Worst/Overrated books.

[RockMuncher]

I had to read The Handmaid's Tale twice, for two different high schools, and my hatred of it knows no bounds.

I'm not sure why it garners such great reviews... maybe dystopic future worlds full of rape were fashionable at the time... maybe people read it as a deep commentary on feminism or religious oppression... maybe everyone was huffing paint fumes and mainlining cocaine for too long in the mid-80s. I don't care. It manages to be simultaneously boring and horrifying in a way I can't really describe.

I don't know why two separate high schools were forcing kids to read this... but by god it made me cautious of ever reading future dystopia style fiction again.

[telkanuru]

I have nothing but contempt for Sula by Toni Morrison.

This thread has also brought back memories of being beaten about the head by Hawthorne and his Symbolism Stick ("Hey guys! Guys! It's an ANALOGY! No, for serious! See! See! It's a reference to the FALL! Yes, really!"). My paper for my Junior HS English course for the Scarlet letter was as follows:

The Scarlet Letter is an analogy for the Human Condition (pp. 37-214).

God I hate that book.

The Anead was good in parts, but Virgil can't hold a candle next to Catullus or Ovid, or even Cicero. Especially in the Latin.

[zenten]

I had to read The Handmaid's Tale twice, for two different high schools, and my hatred of it knows no bounds.

I'm not sure why it garners such great reviews... maybe dystopic future worlds full of rape were fashionable at the time... maybe people read it as a deep commentary on feminism or religious oppression... maybe everyone was huffing paint fumes and mainlining cocaine for too long in the mid-80s. I don't care. It manages to be simultaneously boring and horrifying in a way I can't really describe.

I don't know why two separate high schools were forcing kids to read this... but by god it made me cautious of ever reading future dystopia style fiction again.

Are you Canadian? If you are, it's because she's sold a lot of books, and the Canadian government at all levels is desperate for Cancon.

If you're not, then I would like to apologize on my country's behalf.

[RockMuncher]

Are you Canadian? If you are, it's because she's sold a lot of books, and the Canadian government at all levels is desperate for Cancon.

If you're not, then I would like to apologize on my country's behalf.

I am Canadian... I somehow missed her 'fame' as an author before being subjected to her book. I still contend to this day that she had/has an unhealthy fixation on rape. When I think of all the books we could have read instead, I cringe at our educational system.

[Victorkm]

I had to read The Handmaid's Tale twice, for two different high schools, and my hatred of it knows no bounds.

I always liked The Canterbury Tales.

[gmalivuk]

I like when people talk about LotR as allegorical or somesuch, when Tolkien pretty specifically said it wasn't supposed to allude to anything in particular. He wrote it as a Hero's Tale kind of set with an old-Englishy feeling, partly because he lamented the lack of truly English myths.

Interestingly, while a lot of people draw parallels between LotR and WWII, I found it far more remeniscent of Herodotus and other accounts of the wars between Greece and Persia. And rereading LotR a couple months ago has made me want to pick up the Histories again, since I read that the first time for a class and thus didn't like it as much as I probably could if I read it for fun.

[Amicitia]

LotR...remeniscent[sic]

That's the word I was looking for! I think there's an extent where one tries to allude too far and too often. Maybe that tree...is a tree!

[telkanuru]

I like when people talk about LotR as allegorical or somesuch, when Tolkien pretty specifically said it wasn't supposed to allude to anything in particular.

Tolkien's Introduction to the 2nd printing of LotR is possibly the most damning criticizim of conventional literary analysis I know. It makes me very happy.

[gmalivuk]

No mention of Dan Brown.

True Story: I thought my web browser's search functionality was broken because I couldn't find "dan brown" or "Vinci" in the first two pages of the thread.

Probably others didn't bring it up for the same reason I didn't: too easy and obvious.

[Pause]

Late to the party, but throw in another vote for The Catcher in the Rye. Perhaps I came to it too late in life, but it's just so damn dull. Some kid, who I don't care about, does some stuff neither of us care about. Then, nothing happens. The End.

[Saturn]

Pride and Prejudice. Ugh, just ugh. I'm not a fan of a romance novel, especially one that was written exactly like a soap opera.

I could form a more valid argument if 'twere not late and if I were not so tired.

OH CHRIST LET THAT CRAP BURN.

[arbivark]

Confederacy of Dunces. I'd heard such good things, and hated it so much, couldn't finish it.

