe tedium. I tend to like finishing things though so I rarely just stop reading.

I'm a big fan of Terry Brooks and his Shannara series, but Elf Queen was so painfully boring I couldn't even get through the first quarter of it.

Ah, The Road. I finished it and I loved it but I was so depressed after that. Mogi and I were all excited about the movie coming out during the time we scheduled our first visit only to find out that it wasn't playing in any of the theaters in town :(

My friend told me that I just had to read Eragon, because it was so good. The first time I tried, I made it about two chapters in before I got fed up with it. The second time, a few years later, I only managed to read two sentences before something about a wind carrying a scent that would change the world pissed me off.

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Originally Posted by Spiffing Cheese

I've also tried to read a few Charles Dickens and just given up.

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Originally Posted by Imperfectionist

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Originally Posted by Hambone

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Dickens. Any Dickens. Aside from page 1 of Bleak House, which I find to be fantastic beyond compare.

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Seconded. I had to read Great Expectations for my freshman English class. Awful. Absolutely abysmal.

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Ugh Great Expectations is horrendously boring :( I had to do coursework on it and somehow managed to get an A having skipped huge sections of the book. I was more pleased about the fact that I wouldn't have to go back and read it properly than I was about the A. It completely put me off reading anything else by Dickens ever.

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this. great expectations was horrible. i had great expectations and it totally let me down.

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Originally Posted by Vivi22

I wouldn't necessarily say I quit because I hated it, but I had to stop about half way through the Two Towers. I enjoyed Fellowship and even the first half of Two Towers, but Tolkiens writing style was just really dragging the whole thing down for me. It just felt like everything was plodding along and I couldn't force my way through anymore. Never did go back and try to read it again.

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this also. i almost cried when i stopped reading it as i loved the hobbit and the fellowship. i've never been able to read the whole series.

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Originally Posted by NeoCracker

I'm a big fan of Terry Brooks and his Shannara series, but Elf Queen was so painfully boring I couldn't even get through the first quarter of it.

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got about three pages into the first of the jerle shannara trilogy and had to stop.

i also really disliked pride and prejudice. the latest keira knightley movie version is one of my favourite movies of all time but the book was sucky.

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

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Originally Posted by redxiiii

My teacher suggested I read Translated Accounts by Kevin Sampson (It won a Booker prize according to the cover) I got 80 pages in, which i classify as a good go, but its just jibberish, literally some of its just various symbols for example "@@....///!!@::(cat)...'@@" and so on...

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Just double check that cover. I'm fairly good with my Bookers and don't recall it or the author.

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Sorry got the author confused, its James Kelman and it says Booker prize award winning, but maybe that refers to the author as opposed to the book. Still my point remains...avoid this book.

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Originally Posted by Ouch!

My friend told me that I just had to read Eragon, because it was so good. The first time I tried, I made it about two chapters in before I got fed up with it. The second time, a few years later, I only managed to read two sentences before something about a wind carrying a scent that would change the world pissed me off.

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I couldn't get through Eragon either. It wasn't because I hate it though. It wasn't offensively bad. It was just thoroughly uninteresting. It was so painfully mediocre that I couldn't stomach the interest to continue.

I don't think there is a book that I didn't finish except for two books that I can remember (vaguely) and one was Co-written by Stephen King (who I don't really like) and some other guy and I think it was called Black House or something like that. The other was a crime thriller about a detective who solved a crime but got amnesia and forgot everything (it sounds stupid, right?) and it was written in 1st person present tense (ugh!), I can't remember the authors name, but it was called Lost.

I hated Great Expectations as much as anybody, but Tale of Two Cities was pretty alright, if you're not completely dickens averse

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Originally Posted by Hambone

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Dickens. Any Dickens. Aside from page 1 of Bleak House, which I find to be fantastic beyond compare.

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Seconded. I had to read Great Expectations for my freshman English class. Awful. Absolutely abysmal.

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Same here! The regular English classes were lucky because they read the abridged version, but us poor honors students had to read the entire shebang. The whole book itself was dull and thoroughly uninteresting. I think one night when I was reading it before bed I nearly fell asleep with it in my hands.

Tried Tale of Two Cities, wtf'd after the first paragraph, and put it back.
I was confused for the rest of the day.

There have been plenty of books that I've started reading, but either got too into another book and forgot, or had to leave behind and forgot to pick them back up.
But there have also been some that were just so terrible I couldn't finish. Twilight for one. I think I got 13 pages in before I decided it was a stupid book about a stupid selfish girl.
Tried reading Sword of Shannara a couple times. Couldn't get into at all. It didn't grab at me. Just a bunch of boringness.
Same goes for Fellowship of the Ring. It took way to long to go anywhere. I swear I was a hundred pages in and they hadn't even left the shire. I tried, but I just couldn't push through it.

