Worst book you've ever read?

[Drago]

I actually read Plato's Republic.

Didn't understand a word of it, mind.

 

[Reynard]

Tennyson's Ulysses is far more palatable. Just saying, like...

 

[matticus]

Anyone who understands Ulysses is doing better than James Joyce.

It's about Dublin.

 

[PaulB]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance.

Utter codswallop, but a 'must read' for a mid-teens boy back in the 70's.

I loved that. It pretty much described the prep of the best surgeons I ever saw in action even though most of them had never read it themselves.

 

[Animo]

The Godfather is rather poor, in stark contrast to the masterpiece of a film

Other books I liked as a kid but oh dear, they are practically unreadable as an adult, Azimov' Foundation for example and the sequels (after the original) 3 were even worse. OK the galactic empire and psychohisotry idea is brillian but the writing is poor. It did occur to me that it is inspired by the marxist interpretation of history; not that there's per se anything wring with that.

And at the risk of being unfair, after all they are very much aimed at young children, the Narnia books are unreadable as an adult but I loved them as a kid, at which time I'd been unaware they were propaganda.

I like The Godfather but the following up by Puzo called The Last Don is absolutely dire.
Would probably have to agree with whoever said The Da Vinci Code. A writing style that insults the intelligence of the reader.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I like The Godfather but the following up by Puzo called The Last Don is absolutely dire.
Would probably have to agree with whoever said The Da Vinci Code. A writing style that insults the intelligence of the reader.

I read the Dv Vinci code
got it from the library - so I didn;t pay for it!

when I had finished I had quite enjoyed it
but by an hour or so after I had thought of so many plot holes!!!

I also realised that I had read it VERY fast
which is normally a sign that the book is badly written and I am skip reading section because the content is obvious and there is no detail

The opposite happens if I read a good book - Tolkein, Pratchett and others - I read much much slower

It's kinda OK - but to have any enjoyment from it you have to put aside any critical thinking - in fact any thinking at all as it makes little sense if you start thinking about the plot

 

[Alex321]

I read the Dv Vinci code
got it from the library - so I didn;t pay for it!

<snip>

It's kinda OK - but to have any enjoyment from it you have to put aside any critical thinking - in fact any thinking at all as it makes little sense if you start thinking about the plot

That is true of all Dan Brown's books. The "technical" bits are all complete rubbish to anyone with the slightest knowledge of the subject.

 

[MadMalx]

I’m not ploughing through 15 pages to see if it’s been done already-

“The old man and the sea” Hemingway. Man goes fishing. Catches shark. Sails home. Short sentences. Lots. All the way through. Completely baffled why this is considered a classic. My recollection of “Fiesta..,” was that it was good though (the book by Hemingway, not the mag) but I read that 40 years ago.

Agree about Harry Potter, Dan Brown. My 20 something though “Zen…” and “Hundred years of Solitude” were fantastic at the time, but I was in my “I’m an intellectual” phase. Looked at Hundred years again recently and couldn’t get past the first few pages.

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

Anything by Dickens… why use one word when fifty seven will do?

 

[PaulB]

'How to Get Drunk on 48p' special commemorative edition, £268. That was a rip off, I can tell you.

 

[Way-Out-West]

I’m not ploughing through 15 pages to see if it’s been done already-

“The old man and the sea” Hemingway. Man goes fishing. Catches shark. Sails home. Short sentences. Lots. All the way through. Completely baffled why this is considered a classic. My recollection of “Fiesta..,” was that it was good though (the book by Hemingway, not the mag) but I read that 40 years ago.

Agree about Harry Potter, Dan Brown. My 20 something though “Zen…” and “Hundred years of Solitude” were fantastic at the time, but I was in my “I’m an intellectual” phase. Looked at Hundred years again recently and couldn’t get past the first few pages.

That must have been 'The Old Man and the Sea 2', he caught a marlin in the first one.

 

[yello]

I don't remember the name or author, I've erased it from my mind. A neighbour lent it to my wife, having enjoyed it and thinking we would. It's amazing how such things can make you re-evaluate stuff. I recall only an analogy; "like that movie with Tom Cruise" (that one fell flat not having a clue which movie was being referred to) and the frequent mention of the angel winged main character having "gossamer hair". It was bad.

 

[Time Waster]

My worst books are the ones I actually haven't read. If I read them they were ok or good, if they were bad I just stopped reading them. So why do people read books they are not enjoying or that they find are not very good? That is a waste of reading time surely??

 

[SpokeyDokey]

My worst books are the ones I actually haven't read. If I read them they were ok or good, if they were bad I just stopped reading them. So why do people read books they are not enjoying or that they find are not very good? That is a waste of reading time surely??

I read a lot and bail immediately a book stops doing it for me. I have too many new books to read to waste time on a 'baddy'.

Mrs SD has been known to persevere to the bitter end, though. I am not sure if this is because, by nature, she is a consummate completer-finisher or simply reads in hope of an upturn in the tome's quality.

 

[Time Waster]

Life is too short. I have given up before now on the first page. I usually try to get a bit further into a book but that one just did not work well with me so I bailed early on. No point in wasting time when you know it is not to your liking.