Have you ever found a book to be good, but too disturbing to continue? - Page 6

kindlekitten · 05-02-2011, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tponzo

The Stand by Stephen King - Captain Tripp (the plague) starts as a summer cold. I caught a cold right after I started reading it. Had to put it down. Couldn't pick it up again for a long time.

More recently - Hunting Julian by Jacqueline Franks. I really liked her previous books but this one was very disturbing. I was very creeped out by the guy and how he seemed to feed off of the sexual energy of women. The first time the couple had sex it felt like he was "mind raping" her and I quit reading it.

haha! I was reading The Stand while pregnant with my first, I was stationed in Germany, had come down with a horrid case of the flu, lived WAY off post away from everyone, my fiancée was away on field manuevers, I was from Boulder and was intimate with every area he was writing about. I was also running a fairly decent temperature at the time so everything was pretty surreal

AlbertaCowboy · 05-02-2011, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhartman36

The Road is one of those books I wish I could get into, but I just can't. For me, it wasn't the subject matter. It was the writing style. Something about never using quotation marks really gets to me, for some reason. For me, it made the story too hard to follow.

This is why I couldn't read the book myself.

Dazrin · 05-02-2011, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

Thomas Covenant series. Just couldn't get over the fact the protagonist was such a jerk.

And every time I mention it (or someone asks me if I've read them), I'm told "just KEEP reading-it's totally worth it!" and so I dutifully start again, and then give up again

Yup. I tried the first one and quit not very far into it. I kept hearing good things, but I can't bring myself to even try to finish it.

TenaciousBadger · 05-02-2011, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tponzo

The Stand by Stephen King - Captain Tripp (the plague) starts as a summer cold. I caught a cold right after I started reading it. Had to put it down. Couldn't pick it up again for a long time.

More recently - Hunting Julian by Jacqueline Franks. I really liked her previous books but this one was very disturbing. I was very creeped out by the guy and how he seemed to feed off of the sexual energy of women. The first time the couple had sex it felt like he was "mind raping" her and I quit reading it.

Jacqueline Franks is an author I tried reading but just couldn't get into. I abandoned the second book of one of her series and never picked it up again.
And so many have given her rave reviews. Just goes to show....

Poppaea · 05-02-2011, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

Yep. I stop reading if books become too disturbing and I stop watching movies if they start to freak me out. Torture, for example, always makes me move on. I quit watching a Firefly episode just last night because of torture. Sad, but true.
L.J.

Torture for example is a big turn on. Which only shows....

NVash · 05-02-2011, 05:16 PM

I know I felt that way about Precious but I kept on going. I never did finish it but thats because other things came up.

357mag · 05-02-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumpy3b

hey, nothing wrong in stating your opinion in this area. You did it very well and it's a valid observation. So I hope nobody takes you to task for it. I don't subscribe to your beliefs but you are darned well entitled to express them with worry of being abused for doing so.

In reality the comment you made might make the book more interesting to people like myself. So see, you helped either way.

Thanks for your reply and your understanding. Everybody is entitled to their opinions and I don't condemn anyone for their personal opinions on anything. As I said, I almost stopped reading but I elected to continue because I know that whether or not one's opinions agree with mine, I stand to learn something either way.

Once in English class when I was in junior high we had to pick a topic for debate. On the day of the debate we were then told that we had to argue the opposite side of the topic rather than the side we chose. That was enlightening because if we did our job well, then we should have been knowledgeable on both sides of the topic.

kindlekitten · 05-02-2011, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 357mag

Thanks for your reply and your understanding. Everybody is entitled to their opinions and I don't condemn anyone for their personal opinions on anything. As I said, I almost stopped reading but I elected to continue because I know that whether or not one's opinions agree with mine, I stand to learn something either way.

Once in English class when I was in junior high we had to pick a topic for debate. On the day of the debate we were then told that we had to argue the opposite side of the topic rather than the side we chose. That was enlightening because if we did our job well, then we should have been knowledgeable on both sides of the topic.

that's how debate teams work

mike_bike_kite · 05-03-2011, 04:58 AM

Don't you folks ever read the back covers to get an idea of what the books about? or do you just happen to find yourselves in the horror section by chance and then just grab the first book you see? Personally I can't stand outright horror so I never buy these types of books but after that, the only books I put down, are bad ones.

tponzo · 05-03-2011, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Don't you folks ever read the back covers to get an idea of what the books about? or do you just happen to find yourselves in the horror section by chance and then just grab the first book you see?

Well that would be "judging a book by its cover, wouldn't it?

But seriously, sometimes the description does not give you a good idea of what the writing or story is really like (who writes those book jacket blurbs anyway?), or a favorite writer does something they've never done before (how dare they stretch and grow at their craft!).

Prestidigitweeze · 05-03-2011, 01:00 PM

Sadly, nothing I've read or seen in a film has ever disturbed me.

It's the wholesome books and films that keep me awake. They're like country clubs my imagination would never be asked to join.

Poppaea · 05-03-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike_bike_kite

Don't you folks ever read the back covers to get an idea of what the books about? or do you just happen to find yourselves in the horror section by chance and then just grab the first book you see? Personally I can't stand outright horror so I never buy these types of books but after that, the only books I put down, are bad ones.

I don't read Horror, but the books that are hard for me to read are those of survivors of Konzentrationslager (concentration camps) or of people in the Ghettos.

Ron. · 05-04-2011, 12:45 AM

This thread is good good place to look for my next book to read

I want to try something disturbing!

rkomar · 05-04-2011, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poppaea

I don't read Horror, but the books that are hard for me to read are those of survivors of Konzentrationslager (concentration camps) or of people in the Ghettos.

Yes. Stories of vampires, werewolves and zombies can be dismissed as nonsense, but true histories describing just how vilely we humans have acted are deeply distressing. Worst of all is knowing that virtually any one of us can be lead into the same actions. Still, I think it is better to be distressed and wary rather than ignorant and ready to repeat those old atrocities.

Prestidigitweeze · 05-04-2011, 02:47 AM

Here's a potentially disturbing sentence:

Written words are the exact correlates of actions.

What if that were true? What if every cruelty and atrocity ever imagined on the page became real simply because a person had written about it?

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05-02-2011, 05:16 PM	#81
NVash Wandering Vagabond Posts: 282 Karma: 350000 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: iPod Touch	I know I felt that way about Precious but I kept on going. I never did finish it but thats because other things came up.

05-03-2011, 04:58 AM	#84
mike_bike_kite Digitally confused Posts: 500 Karma: 1500000 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: London, UK Device: KPW, K2i, Nexus 7 32gb, Kobo Mini	Don't you folks ever read the back covers to get an idea of what the books about? or do you just happen to find yourselves in the horror section by chance and then just grab the first book you see? Personally I can't stand outright horror so I never buy these types of books but after that, the only books I put down, are bad ones.

05-03-2011, 01:00 PM	#86
Prestidigitweeze Fledgling Demagogue Posts: 2,384 Karma: 31132263 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: White Plains Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.	Sadly, nothing I've read or seen in a film has ever disturbed me. It's the wholesome books and films that keep me awake. They're like country clubs my imagination would never be asked to join.

05-04-2011, 12:45 AM	#88
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	This thread is good good place to look for my next book to read I want to try something disturbing!

05-04-2011, 02:47 AM	#90
Prestidigitweeze Fledgling Demagogue Posts: 2,384 Karma: 31132263 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: White Plains Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.	Here's a potentially disturbing sentence: Written words are the exact correlates of actions. What if that were true? What if every cruelty and atrocity ever imagined on the page became real simply because a person had written about it?