02-16-2012, 02:45 PM | #1 |
The Night Was Moist
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Books You Couldn't Get Through
Post them here! Usually I finish every book I start, but sometimes it's so bad I can't do it. Only three come to mind:
'Chasers' by Lorenzo Carcaterra... worst dialogue ever. nothing but sports analogies 'Token of Remorse' by Michael Stone... one of the main characters is Frank Dazzler(enough said) 'The Two Towers' by JRR Tolkien... I know, I know... a mortal sin. But keeping track of the similar names drove me so nuts I couldn't concentrate on the story. any others I should avoid? |
02-16-2012, 03:40 PM | #2 |
Comic book artist
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"Moby Dick" - attempted twice. Someday I will finish it.
"Atlas Shrugged" - zero likable characters and nothing interesting happened in the first twenty or thirty percent that I read. "Don Quixote" - it was interesting for awhile, but at a certain point the language became too dense and I had no idea what was going on. |
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02-16-2012, 03:48 PM | #3 |
Omnivorous
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"Faith" by John Love - Many positive reviews, but I thought it really needed a good editor. Quit at about the 50% mark.
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02-16-2012, 04:05 PM | #4 |
Bah, humbug!
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ULYSSES by James Joyce.
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02-16-2012, 04:16 PM | #5 |
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02-16-2012, 04:23 PM | #6 |
The Night Was Moist
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oh i forgot... 'catcher in the rye' by JD Salinger
teenage angst is the worst. |
02-16-2012, 04:24 PM | #7 |
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Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny - poorly written, tedious, and confusing. If I'd read it in the 60's in a drug-induced haze, no doubt I would have found it incredibly entertaining.
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin - far too pedantic. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - annoying writing style combined with an absurd plot made this completely unreadable for me. |
02-16-2012, 04:28 PM | #8 |
Wizard
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My second reading of Lord of Light made it one of my favorites but I'll throw Deus Irae into the ring, by Zelazny & PK Dick. With that pair, how could it miss? I'm not sure if I saw the last pages both times I attempted it.
Ulysses? Ugh, agreed. |
02-16-2012, 04:36 PM | #9 |
Wizard
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War and Peace I am ashamed to admit. Tried reading it on a train trip even.
More recently Water for Elephants which seemed to push t many emotional buttons so I have put it aside for a bit. Helen |
02-16-2012, 04:53 PM | #10 |
Nameless Being
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Despite numerous attempts I could never get more than a third or so the way through Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontẽ. Upon strong reccomendations from a friend I also attempted the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake, starting with the first novel Titus Groan. She and I are still friends, but I (groan ) have ever since discounted her book recommendations. A couple of hundred pages of the depressing and simultaneously dense and incomprehensible Titus Groan was quite enough for me.
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02-16-2012, 04:57 PM | #11 |
Not scared!
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I'm afraid that I have tried many times to read Jane Austen and never get more than about 30 pages into any of her books without throwing them aside with an exasperated cry of "Is anything ever going to happen in this damn book!".
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02-16-2012, 05:02 PM | #12 |
Bah, humbug!
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02-16-2012, 05:08 PM | #13 | ||
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Quote:
Quote:
Crime and Punishment defeated me, life is too short. |
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02-16-2012, 05:30 PM | #14 |
Wizard
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Don Quixote for me, too. I barely even got started. I just couldn't find anything to get hold of, so to speak. I do intend to try again one day.
Many years ago, when I was a poor student, I used to buy cheap out-of-copyright classics from discount bookstores, and I used to buy them by weight, essentially, to make sure my money stretched as far as possible. I distinctly remember turning down the slender pamphlet that was Heart of Darkness. I read War and Peace - excellent value - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Three Musketeers, etc, and I think Don Quixote is the only one I still own. They're all free ebooks nowadays. You kids don't know you're born. Dune Messiah I have tried a couple of times, and failed to get anywhere with. I loved Dune, but this just seems to overcomplicate it. I also failed The Two Towers at my first attempt, but managed it second time round. (I still think Fellowship is the best of the three.) |
02-16-2012, 05:39 PM | #15 | |
The Night Was Moist
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