The worst book you've ever read or had to have read

Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Ivy.Mane, Sep 1, 2007.

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  1. mikespread1988

    mikespread1988 New Member

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    I had to read Jane Eyre about 3-4 years ago. That was so utterly boring that I can't remember any of it, apart from the fact there was some random old woman that was this bloke's wife who he'd kept in the attic for years. Was absolutely rubbish.

    I also had to read Lord of the Flies which was OK I guess but not one of the better books i've read, that's for sure.
     
  2. topper

    topper New Member

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    Huh. The third one was my favorite, but I thought the fifth, six, and seventh ones stunk. (especially number 5; 6 & 7 had a few redeeming qualities)

    The worst books for me were Bless Me, Ultima and The Bean Tree. Forced to read those in high school and couldn't stand them. I think I was the only person in my class who didn't SparkNote my way through them after the first chapter.
     
  3. wildflower

    wildflower New Member

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    I was made to read The Long, The Short and The Tall at school and absolutely hated it. I just found it really boring.
     
  4. wildflower

    wildflower New Member

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    I thought 1 was rubbish. She really picked up the pace and enjoyment with 2 and 3 but 4 went back to being slow like book 1. Book 5, for me, was unnecessary and I just felt like she was writing a story for the sake of stretching out the series. Book 6 was great - I like Snapes character. Was disappointed with the last book - too many people dying (the series was sporadic with death until this point) and too chaotic. Plus, for a LOT of chapters the characters were hiding out in a big tent.

    My two cents
     
  5. darklordbob

    darklordbob New Member

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    The fourth Maximum Ride book. James Patterson took what was an awesome series and added a fourth book about global warming. Characters, the villains' motives, and the actual plot all took second place to the whole global warming spiel.
     
  6. Rumpole40k

    Rumpole40k Banned

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    I'm going to go with Catcher In The Rye. I got through it but it was so tedious.
     
  7. AwfulBigAdventure

    AwfulBigAdventure New Member

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    Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams followed closely behind the Woman at Otowi Crossing.

    I guess nuclear testing doesn't hold my interest.
     
  8. Mr Sci Fi

    Mr Sci Fi New Member

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    Eragon, and I don't think I need to explain why.
     
  9. Leaka

    Leaka Creative Mettle

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    To Kill a Mockingbird, I had to read it and write journal entries of it.
    It was boring.
    I hated it.
     
  10. Amor

    Amor New Member

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    Although I've read several terrible books (most of them I was required to read because of school assignments), Fever 1793 is probably the worst. It got really nowhere; people just kept dying.
     
  11. ILTBY

    ILTBY Contributor Contributor

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    The Lord of the Flies. To be fair I never finished it, and definitely will read the whole thing soon, but I found the first half incredibly boring and just lacking. I stopped reading because nothing about it interested me and I had no urge to continue with it.

    ETA: Aah, I see it's already been mentioned, though not for the same reasons :)
     
  12. Kaij

    Kaij New Member

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    Eragon, naturally.

    I don't read very many books that I hate, actually. I make sure I will like the book by the beginning chapter or the back of the book for the most part. Unless, of course, it was a school assignment. Then there's...Eragon.
     
  13. Beth

    Beth Member

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    "Illusions" by Richard Bach. I bought it because someone told me it changed their life but I found it too boring to get to the last page.
     
  14. Kaij

    Kaij New Member

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    Ah, another one is Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire, I believe is the title. I tried reading it, but couldn't get past the fifth page it was so bogged down with infodumps and ramblings. Yeah, yeah, it's an interview, but still.
     
  15. Iulia

    Iulia New Member

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    "Ella Enchanted". I read it as a (young) kid and a certain scene terrified me. The night I read that was the last night I ever wanted anything to do with the book and is remembered as my first night of insomnia.
     
  16. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The Red Pony ~ Steinbeck



    *yeah, I know I'm gonna' get poned over this one. What can I say? I was a kid and there were no spaceships or aliens in the story*
     
  17. Rumpole40k

    Rumpole40k Banned

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    ROTF!
     
