Books you hated - let off steam

[DaveA]

I hate any books that are over the top graphic whether that's violence, sex, or whatever. My imagination works just fine filling those things in and I don't need some hack writer trying to paint the picture for me. I also detest profanity... in speech *or* in books.

Yes I agree, especially regarding "sex", and especially someone trying to paint the picture for me. I'd much prefer color photos!!!

 

[OneEyedDiva]

I hated one of Deepak Chopra's books. I don't even remember the name of it, but it may have been Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. I thought I'd scream if I read the word "quantum" one more time. I had to put it down. I didn't hate Communion by Whitley Strieber, about his alleged alien abduction, but it bored me silly so I stopped reading that too.

 

[MarkD]

I am such an avid reader but I don't love all books by any means. Sometimes I know immediately I am going to hate a book, other times it takes a while and I realise it's just not happening for me. Often I feel I 'ought' to love a book because it's a 'classic' and everyone else raves about it.

I tried 'Middlemarch' by George Eliot and oh my word I was just so bored and hated it. Lately I've been listening to 'Heidi' by Johanna Spyri on audio, thinking I must give it a go. I started off thinking it was very delightful but gradually I just grew irritated and impatient with this child who is so unrealistically and annoyingly good and keeps bursting into tears and causing mayhem. Far too many tears and blatant sentimentality for me.

If it is ok shall we have here any reviews of books you have hated? Especially classics that we are supposed to enjoy because everyone else seems to. I need a place to say the unthinkable - such as I don't like Shakespeare, I find it all boring. I also find Charles Dickens far too heavy and cumbersome. There, I said it!

Many friends swore that Robinson’s Gilead was amazing. I made it at least half way and then bailed. BORING!

 

[Lewkat]

Your lights aren't on a timer? Why?

Who keeps reading lights on a timer?

 

[moviequeen1]

I've read many books over the years, these 4 won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction couldn't believe it I tried to finish these terrible books:
Goldfinch- Donna Tartt
All The Light We Can not See- Anthony Dorr
Olive Kitteridge- Elizabeth Stout
Gilead- Marilyn Robinson
Last yr my brother suggested 'The Lincoln Highway' by Amor Towles, I did finish it but was too long& too descriptive for me, Another over rated book

 

[MarkD]

Russian authors can be ponderous but I did love War and Peace which was interesting to me because it was historical in nature.

I think Crime and Punishment is the only novel I’ve read by a Russian and it is one of my very favorites. One of these days I’d like to read something by Tolstoy just because his life story is so interesting.

 

[HoneyNut]

I hated Of Mice and Men, the general topic of responsibility of incompetent people, and compassion for them in spite of their horrific acts might have been interesting if the book didn't treat the woman like an object whose only value was due to belonging to the boss or whoever the man in power was.

Most of the books we were forced to read in High School were disgusting and depressing (and seemed to be chosen to appeal to boys).

 

[MarkD]

I've read many books over the years, these 4 won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction couldn't believe it I tried to finish these terrible books:
Goldfinch- Donna Tartt
All The Light We Can not See- Anthony Dorr
Olive Kitteridge- Elizabeth Stout
Gilead- Marilyn Robinson
Last yr my brother suggested 'The Lincoln Highway' by Amor Towles, I did finish it but was too long& too descriptive for me, Another over rated book

Right there with you on Gilead but I loved All The Light We Cannot See. I know Nazi Germany has been done to death but many of them are good, though I rarely remember titles or authors for long.

 

[horseless carriage]

If it is ok shall we have here any reviews of books you have hated? Especially classics that we are supposed to enjoy because everyone else seems to. I need a place to say the unthinkable - such as I don't like Shakespeare, I find it all boring. I also find Charles Dickens far too heavy and cumbersome. There, I said it!

If you don't like Shakespeare, why worry? Read and enjoy what you like, in fact I am sure that you do. Shakespeare I love, but that's because an English teacher at my school explained antisemitism and how, in The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare hits the nail on the head. This speech by Shylock captures it perfectly.
"Signior Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you
have rated me About my moneys and my usances;
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For suff'rance is the badge of all our tribe;
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine,
And all for use of that which is mine own."

