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? 

There are so many good books listed in this thread!

Twilight is perhaps the worst book I have ever read, worse even than Flowers in the Attic and that series reeks big time!

Original Post by shapeshifter:

Beowulf! ugh! 10th grade sucked because of it! they made us read it year long and do reports on it... 

How can you not love something that starts so beautifully:

Hwæt! We Gardena         in geardagum, 
þeodcyninga,         þrym gefrunon, 
hu ða æþelingas         ellen fremedon. 
Oft Scyld Scefing         sceaþena þreatum, 

monegum mægþum,         meodosetla ofteah, 
egsode eorlas.         Syððan ærest wearð 
feasceaft funden,         he þæs frofre gebad, 
weox under wolcnum,         weorðmyndum þah, 
oðþæt him æghwylc         þara ymbsittendra 

The Handmaid's Tale is the single worst book I have ever read. I can't stand it.

huh.  i love the handmaid's tale.  i pretty much love all of atwood's novels.  her poetry, not so much.

Hi all, I didn't read Dorian Gray but loved the movie and play.

Boring Readings- The 8 weeks of Shakepeare I'm reading for class right now and that is what I should be doing right now. 8,000 word paper due on Hamlet and I need to read Orthello and do a paper by tomorrow. Surely something better has been written since the 1600's .  Boring!

oh my.  i don't think i can read this thread anymore.

gypsie, in your paper, make sure you spell Othello correctly, okay?

edit: why on earth would you take a shakespeare course if you hate shakespeare?  i hope medved doesn't read that.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

oh my.  i don't think i can read this thread anymore.

 

I think I may be with you, pg.  Writing a paper on Hamlet my senior year of high school was probably the most enjoyable time I had with a project outside of physics and chemistry class.  But then, I gave myself more than 24 hours to do it.

"Surely something better has been written since the 1600's."

Um, pretty much only a few things even come close.  That statement is slightly distressing, but I guess everyone has their preferences.

I read Hitler's Mein Kampf to better understand what happened in the guy's mind and how disturbed he was and... gosh, it took me 6 months to finish it and the only thing I learn was that in addition to be totally nuts, he was the worst writer ever. 

Original Post by santonacci:

I think I may be with you, pg.  Writing a paper on Hamlet my senior year of high school was probably the most enjoyable time I had with a project outside of physics and chemistry class.  But then, I gave myself more than 24 hours to do it.

yeah, i learned to love him in high school, too; was lucky enough to have a couple of truly brilliant lit teachers (one of whom offered us the possibility of reading R&J as a comedy: joy!). 

and my shakespeare course was probably my favourite class in my undergrad. 

i don't see how anyone can deny the genius of a guy whose works are still being translated to film on a regular basis 400 years later.  clearly he had an insight into human nature that kick's freud, jung, and maslow's asses.  and i love maslow.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

  i hope medved doesn't read that.

Oh, but I did.  Maybe I should just go back to bed.  

I only wish I had fun writing English papers in high school...I might have ended up liking it. Unfortunately, we were always tied to a strict essay formula to enhance our AP scores, so we never got around to really writing anything, only analyzing authors' tones in a five-paragraph format. It was a PITA.

My senior English teacher once made a kid cry b/c he wrote the conclusion instead of a body paragraph due to time contraints. Yeah. Like I said, strict formula. 

I love reading, and I enjoyed most of the books they made us read in high school, but the two that I HATED were The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway = ugh) and Wuthering Heights (which my mother and teacher collaborated to force me to read as an "independent study").

Original Post by sauvignon:

... so we never got around to really writing anything, only analyzing authors' tones in a five-paragraph format. It was a PITA.

Seriously?  That sucks.  In middle school we were introduced to the 5 paragraph format only to introduce us to formal paper writing.  When I got to high school every AP english teacher I had scrapped it.

Original Post by susiecue:

I love reading, and I enjoyed most of the books they made us read in high school, but the two that I HATED were The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway = ugh) ....

I think there should a recovery support group.  I'm still slightly resentful against Mrs. Nicholson for subjecting me to that.

Original Post by santonacci: Seriously?  That sucks.  In middle school we were introduced to the 5 paragraph format only to introduce us to formal paper writing.  When I got to high school every AP english teacher I had scrapped it.

Yes, there was some serious brainwashing of our English teachers. They all terrorized the students into The Formula (as well as memorizing a giant list of tones...which was...really, beyond ridiculous) and bit off our heads when we stepped away from The Formula.

i didn't hate the old man but i didn't read it until university.  i actually love some hemingway: the sun also rises  is one of my all-time favourites.

some of the high-school required reading definitely contributes to the problem, though.  we read julius caesar in grade 8; now that's a good way to turn kids against shakespeare.

This thread makes me a bit sad...

How can you not like The Handmaid's Tale? And Grapes of Wrath? Sniff.

To the person that inserted the start of Beowulf in here: good work! I love Old English, took a module in it as an undergrad but I am rather poor at it. Sigh.

Anyway, I tend to force myself to read books even if I'm not liking them that much, but the one I remember hating the most is The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. Pure trash. Oh, and I couldn't make it through The Fountainhead, either, but I don't think I missed out on much.

Don't worry Pgeorgian, I'll spell "Othello" correct, I'm an Education major with a 3.9 GPA. I just thought maybe I could post on here without having to worry about being perfect. That is why I stopped posting on here for 8 months.  Guess I was wrong, nothing has changed. Please excuse my mistake, I don't have much time to be on here and have to hurry. This is my first free day in weeks. Sorry to hurt your senitive nature, maybe if mistakes bother you that much, you shouldn't read the threads.

I take it because it's a required course for my masters.  

See you next year, everytime I get on here there is someone that gets off with being mean.

Original Post by girlplurality:

 Oh, and I couldn't make it through The Fountainhead, either, but I don't think I missed out on much.

Me either! I also find it a bit telling that when people speak of Rand they talk about her philosophical views (which I don't quite care for), but never really about her storytelling or characters or any of the usual literary stuff.

I loved every single book they made me read in school. :o

I'm currently reading The Reader and I'm a little over half way (into part 2) and it's very hard to keep going. =/