s/o: What books (that you were supposed to love) did you hate? - Page 5

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Marylizah

Re: the Brontes, the only book of theirs that I've ever really loved is Jane Eyre, the others never moved me the same way. And Wuthering Heights-- gah. I wish I had back the time I spent reading that book.

Yeah, the other Brontes really piggybacked on their sister's J. E., I didn't even try Wuthering Heights after reading 75% of Villette.

[Katsmamajama]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

So I definitely need to see the musical then.

I'd give it a good shot.

[MysteryMama]

I'm sitting here with my jaw dropped reading this thread! How can anyone think Angela's Ashes is boring! Or not like The Grapes of Wrath! I also love love love The Dark Tower Series (I named my son Roland).

I hated The Memory Keepers Daughter. I felt like I was just drudging through it to get to the predictable ending. Really it was just lame all the way around. I also had a really hard time with The Sound And The Fury... I tried to read it and got part of the way through, but it was just confusing... I hardly remember anything about it, but I do recall being completely confused.

ETA: A Clockwork Orange! That was a real piece of garbage. I liked the movie, but the book was just impossible. I'm not an idiot or anything, but I read mostly for pleasure and I'm not trying to work that hard to get through a book. I read two pages and had a headache.

[baglady]

I am one of those people wo has tried on numerous occasions to read LOTR and has not made it through the first 50 pages of hobbit geneology. My DH says I need to try again. I focused my English lit credits on medieval lit, so they should be right up my alley, but eh.

Also, DaVinci Code anyone? I hated it. It came across as being written for the sole purpose of creating constrovesy to get media attention and sell books.

My husband is also constantly trying to get me into the Discworld stuff. I started one but couldn't get into it. I think I'll try another, because I really liked the writing style.

I think sometimes I don't give books a fair shot because I'm not in the mood for that type of book at the time. KWIM?

[MysteryMama]

Originally Posted by baglady

I am one of those people wo has tried on numerous occasions to read LOTR and has not made it through the first 50 pages of hobbit geneology. My DH says I need to try again. I focused my English lit credits on medieval lit, so they should be right up my alley, but eh.

Also, DaVinci Code anyone? I hated it. It came across as being written for the sole purpose of creating constrovesy to get media attention and sell books.

My husband is also constantly trying to get me into the Discworld stuff. I started one but couldn't get into it. I think I'll try another, because I really liked the writing style.

I think sometimes I don't give books a fair shot because I'm not in the mood for that type of book at the time. KWIM?

I didn't like DaVinci Code either, although I have read LOTR twice. I know what you mean about not giving a book a fair shot cause it was the wrong timing though...

[raksmama]

Originally Posted by greeny

I also pretty much dislike everything by Kingsolver. Definitely an overrated novelist.

I agree with this, but I LOVE Margaret Atwood. It sucks that the book she's most known for is The Handmaid's Tale which, in my opinion, is the worst of all her books. She has some great ones, and some fantastic short stories.
.

What! And I love Barbara Kingsolver! When I finished Poisonwood Bible I wanted to start reading it again straight away! Pigs in Heaven and Animal Dreams were good too.

I agree totally about The Handmaid's Tale.I could not get into it. The Robber bride is really good

[vermontmomma]

on the road, yeah i was into the whole beatnik scene poetry, ginsburg and such, but keroack's novels really got on my nerves.

i love handmaid's tale!

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by baglady

I am one of those people wo has tried on numerous occasions to read LOTR and has not made it through the first 50 pages of hobbit geneology.

For me, the secret to LOTR was to read the two paragraphs before and the two paragraphs after any dialog.

[Altair]

Hated:
ANY Jodi Picoult book. Wow, the ending to My Sister's Keeper has to be the worst ending of any book I've ever read.
I know myself well enough to know I'd hate Twilight.
I concur with The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Just boring.
Any Dan Brown book is a piece of crap.


