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Old 04-24-2008, 10:57 PM   #31
montsnmags
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#1 -Cannot say. Never read it.
#2 - I agree
#3 - Cannot say. Never read it.
#4 - Cannot say. Never read it.
#5 - Some are not all that wonderful and some I really enjoyed. So overall, I cannot agree.
#6 - Should be the #1 worst book. It was a good idea that was horribly executed.
#7 - Cannot say. Never read it.
#8 - I've read up to #9 and I did enjoy it. But life got int he way and I never did get to #10. So I disagree.
#9 - I really enjoyed that. But disagreement there.
#10 - Have yet to read that so I cannot comment just yet.
Ahh, Jon, that's precisely the kind of response I'd hoped for, and I suspect Dr. Drib had in mind too - personal disagreement rather than "You're wrong because that author has sold gajillions of books". I cannot argue, though I can disagree. As you also imply, it's a personal view of the worst books, and it's always enjoyable to read everyone's especially when they go against the grain (like Planet Head's/Taylor514ce's "Dune" Amazon search - his circuits must be crazy! ).

I would like to see your top 10 though (note that I say "in no particular order", so I agree with your comments about my number 6 ). Try be brief (that's a joke, right. See, you're always brief and...I'll just shut up now)

Cheers,
Marc
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Old 04-25-2008, 02:36 AM   #32
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So many bad books....So little napalm....<sigh>

If you want to try Hubard's S/F at it's best, read Final Blackout. It was highly acclaimed in the S/F community at the time of publication, 60+ years ago. Still a good (albeit dark) yarn. (and only 60,00 words!)

Personally, I'd throw Kate Wilhelm's When Late The Sweet Birds Sang on the pyre...
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Old 04-25-2008, 04:04 AM   #33
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One that almost took a tear from me... of anger that is, "Rendezvous with Rama" from Arthur C Clarke. The first tome starts well and ends after mostly nothing happens but enough to lure you into a second book, angering you further still. What a waste of time. Two smileys out of ten.

The other nine are in an other language that does not interest most of you and I won't go there.
Complety agree, all the back story just anayed me. the exploration parst of the books were pretty good but then there would be four chapters about

::spoiler::
whats her names youth and her relationship with the king, father, her dauther or the boy who cleaned her table at lunch one day in the summer of bla bla.

Rendezvous with Rama is still one of my favorite books though
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Old 04-25-2008, 04:37 AM   #34
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I like Battlefield Earth, myself -- the book, not the movie which bore only fraudulent resemblance to it.
Me too. I liked the book but not the movie. I remember my friend in Israel told me once(about the movie): our best guys spend 3 years in Air Force to learn to fly F-16 and these apes who could not read learned it in a few weeks/months?

I also really liked The Da Vinci Code

Anyway, here is my list:

1. Any Russian classics (Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, L.Tolstoy, Sholohov, Gogol, Maksim Gorky, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov).....argh....

2. Thomas Covenant Series by Stephen Donaldson

3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

4. The Earthsea by Ursula Le Guine

5. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

6. The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings

7. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

8. The Soddit by Adam Roberts

9. The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami
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Old 04-25-2008, 05:02 AM   #35
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However, a think all eleven of Hubbard's "Mission Earth" series ought to be among the worst books ever written. If you can make it through the whole thing, you're clearly one extremely sick puppy ... and not in a good way.