There's much more, but you as Shakespeare is not for you, here's the synopsis:
In Venice Bassanio goes to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, to borrow, in Antonio's name, 3,000 ducats. Shylock hates Antonio but agrees to lend the money provided that Antonio sign a bond to yield a pound of his own flesh if he is unable to repay the loan on time.

A pound of flesh is still in use in today's parlance, and so are many more. A rose by any other name is of course from Romeo & Juliet.

I guess I had better stick my head above the parapet and admit that Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," was hard work yet it's one of the best selling novels of all time as well as being the subject of debate amongst readers.

 

[Rose65]

I think Crime and Punishment is the only novel I’ve read by a Russian and it is one of my very favorites. One of these days I’d like to read something by Tolstoy just because his life story is so interesting.

War and Peace is great narrated on audiobooks

 

[Rose65]

If you don't like Shakespeare, why worry? Read and enjoy what you like, in fact I am sure that you do. Shakespeare I love, but that's because an English teacher at my school explained antisemitism and how, in The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare hits the nail on the head. This speech by Shylock captures it perfectly.
"Signior Antonio, many a time and oft In the Rialto you
have rated me About my moneys and my usances;
Still have I borne it with a patient shrug,
For suff'rance is the badge of all our tribe;
You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spet upon my Jewish gaberdine,
And all for use of that which is mine own."

There's much more, but you as Shakespeare is not for you, here's the synopsis:
In Venice Bassanio goes to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, to borrow, in Antonio's name, 3,000 ducats. Shylock hates Antonio but agrees to lend the money provided that Antonio sign a bond to yield a pound of his own flesh if he is unable to repay the loan on time.

A pound of flesh is still in use in today's parlance, and so are many more. A rose by any other name is of course from Romeo & Juliet.

I guess I had better stick my head above the parapet and admit that Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," was hard work yet it's one of the best selling novels of all time as well as being the subject of debate amongst readers.

Now I really enjoyed The da Vinci code many years ago.

 

[jujube]

I took a Russian Literature course one semester in college.....it was the longest two years of my life.

The story lines are great but you have to.slog.through.miles.of.literary.mire to get there.

AND everyone keeps being referred to by different names. You have a young man named Sergei Mikelovitch Pavlovsky.

His father calls him Serg, his mother calls him Mishka, his sister calls him Sacha and his fellow cadets call him Pavo. For some reason, his old nurse calls him Pishi.

You have to keep going back and figure out who the hell they are talking about.

Who's got time for that?

 

[CinnamonSugar]

Wuthering Heights. Made myself finish but all I wanted to shout at the end was “would You People Get a Life?!”

 

[Rose65]

I took a Russian Literature course one semester in college.....it was the longest two years of my life.

The story lines are great but you have to.slog.through.miles.of.literary.mire to get there.

AND everyone keeps being referred to by different names. You have a young man named Sergei Mikelovitch Pavlovsky.

His father calls him Serg, his mother calls him Mishka, his sister calls him Sacha and his fellow cadets call him Pavo. For some reason, his old nurse calls him Pishi.

You have to keep going back and figure out who the hell they are talking about.

Who's got time for that?

I have listened to War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The narration was excellent and I listened happily whilst doing my housework. Yet no way would I attempt to read these novels, I just don't have the time or the strength! Tolstoy was a great writer but I am just not that intellectual to understand and cope with all those names, history and description.

 

[Rose65]

Wuthering Heights. Made myself finish but all I wanted to shout at the end was “would You People Get a Life?!”

A miserable story and I felt the same.

 

[George1959]

I think Crime and Punishment is the only novel I’ve read by a Russian and it is one of my very favorites. One of these days I’d like to read something by Tolstoy just because his life story is so interesting.

Especially his marital life is very interesting.