  18. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Ah, ya' liked that, huh? :D


    Yeah, I can't deal with anything by Steinbeck. He takes the color out of my world for a while. Everything is sepia for like a week after.

    I mean, did you read The Pearl? I was ready to pull out my own fingernails! :(
     
  19. Nena

    Nena New Member

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    I haven't read the Lord of the Rings series, but I rather liked the Hobbit. The singing was a little weird, especially when I first read the book via an audio book. But I thought it was dear. And I like the Old Man and the Sea, but then again...I like it for sentimental reasons. The character reminded me of my dad, whom I'm very close to.

    Worst books I've ever read?

    The Chosen by Chaim...something. We had to read it in English...I think the teacher wanted to enlighten us on what it's like to be Jewish..and I thought that was silly. A book isn't going to tell you that. Not to say...a BORING book.

    All Quiet on the Western Front - I got what the book was saying. It was just too hard a read for me. I respect soldiers and what they go through, but I don't particularly care for the parts where they're "lonely for women." Not that the whole book was like that. My main problem was that it dragged. It did have some nice points, though.

    Heart of Darkness - All the darkness made me sleepy.

    Sofie's World - I know a lot of people like this sort of stuff, but I think it was pretentious and weird (well, the random sex was anyway). But, then again, I'm not one for philosophical books as I also don't like any Ayn Rand books...though I did give them the old college try. I thought Atlas Shrugged had some amusing and enlightening points but was overall...frustrating and dull. I don't like the way she writes.
     
  20. FinalConflict

    FinalConflict New Member

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    This is pretty stupid to say on a site mainly about writing but..."Romeo and Juliet". I just couldn't get into it, had to look up more than half the words, and overall it was very confusing, especially since I looked at the summary beforehand and when I read it the only way I could tell something happened is when a character stopped talking or when the writer wrote "_____ stabs ______"
     
  21. (Mark)

    (Mark) New Member

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    Maybe you're not reading the right Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men and East of Eden are his strongest works that I've read by a long shot, although I did enjoy The Red Pony and The Pearl.
     
  22. ChimmyBear

    ChimmyBear Writing for the love of it. Contributor

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    Dreamcatcher by Stephen King....I couldn't finish it...I donated it to my college library. It just didn't hold my attention, as a matter of fact, I was so bored I feel asleep reading the damn thing...honestly, if I spend money on a book I will trudge through it, but I just gave up on that one...I didn't pick it up again.
     
  23. Gone Wishing

    Gone Wishing New Member

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    Hmmm... Hard to remember a book I didn't enjoy reading, as I make pretty sure I am going to enjoy something before I invest the time.

    The Fatal Englishman by Sebastian Faulks is probably at the bottom of my list.

    Oh yeah - I read The Potato Facory by Bryce Courtenay on the recommendation of a friend and I wasn't as impressed as she was - by a long shot. :p
     
  24. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Read those as well in college, and I waited until I was 27 to go to university, so I was quite grown at the time.

    Those books hurt me to read. Physical pain. Depressing, sepia toned, godaweful drudgery to read. :(
     
  25. Plushii

    Plushii New Member

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    The worst book I've ever read is the book I'm reading now, Living on Air by Anna Shapiro. It's just so boring...every time I try and read it I wind up falling asleep!

    Unfortunately I have to finish the damn thing because I have to do a whole English project on it, which counts for half of our grade, and it's too late for me to change my book.

    Another book I hated with a passion was The Cat Ate my Gym Suit. I don't know who the author was, and I don't care. Basically it was about this girl and all she did was whine whine and whine. I clearly remember there was this one scene where her mother bought her a new hat, and she loved that hat. Then the mother said "Oh I thought you might like that. it's a very popular style among girls!" Then the girl who loved the hat suddenly hates it and throws a tempter tantrum because she doesn't want to like 'popular' things. :|

    But atleast that book was so stupid to the point it was almost funny to read.
     
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