Worst book you've ever read?

[raleighnut]

Why is it incomprehensible? It's no harder to understand than Dickens or Austen or even Dylan Thomas.

I could never get on with Dickens, 3 pages of describing a room I seem to remember.

 

[Reynard]

I could never get on with Dickens, 3 pages of describing a room I seem to remember.

I can't say I've ever been a fan. OK, yes, we read Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol at school, but I find his writing a bit chewy and wouldn't pick up and read any of his books for entertainment purposes. Mind you, his style is pretty characteristic of the time.

 

[cookiemonster]

Shuggie Bain

Boring, boring, boring. How this won awards is beyond me.

And anything by Shakespeare.

 

[Alex H]

Why is it incomprehensible?

Because it is?

 

[richardfm]

Ronnie Wood's autobiography. I gave up after endless pages of "I took some drugs and alcohol and had sex".

 

[Baldy]

Why is it incomprehensible?

Because I can't comprehend it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Why is it incomprehensible? It's no harder to understand than Dickens or Austen or even Dylan Thomas.

It's harder than Dylan Thomas! (Well, maybe not Under Milk Wood, but pick something at random and you'll be baffled ...)

But back to Shakespeare.

On the rare occasions that I do read Shakespeare I can find it hard going, but it's not meant to be read. It's meant to be heard. In the hands of competent actors you don't have to understand the exact meaning of every last allusion and turn of phrase. In the hands of great actors it can be ... well ... great.

I'm guessing that many of us were put off Shakespeare at school. I remember we were studying Macbeth, so the teacher assigned various kids roles and, sitting at our desks, we had to read it. One lad objected to his casting. "I'm not being Banquo. He wears tights." This resulted in the playground song "Banquo and his poofy tights, doo-dah, doo-dah" that haunts me every time I see Macbeth.

 

[Moon bunny]

Still uncomprehensible stitte even if it's supposed to be beautiful language.

Shakespeare did not write any books I.e. works of fiction intended to be read, he wrote plays, intended to be brought to life by actors . (Also a few poems, also intended to be spoken aloud.)

Edit, cancel the above, Reynard has it exactly, on the other hand, “brevity is the soul of wit”.

 

[Oldhippy]

I read somewhere that a vast majority of movies regardless of genre are based on a Shakespeare story in one way or another.

 

[Dogtrousers]

My favourite screen adaptation of Shakespeare, in fact one of my favourite films, is Theatre of Blood.

But back to books ...

 

[Hover Fly]

Frank Pettigrew’s “Manual of Locomotive Engineering” 1899, gets off to a good start but lapses into pages of tedious obsolete technicalities about the thickness of boiler plate, spacing of rivets and so on.

 

[All uphill]

I'm in a book club and am amazed how differently people understand and enjoy books.

"Trust" by Hernan Diaz was a recent read. Half of our group loved it.

I was firmly in the other half.

BTW I love Lord of the Flies

 

[numbnuts]

Found a book someone left in a hotel room. Unbelievable plot, terrrible characters. Not sure it’ll ever catch on. Called The Bible.

The Bible has sold an estimated 5–7 billion copies, making it the best-selling book of all time

 

[slow horse]

Frank Pettigrew’s “Manual of Locomotive Engineering” 1899, gets off to a good start but lapses into pages of tedious obsolete technicalities about the thickness of boiler plate, spacing of rivets and so on.

Moby Dick for trainspotters?

 

[Legs]

Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard.

I don't generally read sci-fi. I think I picked this steaming pile of crap up in a phone-box library or at an AirBnB, because I thought it'd be educational. I lasted about 30 pages of it, which is at least 29.5 more than I I should have done.