 

[StarSong]

My husband could list off dozens of books he’s hated but the only ones I’ve disliked are ones we HAD to read at school. They were mandatory in getting the credit.

Interesting thing about the books we read in school. My daughter was assigned Pudd'nhead Wilson (Mark Twain) as summer reading before entering 7th grade. She was 11 years old.

No way she could slog through that so I (who hated what I'd read of MT in high school) literally read it aloud to her, explaining and interpreting the setting and colloquialisms as we went along. To my utter surprise, I quite liked the book. She did not.

That Christmas I talked to my sister, a Mark Twain scholar, about it. She shook her head and said MT never intended his most of his books to be read by children and that the pattern in education tended to go as follows:

1. Teachers assign kids to read books that are over their head. The kids hate the books.

2. Like my daughter, many of these kids have careers in education, and remove these author's works from the curriculum due to their personal experiences.

3. People not exposed to the books/authors as children stumble over them in college or adulthood and fall in love with them. Some become teachers, and because of their experience, add them to their curriculum.

The pattern repeats, ad nauseum.

As a 13 year old I was assigned Dickens' Great Expectations, and loathed every page. Reread it about ten years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Interesting thing about the books we read in school. My daughter was assigned Pudd'nhead Wilson (Mark Twain) as summer reading before entering 7th grade. She was 11 years old.

No way she could slog through that so I (who hated what I'd read of MT in high school) literally read it aloud to her, explaining and interpreting the setting and colloquialisms as we went along. To my utter surprise, I quite liked the book. She did not.

That Christmas I talked to my sister, a Mark Twain scholar, about it. She shook her head and said MT never intended his most of his books to be read by children and that the pattern in education tended to go as follows:

1. Teachers assign kids to read books that are over their head. The kids hate the books.

2. Like my daughter, many of these kids have careers in education, and remove these author's works from the curriculum due to their personal experiences.

3. People not exposed to the books/authors as children stumble over them in college or adulthood and fall in love with them. Some become teachers, and because of their experience, add them to their curriculum.

The pattern repeats, ad nauseum.

As a 13 year old I was assigned Dickens' Great Expectations, and loathed every page. Reread it about ten years ago and enjoyed it immensely.

I’m sure the books they pick for the curriculum, they pick for good reason. I’ve never re- read Lord of the Flies again due to the subject matter. It’s a bit too intense for me.

There is another book ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ which was depressing as ever but I understood the reason it was chosen. I could see myself reading that one again.

What a great mom you are to help your children in that kind of way. That’s very kind of you.

Great expectations sounds familiar but I think I read that when I was older.

The subject of cannibalism was a shock to my system and I generally think it was too graphic. Others may feel different.

To be brutally honest, most books I never read in school so was shocked to get the grades I got. lol

 

[StarSong]

I’m sure the books they pick for the curriculum, they pick for good reason.

With a son and DIL as teachers, I can assure you that the reasoning behind book choices isn't as well thought out as you might imagine. Personal adult biases come into play.

I once asked DD if she'd ever assigned a Mark Twain book to her Middle School classes. She snorted, rolled her eyes and said, "No way!"

If she hadn't been forced into Pudd'nhead Wilson before she could understand it, her reaction probably wouldn't have been nearly as strong.

I just now texted her to ask if she'd read any other Mark Twain books. Her response:
"No. I read the cliff notes of Huckleberry Finn in 10th grade, but that's it."

My (now 38 year old) daughter is a voracious reader. The assignment of that age-inappropriate book to an 11 year old tainted Mark Twain for her.

 

[Supernatural]

"Project Blue Book" softcover bought in sales at bookstore in late 70s. Absolute bull... Granted read cover to cover, but what a load of palava! Nothing revealing and explaining that made the readers angry about the truth hiding.

I didn't even feel it was worthy of a charity shop... Nope, it went in the house furnace...

Decades later, I found much better reading materials on UFOs.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

With a son and DIL as teachers, I can assure you that the reasoning behind book choices isn't as well thought out as you might imagine. Personal adult biases come into play.