Re lord of the flies: the movie version, the first one, is pretty good.
Re catcher in the rye. it was ok. i don't get why it's so hyped, compared to the other books in the series: raise high the roofbeam carpenters, franny and zoey, etc. i did like the role it played in Gibson's "Conspiracy Theory".
Re asimov's foundation: it's a retelling of european history, so i've heard.
i don't mind asimov writing wooden characters in the 30s and 40s - pournell was still writing that way in the 70s and 80s. not that i mind, but i notice.
Tequila Mockingbird

Ingredients:
- 2 oz Tequila
- 1/2 oz Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Creme de Menthe (white) - Glassware: Cocktail Glass
Shake both the ingredients in a shaker with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Ok that does sound pretty bad.
1984? Liked it, but I want to go back and read the rest of Orwell some time. Down and Out in Paris and London was really powerful.

[Flying Betty]

I love how the first two topics in this form are, in order, "Worst/overrated books" and "Ayn Rand".

I have to agree about "A Confederacy of Dunces". I had a stranger stop me in the airport when I was reading it and tell me that it was his favorite book in the world and that it was so hilarious but all it was was obnoxious people getting into stupid situations, and not in a particularly funny way.

[davis]

Late to the party, but throw in another vote for The Catcher in the Rye. Perhaps I came to it too late in life, but it's just so damn dull. Some kid, who I don't care about, does some stuff neither of us care about. Then, nothing happens. The End.

But, I didn't think the kid I don't care about doing things neither of us caring about, until nothing happens, was dull. I found it very engaging. After I finished the book I read it again, but I only got about halfway through the second time because there's really no reason to do that.

[podbaydoor]

It was dull for me because nothing happened. I kept waiting and waiting for rising action and a climactic event or something, anything, to happen. There wasn't anything to hold my attention at all (other than the threat of chapter quizzes in English III).

[rxninja]

Wasn't Herodotus's "Histories" intended to be completely a book of lies?

My vote goes for "The Old Man and the Sea" or pretty much anything else by Ernest Hemingway. His writing style always struck me as really boring and never captured my interest at all.

[Axman]

Don't fuck with Hemingway, he'll cut you.

[rxninja]

I ain't afraid of no zombie Hemingway.

[dumbclown]

It's my opinion that Fight Club is modern literature and will be taught as such one day.

Also, why would any parents be mad at that? I mean, so a girl hasn't been fucked in a certain way since grade school. Big deal.

I don't think they would get mad as she doesn't say this in the book. The filth that comes out of her mouth is “I want to have your abortionâ€

[Belial]

The way I heard it was that David Fincher wanted to keep "I want to have your abortion" but somebody asked him to change it to "something....*anything* else" and so he changed it to "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school".

And they begged him to change it back. And he was all "Nope. You asked me to change it. Cope."

Another funny story associated with that line: Helena Bonham Carter, the actress who played Marla, is, of course, British. So at the time she said the line, she didn't know what "grade school" was. She assumed that it was high school.

When informed, later, that it was elementary school, she fainted.

[Malice]

The way I heard it was that David Fincher wanted to keep "I want to have your abortion" but somebody asked him to change it to "something....*anything* else" and so he changed it to "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school".

And they begged him to change it back. And he was all "Nope. You asked me to change it. Cope."

That's what he says on the commentary.

Hadn't heard the other story, though. That's pretty awesome.

[Amicitia]

I really thing that War and Peace is overrated.

[bbctol]

I just reread The Maltese Falcon, and found it to be poorly written and predictable. Oh well.

[dumbclown]

The way I heard it was that David Fincher wanted to keep "I want to have your abortion" but somebody asked him to change it to "something....*anything* else" and so he changed it to "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school".

And they begged him to change it back. And he was all "Nope. You asked me to change it. Cope."

That's what he says on the commentary.

Hadn't heard the other story, though. That's pretty awesome.

Ha ha there we go. I always thought it was because having an abortion was worse then getting fucked in grade school.

[davis]

It was dull for me because nothing happened. I kept waiting and waiting for rising action and a climactic event or something, anything, to happen. There wasn't anything to hold my attention at all (other than the threat of chapter quizzes in English III).

Well, there's your problem then.

I ain't afraid of no zombie Hemingway.

Well that's not particularly bright, is it?

[rxninja]

I ain't afraid of no zombie Hemingway.