LOVED:
LOTR and The Red Tent and 100 Years of Solitude. Actually, those are my favorite books in that order. The reason being reading each of them is a spiritual experince... LOTR completely envelopes me into that world. The 5 page description of a hillside or 50 page speech of Elrond just puts me into a trance. It's more meditation than reading.

And The Red Tent just connects to me at such a deep level from the first page. It just feels like the author tapped into something real and true.

[Katrinawitch]

Originally Posted by Sailor

Terry Goodkind - at one point, it seemed like everyone around me was reading him and just loving his series. I got through the first book in his Sword series, and then I couldn't do it any more. I thought it was one of the worst series ever. Too much focus on rape ... I thought the second book might be better, but no - back to more rape. Ugh.

Richard Adams for a similar reason in Maia. A lot of people recommended that book to me, and I just couldn't get past the first few chapters.

"Maia" is one of my all time favorite books! I love Richard Adams' lush, evocative style of writing; it's like being woven into a tapestry! There was quite a lot of violence, but it was a semi-barbaric society, where slavery and war were abundant, after all. I think it was just part of the story. I just loved it; the intrigue, Maia's goodness, and her quest to find Zen Kurel again.

I also loved "Watership Down", by Adams.

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

For me, the secret to LOTR was to read the two paragraphs before and the two paragraphs after any dialog.

Disc World: took me two tries at the first book, Color of Money, to get into it. I think Pratchett's writing is just plain awkward but his concepts, imagery and humor make up for it.

After reading his Bromeliad Trilogy, a kids' series, I was able to go back and enjoy Disc World. And Good Omens, which I didn't finish the first time I had a go at it.

And I love his Tiffany Aching series. I'm selfishly sad that there won't be any more of her.

So glad to see so many people dislike Wuthering Heights. I'll stick to Kate Bush's uber romantic song.

[MamaLo879]

I'm going to have to agree with not liking The Da Vinci Code, what drivel!

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by baglady

I am one of those people wo has tried on numerous occasions to read LOTR and has not made it through the first 50 pages of hobbit geneology. My DH says I need to try again. I focused my English lit credits on medieval lit, so they should be right up my alley, but eh.

While I very much enjoy LOTR, I'd suggest trying to skip over the Hobbit introductions and see how it goes from there. Tolkien had reasons for putting all that in, but it's not really essential to the rest of the books, as long as you know that:
1. Hobbits are tougher than they seem,
2. Bilbo Baggins found the one ring/stole it from Gollum,
3. Hobbits love pipeweed and eat a lot, and
4. the Shire is representative of the (near)untouched English countryside.

Okay...you're good to go. Just skip the stuff about Hobbits, and give them a whirl.

My husband is also constantly trying to get me into the Discworld stuff. I started one but couldn't get into it. I think I'll try another, because I really liked the writing style.

I love his writing style. But...I first read Pyramids years ago, and didn't like it. When I met dh, he was a Discworld fan, and he loaned me a few...including Pyramids. I read the other three, then re-read Pyramids, and found that I really enjoyed it. I think I just wasn't in the right groove. And, I don't recommend starting with any of the first three books. The series found a different direction after that, and I think it really clicked later on. I enjoy the first three reasonably well now, but I don't think they're a good place to start, honestly.

[mommaof3boz]

Eat, Pray, Love. Blech.

Every Wally Lamb book.

Jody Picoult waste of time.

Twilight holds no interest for me.

[Mary Contrary]

I liked The Pact, but I've just about given up on Jodi Picoult. Her endings drive me batty. It's like she just gets tired and, WHAM! Sudden, stupid, annoying ending. I was willing to forgive it once with My Sister's Keeper, irritating as it was, but then she did the same freaking thing to Handle With Care. Ugh. So, I'm done.

The Grapes of Wrath - I was ready to put my head through a wall halfway through this one. Hated it.

Twilight - I know this one is as hated by some as it is adored by others, but blech. Stupid, sexist crap about covers it. And the ~~**sparkles**~~! No. Just, no.

[Jenifer76]

The Outlander series. Bleh.

[GardenStream]

It almost hurts to see a few of my absolute favorite books of all time being hated by someone else.

