Which books don't do it for you?

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

A few for me, actually. I parrot the sentiment about Catcher in the Rye-horrible book there. Absolutely nothing happened beyond the kid's constant whining. Required reading during my sophomore year and I wish I could have beaten the teacher with it.


Rose for Emily, I must say. A short story, to be sure, but I read it simply out of curiosity. I do wish I had taken better control of my judgment. I preferred Ellison's I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. Always had a soft spot for post apocalyptic.


Let me see...any Shannara books past the second series. It was tragic, really...I just didn't like the way Brook's loved passing characters away. Should have taken the hint after Elfstones of Shannara...


Wrinkle in Time. Read it as a young child, but my sister and I both despised the thing. I think it was simply the characters. Just rubbed me the wrong way.


Some here might like Williams, but I don't think I could ever read him with serious enjoyment after MTS. It was pretty standard fare, which I don't mind, but what got me was its freaking leapfrogging. I can't describe it any other way. All the sudden POV shirts...ugh. Not to mention I figured Miriamele simply to be a reward character for Simon.


Also...I have to regretfully bring on Thomas Covenant here. I wanted to enjoy them, I really did, I just...couldn't. I don't know. I think I had the trouble of trying to figure out if any of it was real or not. I think that held me back from it.


The Gift of the Magi. Yes, I bring it up. I must say it was nothing more than an overextended joke with a predictable punch line relying on irony, but wound up being too depressing to be funny. Ugh. The Great Gasby as well. I didn't like the time period, I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the premise. The movie I saw put me to sleep as well, and that was watched in school.

 

[Hex]

@Hex - I do like Metamorphosis - and much of Kafka's other work.

I'll go back and have a look. I found Metamorphosis very uncomfortable (I appreciate it's meant to be) and now I don't have an image as a Serious Reader to maintain (unlike when I was fifteen and read all sorts of things I didn't understand just so I could say I'd read them), I prefer things with big gold letters on the cover. And bodices.

Is it me, or should there be a 'grand literary tradition' called: "... and then they all died. THE END."?

Yes please. They should market it with a red ribbon and make it easy to avoid

 

[Grunkins]

D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers almost made me drop out of college.

 

[The Bluestocking]

D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers almost made me drop out of college.

I narrowly dodged that one while studying for my English degree.

 

[Coolhand]

I have tried repeatedly to get through Gene Wolf's Book Of The New Sun.

I have failed repeatedly to get through Gene Wolf's Book Of The New Sun.

I have constantly been left utterly baffled as to why so many people love Gene Wolf's Book Of The New Sun.

Then again, I ate many paint chips as a child, so this might be connected.

Also, put me down as another veteran of Thomas Hardy English Lit Class Trauma. You don't know what it was LIKE, you WEREN'T THERE, man, the horror, the horror...

 

[kythe]

I'll go back and have a look. I found Metamorphosis very uncomfortable (I appreciate it's meant to be) and now I don't have an image as a Serious Reader to maintain (unlike when I was fifteen and read all sorts of things I didn't understand just so I could say I'd read them), I prefer things with big gold letters on the cover. And bodices.



Yes please. They should market it with a red ribbon and make it easy to avoid

Funny, I just downloaded Metamorphosis by Kafka as a free e-book. I've been meaning to read it for years ever since I met someone in college who really liked it.

It seems like if you are made to read something in school, it can leave a bad impression. But if you hear a positive recommendation, it is more likely to be an interesting story.

 

[Bick]

Silas Marner. Perhaps its me, but there's a section in the middle where it seems to spend ages describing some girls getting ready for dinner, and I couldn't even see how this had anything to do with the main plot at all. I just can't get past those pages...

 

[biodroid]

I remember reading the Dark Half by Stephen King and a certain section in the middle of the book, where the sheriff is talking to the main character for about 20-30 pages about some really boring thing just stopped me right there from finishing the book. The Tommyknockers was similar when the main character was making his way home from someplace but it took so long for that to happen I just skipped that section altogether.

 

[Toby Frost]

It's just occurred to me that every bit of bad luck I've had since I was 15 might be the gods getting me back for not liking The Mayor of Casterbridge.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Also, put me down as another veteran of Thomas Hardy English Lit Class Trauma. You don't know what it was LIKE, you WEREN'T THERE, man, the horror, the horror...

Am really thinking we might start a "Thomas Hardy Is The Most Depressing Author Ever To Be Foisted On Young Minds" Club now...

 

[vanye]

I have tried repeatedly to get through Gene Wolf's Book Of The New Sun.

I have failed repeatedly to get through Gene Wolf's Book Of The New Sun.