Ugh. Heinlein I am back and forth on. I read Number of the Beast even though it was a terrible horrible book. But only because I had a grade riding on it. Lets just say he has his good and bads, so choose wisely.

And I keep meaning to read Le Guin, but just haven't gotten around to it.

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Originally Posted by Tavrobel

The Great Gatsby

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I'm forcing myself to re-read this book; It's my third reading of it. :( Damn you English Literature!

Surprisingly, for me it's Eldest, the sequel to Eragon. I adored Eragon, I remember I wasn't able to put the book down when I read that on holiday, but Eldest took so long to actually get interesting that I put it down. My brother even told me to keep going and that it was even better than Eragon once you got the past the first few chapters, but my enthusiasm was gone.

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Originally Posted by theundeadhero

A Catcher in the Rye~ The writing style was just horrible.

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I've literally JUST finished reading this book, It's the second time I've read it since I was made to analyze it for my English GCSE. I absolutely adore it now although I originally loathed it (Holden and his "GODDAMNNNNN") but I do think the author tried too hard to be American and ended up going completely over-the-top.

Silent Spring. Seriously, I get it, PESTICIDES ARE BAD MMKAY.

(SPOILER)Just joking, I actually like that book. I don't think I've found any books I actually dislike reading.

I can't think of any fiction I've voluntarily read that I couldn't make it through. I'm incredibly picky about my choices of fiction and being young theres still a vast library of classics to go through before treading in the more dangerous waters.

And it still breaks my heart to see people hate on Conrad's magnificent Heart of Darkness. :cry:

I guess the book I've had the worst time going through is Marx's Das Kapital (volume 1, perhaps one day I may go through the others?...). I find Marxism pretty grating to me philosophically already, despite a general fascination with the subject for some reason. I'm aware at this point it might be better to just read interpretations of volumes like Das Kapital, but I've found reading these sort of works personally gives me a closer understanding and intimacy of the text. I've gone through other works with Marx's name on it, unfortunately for me, but those works (The German Ideology for instance) would have Engels (a much superior writer) at his side. Thats what makes Das Kapital so difficult for me to drag myself through, despite being obvious sophistry (at best) it is written in a way best described as verbal constipation with a blight of malignant tumors-- its plainly dishonest academic drudgery that seeks to make obfuscating theoretical systems and pseudo-economics (a caricature of the flaws of classical economics; a sort of Ricardian minstrel show) out of old fashioned Prussian blackheartedness towards business and a comical secular reinvention of the process theology of yore. I've had similar problems with Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, its easier to swim through concrete than to read one of Hegel's sentences.

I'm not interested in discussing why I might be wrong about Marxism.

I managed to read the first three Harry Potter books before giving up on the fourth. I'm fairly sure the only reason I managed to read the first three was due to a lack of connection to anything resembling the modern world.

Ryth, your scathing criticism of Das Kapital is right on the money. I forgot about that one completely, but never have I read anything as absolute disasterous - quite apart from the merits of what is said - in my life. It is a broken, shattered land where language goes to die, at the ruined end of the world.

I'm glad we're on the same page, MILF (unfortunately there are many people still stuck in that dead zone). Have you ever tried reading any Marxist interpretations of Das Kapital? I've gotten a laugh out of some of them.

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Originally Posted by champagne supernova

I loved Gatsby. And I even studied it, which makes it really unusual for me to enjoy! I don't know where I would place Gatsby, but it's near the top (where Lolita is sitting).

My step-dad raves about Cormac McCarthy, so going to try read him some time.

I got put off the Wheel of Time during the 2nd last book. It had just got ridiculously long.

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The second to last book? A Knife of Dreams? I thought the book was good, unless your unaware that The Gathering Storm has been released and are talking about The Crossroads of Twilight in which case I would have to agree with you... the book dragged as did The Path of Daggers (book 8)... though book 8 was botched due to the fact that RJ was very ill and they didn't think he had time to finnish the series.

The only book iv never been able to read (much to my everlasting distress) was A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin which is strange as I loved the entire series up till then and have met the author in person and had my entire collection of books signed with a personal inscription on all... I hear it gets interesting but I cant seem to find the will to carry on reading the book.

If however you need an author to recommend I would have to say all Raemond E. Feist's books are completely awesome.

Just realised, I never really got in to Enduring Love by Ian Mc...someone. It wasn't too bad I guess, but my english lit teacher said we had to know the book we chose like..off by heart. This meant reading it three+ times. I got an A and didn't even read past page 40. :D

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Originally Posted by Ryth

I'm glad we're on the same page, MILF (unfortunately there are many people still stuck in that dead zone). Have you ever tried reading any Marxist interpretations of Das Kapital? I've gotten a laugh out of some of them.

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Not really, I only read Das Kapital because I had to for class (and I only had to read a bit of it, thank the lord), I've little interest in communism beyond that. I did read The Communist Manifesto though, which was a far, far more readable piece, so I assume Engels had a hand in that one.