Well that's not particularly bright, is it?

Someone's humor radar must be malfunctioning.

[davis]

Someone's humor radar must be malfunctioning.

That's a somewhat unusual response to "you should be afraid of zombie Hemingway", but alright. I trust your judgement.

[Cai]

lawl did anyone say the Bible yet?

Anyway, I really hated Jane Eyre. Hated it. HATED IT.

[Malice]

I just reread The Maltese Falcon, and found it to be poorly written and predictable. Oh well.

Really? Awww, shucks. I just started a Dashiell Hammett kick.

This is just a guess, but maybe it's predictable because Hammett invented half the American detective story?

[notyouravgjoel]

lawl did anyone say the Bible yet?

Anyway, I really hated Jane Eyre. Hated it. HATED IT.

I didn't really like Jane Eyre too much from high school english, but it didn't seem that bad.

Someone mentioned Pride and Prejudice. I loved that book. The language character interaction were so inspired; I used to regularly quote something that Elizabeth said at the beginning of the book, but I don't remember it anymore.

[grythyttan]

Frankenstein, well it was one thing in it that made me go "wait...what?" and that really made the restof the book sound stupider.
The thing was this: the monster had chased frankenstein to a mountain, it then confronted him in a dramatic scene. Suddenly they start talking in a way that sounds even older than the language alrady used in the book, like they were reciting some old poetry or something.

it was like riding a rollercoaster that suddenly stops at the top of an almost vertical fall, slowly moves down and then continuse like nothing happened.

[bigglesworth]

I think that Pride and Prejudice was a good book, but still deserved to be burned because it put back women's literature for 50 years ( or so i heard somewhere; basically the premise is that publishers wouldn't publish books by women if it wasn't as has been mentioned, like a soap opera)

[Amicitia]

Frankenstein, well it was one thing in it that made me go "wait...what?" and that really made the restof the book sound stupider.
The thing was this: the monster had chased frankenstein to a mountain, it then confronted him in a dramatic scene. Suddenly they start talking in a way that sounds even older than the language alrady used in the book, like they were reciting some old poetry or something.

it was like riding a rollercoaster that suddenly stops at the top of an almost vertical fall, slowly moves down and then continuse like nothing happened.

And she can't write.

[scowdich]

Speaking of The Maltese Falcon, some literary critic (the name escapes me) typed up a copy of it, verbatim, retitled it, and submitted his "new" manuscript to some 20 publishers. They all rejected it.

As far as worst books...hmm. Moby Dick and Foundation have both proven to be the only books (ever) to be too dense for me to enjoy properly, or even finish.

[b.i.o]

As far as worst books...hmm. Moby Dick and Foundation have both proven to be the only books (ever) to be too dense for me to enjoy properly, or even finish.

I'm not sure how you consider Foundation to be even close to as dense as Moby Dick...

[arbivark]

I really thing that War and Peace is overrated.

I bought Banksy's "Wall and Piece" recently at Wooden Shoe Books in Philly,
mostly because this is the first time I've been there with money to spend.
I was unpacking it from the car today when i stopped, laughed, "Wall and Piece", ok i get it now.

[Angelene]

Ahhh, I have Confederacy of Dunces on my 'to read' pile, now I don't reckon it'll ever be opened.

I finally got to The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle last week, after much insistence that I read and love it...600 pages of beautifully written nonsense. I'll read another of his books, to give him the benefit of the doubt, because I do like the style of his writing, but the chronicle did nothing but disappoint me.

Also, I've never understood all the fuss with Bret Easton-Ellis, I've read most of his books, and none of them made an overly positive impression on me.

[Malice]

Also, I've never understood all the fuss with Bret Easton-Ellis, I've read most of his books, and none of them made an overly positive impression on me.

If you haven't yet, read Lunar Park. It's his absolute best--he basically takes his high-powered vision and points it at himself, to fantastic result. It's ultimately a far more mature and heartfelt book than anything he's written before, and it gives you a great deal of insight into the man and his work.

[Angelene]

Lunar Park is one of the only ones, if not indeed the only one that I haven't read. I'll bear it in mind when next bookshop browsing, thanks.

Also, did someone really mention Jane Eyre in here? For shame. How and ever, Great Expectations is a chore.

[justinpizza]

My vote is for Heart of Darkness.

It's a great book, with lots of interesting facets to discuss and contemplate. However, reading it is like trudging through quicksand.