My most hated would be:

Anything by Anne Rice, I read 4 of them and hated them all. They all had so much promise in the beginning, but never delivered. I need to like at least one character in the book I'm reading and I never like any of her characters.

LOTR- I got to page 4 and gave up. I had already seen the movies and was only slight entertained by them. TBH, all I remember is a couple guys looking for a ring and a nasty little creature running away with it.

Gap Creek, boring and a waste of my time.

[panamama]

i like this thread! (even though a few of my faves - 1,000 years of solitutde, the poisonwood bible, etc - have been listed/trashed.)

i will never understand how anyone can get through LOTR -- not a signle one. now, i did really enjoy the movie trilogy...but the books? no.way.on.earth. or even middle-earth.

one i haven't seen listed: memoirs of a geisha. i mean, it's clear he did a ton of research, and i didn't hate it, but, i don't get the hype. it was just...meh. definitely dragged and wasn't worth buying.

oh! the emperor of ocean park. OMG, so horrible. i belong to 3 book clubs and 2 of them read this pile of crap within a few months of eachother. blech!!! i grumbled through both meetings.

[Marylizah]

Originally Posted by panamama

oh! the emperor of ocean park. OMG, so horrible. i belong to 3 book clubs and 2 of them read this pile of crap within a few months of eachother. blech!!! i grumbled through both meetings.

Oh, no!! The Emperor of Ocean Park is great!! I loved both of the books I read by the author (whose name is escaping me now.... )

And I really liked Memoirs of a Geisha, too.

Dan Brown = crap, really poorly written, no interesting characters, just tons of controversial catchphrases/ issues.

Jodi Picoult is sort of in the Dan Brown camp as far as I'm concerned-- she takes ripped from the headlines controversies and turns them into novels. That said, she's a much better writer, and if I had to pick between the two I'd definitely read her.

Has anyone read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? I just finished it, and while it isn't great literature, it was definitely gripping and enjoyable.

[Viola]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Farenheit 451 - The authors writing style bugged the crap outta me.

Grapes of Wrath - Far too tedious for me.

I didn't enjoy Fahrenheit 451, but I read the whole thing. I thought it was boring. Grapes of Wrath I started it in high school and just could not get through it. I felt like there was way too much of this didactic narration where he'd go on about The Man getting knocked down and struggling and so on. But then I read it again about 10 years later and loved it and didn't feel that way at all.

The Lovely Bones and A Fine Balance were both books I got rid of after I read them. I hated them, I didn't want them in my house.

I loved the Lord of the Rings series, but I didn't read them until I was past 30. I just loved the language, how he turned a phrase.

I find lots of the Outlander series either poorly paced, tedious or too violent. I had to skip the scene at the end of the first one where Jamie got raped and tortured. I also skipped ahead in one of the later books where she tried to do this cliffhanger thing in the middle of a story line. Nope, no good, too abrupt.

I thought I would hate the Poisonwood Bible (I thought it would be like The Mosquito Coast, for some reason), but I actually liked it.

Jodi Picoult, I didn't like how she ended My Sister's Keeper, so annoyingly pat, but I took a chance and read Plain Truth and was again annoyed by the ending. It made no freaking sense.

I loved the musical Wicked and actually really enjoyed the book too. However, I don't know the musical well enough to understand how it differs from the book. Apparently there is quite a difference related to Fiyero and the Scarecrow. I've tried to read Son of a Witch but it's just too depressing and violent. And weird, but I was OK with that. I really liked Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister however.

I just read The Memory Keepers Daughter right before I read Plain Truth and I felt like the whole thing was pointless. It wasn't that compelling or interesting--at least Picoult has that going for her.

I read Wuthering Heights in 8th or 9th grade and I thought it was OK--I don't remember hating it, at least.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian and The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve---didn't care for either of those either.

My husband's contribution to this thread: anything by Harlan Ellison or Kurt Vonnegut (who he says is funny, but the writing doesn't click). But his most hated is The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. I've never heard of it.