I only made it through the first two, and that was because of a school assignment, if I'd realized what toxic waste it was early enough I'd've probably chosen a different author to write that paper on. Truly ghastly stuff.
I'm pretty sure that Hubbard did not write those, even though they have his name of the cover. He was a good - perhaps even great - SF author. I can't see him turning out crap like that.
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Old 04-25-2008, 05:05 AM   #36
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No one has mentioned Jeffrey Archer yet, so I will.
I can't stand the noble Lord Archer as a person, but I do actually think that he's a good author. I've read many of his books and enjoyed them all.
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Old 04-25-2008, 05:07 AM   #37
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6. The Redemption of Althalus by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings
Arrrrgggghhhh! One of the greatest books ever written. How can you possibly say that! My favourite book by one of my favourite authors. He and Charles Dickens are truly the "masters" of English literature!
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Old 04-25-2008, 05:54 AM   #38
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Arrrrgggghhhh! One of the greatest books ever written. How can you possibly say that! My favourite book by one of my favourite authors. He and Charles Dickens are truly the "masters" of English literature!
Is not he American?
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:06 AM   #39
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I still think The DaVinci code is the most terrible book I have ever read.
I don't think it's the worst book, but I would agree it's one of the most overrated !!
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:09 AM   #40
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How can we be at page three in this list without having mentioned Norman Mailer? I once tried to read Ancient Evenings a big unbearable lump of a book set in Ancient Egypt. It infuriated me so much I ended up throwing the book at the wall - and dislodged a sizeable chunk of plaster as a result.
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:10 AM   #41
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10. Anything Cthulhu Mythos (by H.P. Lovecraft)

Insanity, doom, dread, horror...bollocks! I've done scarier craps.
yes.youve surely done worse things then crushing a newborns head against a stone.

Sorry,but that just shows your lack of knowledge/inteligence.If you don't like it,fine,but im afraid you haven't the right to say its "the worst".Actualy,the wery idea of this thread is biased and will lead only into conflict,cause someone, who has barely even read something will go on bloody hell for being it "such crap".

Mr. whatever your name is,Dunsany,Chambers,Howard,Smith,Merritt-writers who (except of Chambers) all acknowledged Lovecraft.Writers of "modern" horor,like Gaiman,Barker or even King say what a master he is.So if EVERY single authority on horror says it IS good,youre qualified to judge-what?How many sucesfull world spaning books/stories have you writen till today?

(sorry for the angry tone,but this is just a syndrom of "tardness",like I had the misfortune of meeting at NF-people saying "Ive never read it,but its sh*t")
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:23 AM   #42
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A bad book, for me, is one I can't bring myself to continue reading.
It's similar to my taste in movies, I am quite easy to please, yet I believe in myself being able to differentiate between really good, okay, bad, and horrible.

So, the most horrible books I read since I got started with ebooks (about 5 years ago) were
  1. War Of The Worlds - H.G. Wells (tedious)
  2. Desert Heat (Joanna Brady Series) - J.A. Jance (totally not interesting to read about this Ms. Brady)
  3. Something Venice (the first one) - Donna Leon (the first chapter pretty much sealed it for me)
  4. The Perfume - Patrick Süsskind (started out good, then it became tediuous)
  5. The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (I tried. I really tried. But I had to give up)
  6. Lambs Hide, Tigers Seek - Steve Jordan (Just kidding I loved it!!)

And before I get my head crushed against a stone by Mr. Lobolover I'd like to add:
Those are my worst books I've ever read. Except #6, of course!

Last edited by mores; 04-25-2008 at 06:27 AM. Reason: afraid of the guy with the scary avatar
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:24 AM   #43
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I think that this all shows how reading and literary taste is subjective.
Some people really like a plot-driven story and dislike long descriptions (so they won't like Proust). Others prefer the opposite (so probably won't like Dan Brown or Jeffrey Archer).

And I think that it's also possible to dislike a book and to agree that it's good by other people's standards. I've never been able to get along with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, though I concede that many other people think that he is a good writer. Doubtless it is my loss.
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:28 AM   #44
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I realy think this should be closed.it'l just bring people to bicker.
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Old 04-25-2008, 06:29 AM   #45
HarryT
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I think that this all shows how reading and literary taste is subjective.
Some people really like a plot-driven story and dislike long descriptions (so they won't like Proust). Others prefer the opposite (so probably won't like Dan Brown or Jeffrey Archer).
I entirely agree. Look at Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy, for example. It's regarded as one of the all-time classics of SF, but despite that, many people who would consider themselves to be SF fans don't like it because it has almost no "action" in it - virtually the whole of the three books consists of conversations between people. All the "action" happens invisibly in the background.
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