Books You Hated

I see topics on different forums asking people what books they love the most. I'm looking for people to tell me what books they absolutely hated, could not get through, got through and were pissed that they bothered... etc That kind of thing.

What books did you hate? Why? 

And I'm going to start:

I hated The Great Gatsby. I read often and it normally takes me only a few days to get through a book. This book, I was trudging through at a snails pace. I will never read another F. Scott Fitzgerald book again because of this. 

The worst book I ever read was Breach of Promise by Perri O'Shaughnessy.  I picked it up because it took place in Lake Tahoe, so I was curious.  I felt like I could write a better legal thriller if I had two weeks and a few bottles of wine.  New career, maybe?

Anyway, worst book ever.

I hated Mrs. Dalloway. I think it's by Virginia Woolf. The whole stream of conciousness thing kills me. I understand everybody thinks of multiple things at once, but reading it is WAAAY different. There's a reason why books are edited! The fact that it was about her buying flowers for a party made me mad.

Not the worst book ever. But a complete waste of my time. I couldn't get past half the book.

The Erasers by Alain Robbe-Gillet.  Couldn't stand it.

I think reading "The Old Man and the Sea" over and over again, or even just once, would be an particularly egregious punishment in one of the circles of hell in "The Inferno."

I found it to be boring and pointless.

I also didn't care for Fitzgerald, but I would have read every last word of his stuff if I could have avoided Hemmingway.

I hated The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.  From all the glowing reviews it received from critics, publishers, the general public...and...Oprah, I was expecting a lot more, but it was such a predictable soap opera with over-dramatized scenes, cliches, and bad writing that I could care less what happened to the characters. 

Catcher in the Rye stunk.  And the biggest literary disappointment ever for me, On the Road.  I'd have locked myself in my mother's house too if I were Kerouac, turning out that pile of rubbish- ah, I mean that great modern classic.

Original Post by go_lucky:

Catcher in the Rye stunk.  And the biggest literary disappointment ever for me, On the Road.  I'd have locked myself in my mother's house too if I were Kerouac, turning out that pile of rubbish- ah, I mean that great modern classic.

 I see someone beat me to my answer.  Hated it, boring alcoholic ramblings.

Original Post by rebepi:

I hated The Great Gatsby. I read often and it normally takes me only a few days to get through a book. This book, I was trudging through at a snails pace. I will never read another F. Scott Fitzgerald book again because of this. 

wow.  i adore fitzgerald, and especially gatsby.

i hated moby dick and she's come undone, among many others that were supposed to be good.

Original Post by go_lucky:

Catcher in the Rye stunk.  And the biggest literary disappointment ever for me, On the Road.  I'd have locked myself in my mother's house too if I were Kerouac, turning out that pile of rubbish- ah, I mean that great modern classic.

 Noooo! Not Catcher in the Rye!

Original Post by go_lucky:

Catcher in the Rye stunk.  And the biggest literary disappointment ever for me, On the Road.  I'd have locked myself in my mother's house too if I were Kerouac, turning out that pile of rubbish- ah, I mean that great modern classic.

 Noooo! Not Catcher in the Rye!

I loved "The Kite Runner". However... "The Road" (Cormac McCarthy) I haven't been able to finish and I'm reading Salman Rushdie's "Haroun and the Sea of Stories"... I haven't picked it up in 3 weeks because it annoys me. That said, I always force myself to finish a book.

And I loved Gatsby.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was the most boring book I have ever read in my life.  Text books are more interesting.  Even the characters in the story were bored.  Great premise but I was miserable while reading it.

Wuthering Heights - I thought everyone in that book acted like a complete idiot. I hated it. 

Also, Great Expectations. I must've tried on 4 separate occasions. It just didn't suck me in, and I got bored of it within the first few pages. 

The Kite Runner and The Great Gatsby were fine. Though I agree that Kite Runner is slightly overrated. 

Blindness...couldn't get over the lack of paragraphs, etc. 

the bible.......

i thought of two more: tuesdays with morrie and the five people you meet in heaven.  i'm sorry - were those supposed to be profound?

Going to agree with the Bible. Certain parts are poetic and beautiful (esp. psalms) but its mostly boring historical accounts of long-dead civilizations mixed with magical happenings and what-not-to-dos. Plus, lots of death, genocide and rape. Kind of a downer.

I was super disappointed with The life of Pi. Same reasons as the Bible. Partly poetic and beautiful, but mostly depressing and gruesome. Plus what was with that floating island of Meerkats??? I guess the symbolism went over my little unsophisticated head.

Oh! And Lord of the Flies --> blech. I know humans are mean to each other; I know people will form cliques and pick on the outsiders. But seriously, being made to read this book WHILE in high school is just completely redundant. Haha.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT....

oh my goodness... i was supposed to read this book in high school. it's like 300 pages... about 80 are the crime... the rest is punishment (mental/self/guilt) and it's Russian... i stopped after about 100 pages.

Original Post by jewelsmcblah:

The Picture of Dorian Gray was the most boring book I have ever read in my life.  Text books are more interesting.  Even the characters in the story were bored.  Great premise but I was miserable while reading it.

 I second it!