Worst Book(s) You Ever Read?

[Nyssa]

I liked The Unsuspecting Mage, despite its many typos. I took the story for it was, a fantasy novel based on a D&D campaign. I like(d) D&D so I was able to enjoy the story.

[richvalle]

The Riftwar books seemed to be based on a DnD game as well but those were good (to me). I wonder if I'd like "The Unsuspecting Mage" since I like DnD too. At least I'd go into it knowing what it was.

rv

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I liked The Unsuspecting Mage, despite its many typos.

Talk about damning with faint praise.

"Three in a Barn had some tender moments amid the hen fondling and boar-specific bestiality."

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

I liked The Unsuspecting Mage, despite its many typos. I took the story for it was, a fantasy novel based on a D&D campaign. I like(d) D&D so I was able to enjoy the story.

The Unsuspecting Mage made the weakest Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books I read as a kid look like fine literature.

I'm not talking Weis & Hickman or Salvatore, or the other decent authors. Whom I generally still enjoy a lot. I mean those random novels by nobody authors. Even those are way better

Look, I've got Boo the miniature giant space hamster as an avatar. I like D&D plenty. But....ugh...it was really terrible.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

The Unsuspecting Mage made the weakest Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books I read as a kid look like fine literature.

I'm not talking Weis & Hickman or Salvatore, or the other decent authors. Whom I generally still enjoy a lot. I mean those random novels by nobody authors. Even those are way better

Look, I've got Boo the miniature giant space hamster as an avatar. I like D&D plenty. But....ugh...it was really terrible.

I'll have to take your word on it as I've never read any of them and therefore have no comment to make on comparisons.

[Salgueiros]

I once was offered a book by a friend that assured me that was great. That book was Celetine Prophecy by James Redfeld and i am out of words to express how bad that piece of utter rubbish was... I NEVER leave a book i started reading halfway but this piece of trash was too much for me. Never had i seen so much inanity put together in printed paper sheets (i had no ereader back then).

I still think today what the heck was that friend of mine thinking....

[richvalle]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

[i]Look, I've got Boo the miniature giant space hamster as an avatar. I like D&D plenty. But....ugh...it was really terrible.

Boo!!!!! Man, that took me back.

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

I once was offered a book by a friend that assured me that was great. That book was Celetine Prophecy by James Redfeld and i am out of words to express how bad that piece of utter rubbish was... I NEVER leave a book i started reading halfway but this piece of trash was too much for me. Never had i seen so much inanity put together in printed paper sheets (i had no ereader back then).

I still think today what the heck was that friend of mine thinking....

Hmmm, that's an idea. Take the worst book from this thread and bring it to a friend as a GREAT book and see how far he gets into it before giving up.

[Noah98]

Just off the top of my head:

Heart of Darkness (I teach literature, and I still can't stand it. Maybe some dialogue would have helped)
As I lay Dying (Makes me want to vomit)
The Silmarillian (Loved The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Bored to death of this one)
The DaVinci Code (Couldn't get past the second chapter. Interesting story, but the writing style just didn't appeal to me)

[Ziguezon]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

I once was offered a book by a friend that assured me that was great. That book was Celetine Prophecy by James Redfeld and i am out of words to express how bad that piece of utter rubbish was... I NEVER leave a book i started reading halfway but this piece of trash was too much for me. Never had i seen so much inanity put together in printed paper sheets (i had no ereader back then).

I still think today what the heck was that friend of mine thinking....

I was also duped by a friend into reading the Celestine Prophecy. I regretfully stuck with it until the end. It really made me wonder how such a badly written book could remain on the bestsellers list for so long. Oh well, to each his/her own.

[simplyparticular]

Eat, Pray, Love - I got almost halfway through the book and couldn't stomach any more of her rambling self-obsession.

[Shimarenda]

I disliked Madame Bovary enough that I stopped reading it after a couple of chapters even though I was required to read it for a discussion class. Not only was it dull, but the characters were hateful.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by Shimarenda

I disliked Madame Bovary enough that I stopped reading it after a couple of chapters even though I was required to read it for a discussion class. Not only was it dull, but the characters were hateful.

I've not tackled Madame Bovary, but that was pretty much my experience with Henry James' The Golden Bowl.

[orlok]

I think the worst book ever for me was "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy. I had to read this for my A Level English exam (University entrance qualifications), and I hated it so much I gave up after three tries. As a result I could only answer two of the three questions in the exam (still passed, though )

[cearbhallain]

Originally Posted by Salgueiros

I once was offered a book by a friend that assured me that was great. That book was Celetine Prophecy by James Redfeld and i am out of words to express how bad that piece of utter rubbish was... I NEVER leave a book i started reading halfway but this piece of trash was too much for me. Never had i seen so much inanity put together in printed paper sheets (i had no ereader back then).

I still think today what the heck was that friend of mine thinking....

Funny I had that same experience, only the book was _The Notebook_.

[cearbhallain]

Originally Posted by Shimarenda

I disliked Madame Bovary enough that I stopped reading it after a couple of chapters even though I was required to read it for a discussion class. Not only was it dull, but the characters were hateful.

I read it during my year in Seattle (husbeast was in graduate school and I'm agoraphobic) when I undertook to read some "classics". I thought it was very misogynistic, but maybe the author was trying to say something about cultural expectations in general and not unrealistic feminine expectations in particular.