The 10 Worst Books

[Ervserver]

Normally no but there are a few that live near Chernobyl that glow

Originally Posted by mjh215

Squirrel butts don't glow.

[GypsyWoman]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

Normally no but there are a few that live near Chernobyl that glow

[Spellbot 5000]

I recently downloaded Cory Doctorow's collection Overclocked, and damn, some of the stories in it are bad. It started out decently with Printcrime, nice message, interesting twist at the end. Then came When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth. That is quite possibly the worst story I have ever read. The plot is threadbare, the characters are unlikable, and the modern-day net jargon and slang is laughable. It's like he tried to cram every acronym, every technology, anything he had ever heard about the net into one short story. I don't think I've rolled my eyes more times while reading any other story.

Anda's Game isn't shaping up well either.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Spellbot 5000

I don't think I've rolled my eyes more times while reading any other story.

and if ever there were an unmistakable sign, that is it.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Spellbot 5000

I recently downloaded Cory Doctorow's collection Overclocked, and damn, some of the stories in it are bad. It started out decently with Printcrime, nice message, interesting twist at the end. Then came When Sysadmins Ruled The Earth. That is quite possibly the worst story I have ever read. The plot is threadbare, the characters are unlikable, and the modern-day net jargon and slang is laughable. It's like he tried to cram every acronym, every technology, anything he had ever heard about the net into one short story. I don't think I've rolled my eyes more times while reading any other story.

Anda's Game isn't shaping up well either.

The plot or characters are usually not the point of a short story. One point of When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth was to take the way things have developed on the net and apply it to another domain. I do not remember that the terms and concepts wwas wrong in any way.

I thought Anda's Games was a very good story and one of the best stories in the collection.

[Spellbot 5000]

The terms weren't wrong, it's that he crams so many into virtually every sentence. It strikes me as some guy writing the story with the intention of cramming so much jargon in that it sounds real, when it just comes off as forced.

And I mean, people that call their baby "2.0" and say stuff like "he just core dumped"? Ugh, I just wanted to endlessly slam those characters heads into a car door.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Spellbot 5000

The terms weren't wrong, it's that he crams so many into virtually every sentence. It strikes me as some guy writing the story with the intention of cramming so much jargon in that it sounds real, when it just comes off as forced.

And I mean, people that call their baby "2.0" and say stuff like "he just core dumped"? Ugh, I just wanted to endlessly slam those characters heads into a car door.

I read that as part of the joke. It was a very conscious exaggeration. I thought this story was one of the weakest in the collection but I obviously did not react negatively on the same thing as you. Interesting to see the different way a story can be read.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Spellbot 5000

...Ugh, I just wanted to endlessly slam those characters heads into a car door.

I think a comment like that shows reasonable justification for you filing under "worst books" in your mind. That's exactly how I felt about The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (well, actually, exactly how I now feel, because at the time I didn't have such a delightful image handy).

Cheers,
Marc

[Spellbot 5000]

Now, saying what I've said already, I got through Anda's game, and it wasn't bad overall. Now I'm onto I, Robot, and he seams to have really redeemed himself. I'm enjoying it immensely.

I know every author has highs and lows in their writing career, but to go from one of the worst stories I've ever read to a very enjoyable story in the same collection is no mean feat.

[RickyMaveety]

The book was "Dahlgren." I know I can not get those painfully wasted hours I spent reading that "book" back again ... but oh, how I wish I could.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

The book was "Dahlgren." I know I can not get those painfully wasted hours I spent reading that "book" back again ... but oh, how I wish I could.

[tee hee] I laugh (not at you) because it was a favourite book of mine, though I was early- to mid-teens when I read it. It was somewhat...liberating for me (as you can imagine), though I need to reread it with a mind that might have developed at least some connections that will help me "get" more of it.

It's what I love about this thread. That we can post our own designated "worst" books regardless of any positive or negative popular or critical opinion.

I'm still waiting for someone to post Bliss by Peter Carey, or Cultural Amnesia by Clive James, or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig or If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi. They'd be up their as my all-time favourites, though I've no inclination, nor even feel any necessity, to defend them here. If people dislike them enough to consider them their "worst", I'm far more fascinated by and enchanted to listen to the "Why?".

Cheers,
Marc

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

The book was "Dahlgren." I know I can not get those painfully wasted hours I spent reading that "book" back again ... but oh, how I wish I could.

Originally Posted by montsnmags

[tee hee] I laugh (not at you) because it was a favourite book of mine, though I was early- to mid-teens when I read it. It was somewhat...liberating for me (as you can imagine), though I need to reread it with a mind that might have developed at least some connections that will help me "get" more of it.

It's what I love about this thread. That we can post our own designated "worst" books regardless of any positive or negative popular or critical opinion.

I'm still waiting for someone to post Bliss by Peter Carey, or Cultural Amnesia by Clive James, or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig or If This Is A Man/The Truce by Primo Levi. They'd be up their as my all-time favourites, though I've no inclination, nor even feel any necessity, to defend them here. If people dislike them enough to consider them their "worst", I'm far more fascinated by and enchanted to listen to the "Why?".

Cheers,
Marc

The thing is .... a few years later, I picked up a book, I "think" it was called, "Titan" or something like that. Read it ... loved it ... turns out it was by the same author.

That taught me one big lesson. Even though you read something by someone and hate it (and I reeeeeeealy hated "Dahlgren"), that doesn't mean you are going to hate everything that author writes. I'm not certain how long ago it was that I read either of those books ... but I would hazard a guess that it's been at least thirty ... maybe thirty five years.

But, yes, and it's the same way with movies. I'll see something and love it, only to walk out of the theater with my friends and hear that they all absolutely hated it. That's what makes life fun.

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

The thing is .... a few years later, I picked up a book, I "think" it was called, "Titan" or something like that. Read it ... loved it ... turns out it was by the same author.

That taught me one big lesson. Even though you read something by someone and hate it (and I reeeeeeealy hated "Dahlgren"), that doesn't mean you are going to hate everything that author writes.
...

I've got the Return to Nevèrÿon series of his, and have had it for years. I've tried to start it twice. No luck.

I read Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, since even close friends seemed to make a little bit of a fuss about it. To be frank ("Ooh, Betty"), I thought it a bit dull...a bit crappy even. I probably should give American Gods a go.

Cheers,
Marc

[basschick]

there are 3 books i rate "the worst books i've ever read". i actually kept them for some reason, but they're buried behind tons of other books. i DO remember the name of one: The Body in the Volvo. the blurb on the back cover and the title sounded funny, but it was downhill from there.

i'll have to dig up the other 2 later - one is a story about a vampire who's also a police officer

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by basschick

...
i'll have to dig up the other 2 later - one is a story about a vampire who's also a police officer

My first thought, since you mention the book in the "Worst Books" thread, was that the above simply must contain the predictably awful line of dialogue, "You have the right to remain dead". If it doesn't, I'll be disappointed.

Cheers,
Marc