I have constantly been left utterly baffled as to why so many people love Gene Wolf's Book Of The New Sun.

Then again, I ate many paint chips as a child, so this might be connected.

Also, put me down as another veteran of Thomas Hardy English Lit Class Trauma. You don't know what it was LIKE, you WEREN'T THERE, man, the horror, the horror...

Oh, totally forgot about Gene Wolf. I actually read through the whole thang. But I would have been happier, if you hadn't reminded me.

 

[Hex]

Funny, I just downloaded Metamorphosis by Kafka as a free e-book. I've been meaning to read it for years ever since I met someone in college who really liked it.

It's a pretty amazing book. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

 

[soulsinging]

Anymore of Game of Thrones - the padding in the last two volumes did for me. I'll read the spoilers and find out the end.
And while on epic: Wheel of Time. It sounds too long, too slow and I suspect I'd hate it.

The similarities between the two are shocking sometimes. Books 1-3 of Wheel of Time are almost as good as Game of Thrones - Storm of Swords, and then both clearly derailed in book 4 as the authors abandoned the main plots to chase down every minor character side plot they could find to stretch the series out. Huge disappointments. Though I'm still tempted to read spoilers of WoT and then read the Brandon Sanderson wrap up.

Agree with Catcher in the Rye. I read it 3 times, at the right age, with the right teachers, and still don't get why this book is so highly regarded. I hear his other works are better.

Surprised to see LOTR on here so much and am glad I'm not alone. I actually find the Silmarillion far more interesting than LOTR, which I find to be kind of a drawn out bore for the most part, whereas the Silmarillion is unlike anything else I ever read.

 

[kythe]

It's a pretty amazing book. I'll be interested to hear what you think.

I just finished Kafka's Metamorphosis. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out why and how he became an insect, and why neither he nor anyone around him questioned this. The story is quite silly if read literally.

But if read metaphorically, Metamorphosis has some pretty deep themes like how prejudices affect people. Prejudices are often taken for granted - not questioning why people mistreat others or how it all started - its just done.. Isolation and miscommunication are important ideas here too.

But overall, I didn't "care" enough about the characters or story to really feel particularly philosophical about it.

 

[Mangara]

Just finished Red Seas Under Red Skies.

PAh.

What happened to the writing>?

 

[AndrewT]

The similarities between the two are shocking sometimes. Books 1-3 of Wheel of Time are almost as good as Game of Thrones - Storm of Swords, and then both clearly derailed in book 4 as the authors abandoned the main plots to chase down every minor character side plot they could find to stretch the series out. Huge disappointments. Though I'm still tempted to read spoilers of WoT and then read the Brandon Sanderson wrap up.

I thought book 4 of WOT was the best one of the epic. The trip through the Aiel world fascinated me and the section where he "sees through the eyes of his ancestors" literally blew me away once I understood it. Book 6 was great too. From seven on the quality dropped though.

 

[Fried Egg]

A selection of books that I really disliked but many others seem to love:

Fantasy

"Gardens of the Moon" by Steven Erikson
"The Summer Tree" by Guy Gavriel Kay
"The Dragon Waiting" by John M. Ford

SF

"Neuromancer" by William Gibson
"Mission of Gravity" by Hal Clement
"The Female Man" by Joanna Russ

Horror

"Blood Will Have Its Season" by Joe Pulver
"Weaveworld" by Clive Barker
"Stand on Zanzibar" by John Brunner

 

[Mangara]

On Basilisk Station - David Weber has gained the distinction of the first genre book I DNF.

It was just horrible. Honor Harrington is the mother of "Mary Sue".

 

[Vertigo]

Recent (4-5 years) unfinished books:

Two from Neal Stephenson - Reamde and The Mongoliad: Book One - The Mongoliad was co-authored so, since so many rave about Stephenson, I gave him a second chance in SF - Reamde - just dreadful - total waste of money.

Radix - A A Attanasio - a pile of new age, tree hugging rubbish (and I'm something of an aged-hippy).

The Steel Remains - Richard K Morgan - I have no problems with gays or sex in my books within reason but explicit pornography (gay or hetero) that contributes nothing to the story (except maybe shock value) I draw the line at.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

A selection of books that I really disliked but many others seem to love:

SF

"Neuromancer" by William Gibson
"Mission of Gravity" by Hal Clement
"The Female Man" by Joanna Russ

Horror

"Stand on Zanzibar" by John Brunner

I've read all of these and I like all of them. No accounting for taste, I suppose. In particular, The Female Man and Stand on Zanzibar are two of my favorites.

I'm curious as to why you list Stand on Zanzibar as horror, since I would call it pure SF.