I once asked DD if she'd ever assigned a Mark Twain book to her Middle School classes. She snorted, rolled her eyes and said, "No way!"

If she hadn't been forced into Pudd'nhead Wilson before she could understand it, her reaction probably wouldn't have been nearly as strong.

I just now texted her to ask if she'd read any other Mark Twain books. Her response:
"No. I read the cliff notes of Huckleberry Finn in 10th grade, but that's it."

My (now 38 year old) daughter is a voracious reader. The assignment of that age-inappropriate book to an 11 year old tainted Mark Twain for her.

This is really sad Starsong. I think the books that a child reads early in their lives can truly have a huge impact. What’s so appalling about Mark Twain?

Those early books that are mandatory in school, should be age appropriate. I asked my husband if he read ‘Lord of the Flies,’ and he said he did but in high school. Thats far more age appropriate. We were given this at grade 4 or 5 and in my opinion, that’s too young.

I had to read the last couple of sentences over a few times to understand what you meant. Early books have a huge impact and can taint our lives. Lord of the Flies doesn’t belong in school at any age, in my opinion . It’s far too graphic.

Mark Twain should be mandatory in every school. We can’t wipe out prejudiced material and act like it never existed. It’s a shameful part of our history which we need to acknowledge. Sweeping it under the carpet is a ‘slap in the face’ for ALL concerned.

 

[CinnamonSugar]

This is really sad Starsong. I think the books that a child reads early in their lives can truly have a huge impact in their lives. What’s so appalling about Mark Twain?

Those early books that are mandatory in school, should be age appropriate. I asked my husband if he read ‘Lord of the Flies,’ and he said he did but in high school. Thats far more age appropriate. We were given this at grade 4 or 5 and in my opinion, that’s too young.

I had to read the last couple of sentences over a few times to understand what you meant. Early books have a huge impact and can taint our lives. Lord of the Flies doesn’t belong in school at any age. It’s far too graphic. Mark Twain should be mandatory in every school. We can’t wipe out prejudiced material and act like it never existed. It’s a shameful part of our history which we need to acknowledge. Sweeping it under the carpet is a ‘slap in the face’ for ALL concerned.

I agree n Mark Twain’s books, @PeppermintPatty. His humor is wonderful and he’s a great writer. I read Tom Sawyer to my kids when they were in grade school (on a long car trip) and they *loved* it! They didn’t want me to stop reading

I recently got out my copy and started re-reading in prep to read it to my granddaughter. I admit I was brought up short by some of the racial references and held off starting it. But I need to look at it from a “good conversation starting point” and allow her to enjoy the humor and excitement of the overall story.

 

[CinnamonSugar]

continuing with original question, I *hated* The Three Musketeers, specifically D’Artagnan !! Ack, what a pompous, impetuous coxcomb!!

 

[StarSong]

I think the books that a child reads early in their lives can truly have a huge impact. What’s so appalling about Mark Twain?

There's absolutely nothing appalling about Mark Twain. She just couldn't understand most of it because Puddin'head Wilson took place on plantations in the American South during slavery. Slave dialog was (accurately) reflected using Ebonics spoken by slaves, not English. No way my 11 year old daughter could understand that dialog. I had trouble with some of it, myself.

In addition, the subject matter itself was mostly beyond her. The story largely focused on a child fathered by the slave owner and an unwilling house slave. My daughter only loosely knew the facts of life at that point, never mind wrapping her mind around rape.

As I said earlier, Mark Twain's books were not generally directed at children. I liked the book but was in my 40s, not barely into double digits.

 

[StarSong]

Mark Twain should be mandatory in every school. We can’t wipe out prejudiced material and act like it never existed. It’s a shameful part of our history which we need to acknowledge. Sweeping it under the carpet is a ‘slap in the face’ for ALL concerned.

Agree with reading Huck Finn & Tom Sawyer in later HS years, but unless you've read and needed to explain Puddn'head Wilson to an 11 year old, I'll ask that you take my word for it when I say it wasn't age appropriate.