Worst book you've ever read?

[welsh dragon]

Loved it!!! One of the few big award-winners I've finished, and probably my favourite :-)

(although I'm not certain that every section works perfectly ...)

I know it was hailed as a work of genius but I have no idea how that happened.

 

[matticus]

Never tried to read any other fantasy or sci-fi books, just not my thing at all.

Another awful book I was forced to read at university was Madame Bovary

OMG, now I'm REALLY upset! This is as crazy as saying you'll never read another French author!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O

(I'll have to go ride my bike now, look what you've done ... )

 

[Psamathe]

I loved the Asimov Foundation series of books (NOT the Apple? TV series). But some of the continuation of the series in prequels by other authors (approved by the Asimov Estate) were not great and "Foundation's Fear" dire. Laboured through Foundation's Fear because it's part of a series but I probably shouldn't have.

Ian

 

[vickster]

OMG, now I'm REALLY upset! This is as crazy as saying you'll never read another French author!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O

(I'll have to go ride my bike now, look what you've done ... )

Just have no interest. Every time I watch a sci fi film
I feel I've wasted that time...takes even longer to read a book!

I haven't read another book by a French author in 30 years either!

Enjoy your ride

 

[Reynard]

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.

Exactly this ^^^

I guess I was lucky that I went to school next to the theatre which was the Royal Shakespeare Company's London (winter) base AKA The Barbican, ergo we got to see plays being performed by the best of the best. This was in the mid 1980s btw, so you're including actors like Patrick Stewart and the like.

There was also a community theatre (in a converted church) near to where I lived at the time, which concentrated largely on Shakespeare. It was cheap, fun and the plays were performed "in the round" as they were meant to be. They also did interactive workshops which were also good fun, and did a lot to de-mystify a lot of the plots.

And I also remember the plays being performed for radio (BBC Radio 3) IIRC, which was my introduction to Richard III.

When you've been given the bug, the world of Shakespeare is a fascinating place to furkle around in. And never mind all the Tudor propaganda stuffed into them. But that's a topic for a different thread!

 

[slow horse]

When you've been given the bug, the world of Shakespeare is a fascinating place to furkle around in.

<Makes mental note to use "furkle" more often>

 

[Reynard]

There is some amazingly well written, or simply very creative fan fiction to be found amongst all the quite frankly odd smut.

Two that stood out for me were:

• A story that took the final scene of The Force Awakens as a start point and imagined what might unfold on the island between Luke, Rey and Kylo from the point of view of the Porgs. In my opinion it was a much better story than Disney managed to cobble together.
• An imagined conversation between various musical instruments in Kraftwerk's Kling Klang studio in Dusseldorf.

Oh yes... There's definitely some odd stuff out there. But some brilliant ones as well.

One of my stand out story is a Picard and Crusher-centric Star Trek TNG piece titled 2011. I can't remember the author, but it's well worth a few evenings of your time. As is the Babylon 5 fanfic "A Dark and Distorted Mirror". There are some excellent Harry Potter ones as well, plus a tolerably good "seventh book" of the Children of the Earth series". There is an "eighth book" written by someone else, which is, quite frankly dire.

The trick is finding the gems among the drivel.

 

[kapelmuur]

The majority of books listed here I've greatly enjoyed which is rather dispiriting.

It's like when I recommended Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander series to a friend. His response after reading one of them, "it's OK if you like to read about ropes and knots".

 

[All uphill]

I had a similar experience when I recommended CS Forester's Hornblower series.

 

[robjh]

The catcher in the rye, was pity dreadful. Was forced to read it at school, no idea why. Wolfhall, must also be up there as the worst book ever written.

I made myself read Catcher in the Rye in my late teens, thinking that a book with such an iconic status had to be somehow meaningful. I remember it as about a spoilt self-obsessed overprivileged brat whinging. And it didn't help that I had little idea what a catcher or rye were.

 

[Dirk]

I've read it in the original German.

Barking mad.

I've read Mein Kampf twice, to try to make sense of it and get an understanding of the events that resulted in WW2.
Like wading through glue each time.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I've read Mein Kampf twice, to try to make sense of it and get an understanding of the events that resulted in WW2.
Like wading through glue each time.

Don't knock it - It was a best seller.

Although taking over an entire country and forcing everyone to buy your book isn't a marketing strategy that will work for everyone.

 

[Reynard]

Don't knock it - It was a best seller.

Although taking over an entire country and forcing everyone to buy your book isn't a marketing strategy that will work for everyone.

I believe every newly-married couple were given a copy as a gift from the state.

 

[Baldy]

I believe every newly-married couple were given a copy as a gift from the state.

How romantic!

 

[Gillstay]

An American glowingly told me about `Lonesome Dove' a western best seller. It was long, boring and shite.