MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - "The Most Boring Book" I read or tried to read

gmw · 11-20-2010, 11:10 PM

This thread.

Just kidding, it has been very interesting to see such diverse views. I've got a taste now for classics (Austen, Dickens and more) that I never had as a kid. On the other hand some things I liked as I was growing up I now find really boring. For example: While I still like much of Isaac Asimov, I have found most of Arthur C. Clarke very boring to re-read.

The discussion about Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has also been interesting. This is one book that I find to be a very definite mood-thing. In the right mood there is almost nothing better, but in the wrong mood I just don't have the patience for it.

Now to the point I guess. The most boring books I have read. (As my wife has observed, I have this perverse/stubborn streak that means I almost always finish what I start, it's one of those character traits I need to work on I think.)

The Bible - I got through the lot as a kid, after I was "confirmed". So I can say that I've read it, I'm sorry to say that I doubt if I learned anything.

The Silmarillion - an example of a book that I believe is actually quite good, but is very boring. But then I strongly believe that most of this stuff was JRRT just building his world, he never intended all the crap they've been bringing out to make money after LOTR.

Between the Wars - series by Michael Moorcock. Well the first three anyway (Byzantium Endures, The Laughter of Carthage, Jerusalem Commands), I've not considered the fourth. (I loved the titles - but should have stopped there.) Moorcock is either brilliant ... or very definitely not, these are - to me - prime examples of not.

I could probably build quite a long list of boring books here but I think these are my own personal highlights.

I was also trying to think of a book at was not boring but was also not good. I wonder if Gerald's Game (by Stephen King, as already discussed on this list) comes close. When I first read it I was not bored - it was the closest King ever came to truly scary horror, it seemed to me at the time - but I did not enjoy it. Quite recently I re-read it to see what I thought now - and the second time through I found it almost boring enough to list here. Oh wait, I just did.

11-20-2010, 11:10 PM	#291
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	This thread. Just kidding, it has been very interesting to see such diverse views. I've got a taste now for classics (Austen, Dickens and more) that I never had as a kid. On the other hand some things I liked as I was growing up I now find really boring. For example: While I still like much of Isaac Asimov, I have found most of Arthur C. Clarke very boring to re-read. The discussion about Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has also been interesting. This is one book that I find to be a very definite mood-thing. In the right mood there is almost nothing better, but in the wrong mood I just don't have the patience for it. Now to the point I guess. The most boring books I have read. (As my wife has observed, I have this perverse/stubborn streak that means I almost always finish what I start, it's one of those character traits I need to work on I think.) The Bible - I got through the lot as a kid, after I was "confirmed". So I can say that I've read it, I'm sorry to say that I doubt if I learned anything. The Silmarillion - an example of a book that I believe is actually quite good, but is very boring. But then I strongly believe that most of this stuff was JRRT just building his world, he never intended all the crap they've been bringing out to make money after LOTR. Between the Wars - series by Michael Moorcock. Well the first three anyway (Byzantium Endures, The Laughter of Carthage, Jerusalem Commands), I've not considered the fourth. (I loved the titles - but should have stopped there.) Moorcock is either brilliant ... or very definitely not, these are - to me - prime examples of not. I could probably build quite a long list of boring books here but I think these are my own personal highlights. I was also trying to think of a book at was not boring but was also not good. I wonder if Gerald's Game (by Stephen King, as already discussed on this list) comes close. When I first read it I was not bored - it was the closest King ever came to truly scary horror, it seemed to me at the time - but I did not enjoy it. Quite recently I re-read it to see what I thought now - and the second time through I found it almost boring enough to list here. Oh wait, I just did.