Books everyone thinks are great but you hated (and vice versa)
- Thread starter frogwoman
- Start date
Voley
Joyful and Recumbent
Slightly different but On The Road and The Catcher In The Rye were both books I loved as a teenager but reread and hated in later life.
On The Road got described as 'an ode to selfishness' by Dillinger4 on here once and after rereading it I agreed.
Similarly Catcher In The Rye just seemed whiny and self-absorbed. I was like that myself at that age so that's why I liked it then, I think.
On The Road got described as 'an ode to selfishness' by Dillinger4 on here once and after rereading it I agreed.
Similarly Catcher In The Rye just seemed whiny and self-absorbed. I was like that myself at that age so that's why I liked it then, I think.
Yep. I gave up 6 times. Finally finished it just because I refused to be bested.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Was it worth it?
A380
How do I change this 'custom title' thing then?
Anything by Dickens, you can tell he was getting paid by the word.
Even before the politics thing Harry Potter, It just seemed a poor execution of what could have been a brilliant urban fantasy but was just plodding and pedestrian. After the first couple of books' massive sales JK could obviously tell the editors to fuck off as well and they were ridiculously long plodding and pedestrian books.
Stranger in a Strange Land. I mean I love Heinlein* but Stranger is bollocks in writing, plot, politics and philosophy. And yet it is his must famous book and people hail it as a literary masterpiece. It’s the only book I hate I have re-read, three times to see if I had missed something.
Tolkien.
(*I know, I know but read Moon is a Harsh Mistress first)
Even before the politics thing Harry Potter, It just seemed a poor execution of what could have been a brilliant urban fantasy but was just plodding and pedestrian. After the first couple of books' massive sales JK could obviously tell the editors to fuck off as well and they were ridiculously long plodding and pedestrian books.
Stranger in a Strange Land. I mean I love Heinlein* but Stranger is bollocks in writing, plot, politics and philosophy. And yet it is his must famous book and people hail it as a literary masterpiece. It’s the only book I hate I have re-read, three times to see if I had missed something.
Tolkien.
(*I know, I know but read Moon is a Harsh Mistress first)
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Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Interesting - I had exactly the same experience with OTR but found something new in CITR the second time with an older perspective. Have reread other Salinger too (Franny & Zooey etc.) and love his style.
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
No Country for Old Men. Cormac McCarthy is one of my favourite writers but this book just read like a western pulp thriller.
quimcunx
imprimeo, lamino, distribuo
Both terrible books when I read them in my 30s. Gave up on On the road 10 pages before the end.
'Top 50 modern classics' lists should be renamed 'Top 50 crap novels men fondly remember reading as teenagers'.
Not really.
Oh God, that was absolutely terrible. I hated it.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
A couple of obvious ones spring to mind.
Lord of the Rings, which I read as a young teen. I just couldn't believe how shit it was considering the praise. I also read the Hobbit, which I thought was better but still shit (there wasn't a lot of interesting books in my school library).
Harry Potter - the first one. Lot's of people at work telling me it was a great book for adults despite being a childrens book. . . . I just couldn't finish it. It was an easy read for sure, but boy was it boring as fuck.
In the reverse . . . I was told to avoid Louis Sachar because his books were for children. . . but I read Holes and The Card Reader to my daughter as a child and found them to be quite neat/tight stories that I may well have been happy enough to read to myself before bed.
Lord of the Rings, which I read as a young teen. I just couldn't believe how shit it was considering the praise. I also read the Hobbit, which I thought was better but still shit (there wasn't a lot of interesting books in my school library).
Harry Potter - the first one. Lot's of people at work telling me it was a great book for adults despite being a childrens book. . . . I just couldn't finish it. It was an easy read for sure, but boy was it boring as fuck.
In the reverse . . . I was told to avoid Louis Sachar because his books were for children. . . but I read Holes and The Card Reader to my daughter as a child and found them to be quite neat/tight stories that I may well have been happy enough to read to myself before bed.
I've read two or three of Rushdie's books and hated all of them.
hitmouse
music obfuscation technology
Oh yeah, If on a Winter's... is unreadable. Some other Calvino is good though. And don't get me started on Tristram Shandy.Not liking Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Joyce? Bunch of philistines in this thread.
I've never understood what everyone sees in Haruki Murakami. Also If on a Winter's Night a Traveler tends to get a lot of plaudits but I found it tedious.
Also, I remember really liking Flight from the Enchanter but a friend of mine, who has fairly similar tastes and usually likes Murdoch, is trying to read it now and hating it. Any other Flight from the Enchanter lovers and/or haters here?
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
Yeah there's kind of an undue reverence for 'the classics' which often means 'any book published more than 20 years before I was born'.
ElizabethofYork
Old Crone
danny la rouge
I have a cheese grater in the dishwasher.
I agree. Couldn’t finish it.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
The Dice Man. Although hopefully there'll be some agreement that it's rubbish on here because the people who like it are a) idiots and b) should probably be on some sort of police watch list.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Agree with both of these. On the Road I just found boring and gave up on tbh. Catcher in the Rye I think is better written but yeah I think ultimately I find him to be just a bit of an irritating dick.
danny la rouge
I have a cheese grater in the dishwasher.
The Life of Pi.
Or as I call it, the Life of Pish.
Or as I call it, the Life of Pish.
ElizabethofYork
Old Crone
I absolutely hated it. The writing was so immature.
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
yeah its a terrible book. Turns out the treasure you were seeking was...at home all along. Fuck off.
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
Tbh i read it when I was 16 so I may have overly positive views of it.
Me too.. I remember being gripped by the intrigue.. I think I read it in one day. Possibly one sitting.Tbh i read it when I was 16 so I may have overly positive views of it.
frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
I hate books with that kind of an ending. There is an audiobook I listened to last year about an author who realises that someone is copying his books to do a bunch of murders. In the end it turned out that he did the murders himself and hallucinated most of the book's events including hallucinating that he had a pet dog, which was the best part of the book
danny la rouge
I have a cheese grater in the dishwasher.
I remember it as immature too, and shallow. And also you could see the formula sticking out a mile. And now I’m working towards the cliffhanger that’ll get you reading the next chapter. And annoyingly, it worked! I read the whole fucking thing. And felt dirty and ashamed, like when you eat Pringles.
ska invita
back on the other side
James Baldwins nonfiction... Too 'posh'.
I've not read any of his fiction though.
I've not read any of his fiction though.
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