"The Most Boring Book" I read or tried to read - Page 12

Kralik · 08-06-2009, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

Also, that The Picture of Dorian Gray and Moby Dick is somehow better.

Somehow better than...?

I would highly recommend Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman as a glimpse into how society has changed with the advent of television.

Sparrow · 08-06-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kralik

...I reckon more people had the patience to read through the descriptions of Moby Dick before the big screen and instant gratification.

They're not descriptions though, they're digressions - great wads of tedious verbiage that contribute nothing to the story, and just get in the way.

Kralik · 08-06-2009, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

They're not descriptions though, they're digressions - great wads of tedious verbiage that contribute nothing to the story, and just get in the way.

If you want digressions, try Don Quixote!

I'm not trying to be argumentative, so sorry about all that. I just don't think that boring means it's a bad book -- each person has his or her own tastes.

Sparrow · 08-06-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kralik

If you want digressions, try Don Quixote!

I'm not trying to be argumentative, so sorry about all that. I just don't think that boring means it's a bad book -- each person has his or her own tastes.

I wasn't trying to be argumentative either - sorry if it came across a bit brusque.

And you're right about differing tastes.

Ea · 08-06-2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kralik

...
I'm not trying to be argumentative, so sorry about all that. I just don't think that boring means it's a bad book ....

Can completely agree on that

BlackVoid · 08-06-2009, 02:50 PM

I do not mind if a book has no heroes and no plot. But if an author forgets about the story, then the writing or other content should be damn good.
Eg. Kurt Vonnegut - most of his novels do not have an elaborate plot, the protagonists are average guys (often "losers"), but still most of his books are just great, because the story is just an excuse for him to write about important things.

A boring book is never good for me though. If I enjoy it, it is not boring (even if there is nothing happening). If I do not enjoy, it is boring (even if there is constant action).

Ea · 08-06-2009, 03:04 PM

On the subject of reading, and boring vs. entertaining books, I can really recommend Robertson Davies' essay A Rake at Reading from his essay compilation The Merry Heart (and the other essays in it

)

Sparrow · 08-06-2009, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ea

On the subject of reading, and boring vs. entertaining books, I can really recommend Robertson Davies' essay A Rake at Reading from his essay compilation The Merry Heart (and the other essays in it

)

I'll have to dig that out!
Robertson Davies is one of my all-time favourite novelists.

Ea.

Ea · 08-06-2009, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I'll have to dig that out!
Robertson Davies is one of my all-time favourite novelists.

Ea.

Mine, too. I really like the Deptford trilogy and "A wise man", but I have a special soft spot for the Salterton trilogy.

columbus · 08-06-2009, 03:40 PM

Lisey's story (Stephen King) is still at the very pinnacle of the most boring book of all time that I could not read.

I have not and will not spend another cent of my hard earned cash on anything from SK until I am convinced that he is back on track !!ie. no booze!!!!!

I used to be - as he put it - a constant reader - not any more!!!

Abecedary · 08-06-2009, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by columbus

Lisey's story (Stephen King) is still at the very pinnacle of the most boring book of all time that I could not read.

I have not and will not spend another cent of my hard earned cash on anything from SK until I am convinced that he is back on track !!ie. no booze!!!!!

I used to be - as he put it - a constant reader - not any more!!!

Curious that the "constant reader" moniker is attributed to Stephen King, since that was the name Dorothy Parker used for her New Yorker book review column, long before King's time. And it's entirely possible she lifted it from somewhere, too.

columbus · 08-07-2009, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abecedary

Curious that the "constant reader" moniker is attributed to Stephen King, since that was the name Dorothy Parker used for her New Yorker book review column, long before King's time. And it's entirely possible she lifted it from somewhere, too.

It's not so much attributed, I just remember in many of his books where he comments / narrates to his readership he uses the phrase "you dear constant reader" so now we know where it came from.

nomesque · 08-07-2009, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kralik

If you want digressions, try Don Quixote!

For me, 'digression' equals Les Miserables - one whole flippin' chapter of digression that I painstakingly read, thinking it might be important. Nup. Nothing to do with the story at all, except the fact that it described a battle fought in the same war. Or part of a battle.

My most recent "oh god kill me now - or better yet, kill this book!" moment was with a William Diehl book my husband had just finished reading. Hooligans? I found it... impenetrable.

JSWolf · 08-07-2009, 07:25 AM

Anything Ursula K. Le Guin has written is going to be described to death and make even a possibly interesting storyline dull.

chlorine · 08-07-2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kralik

If you want digressions, try Don Quixote!

I haven't read Don Quixote (actually I may have tried to read it when I was younger), but if you want disgressions, try Mémoires d'outre-tombe, by Chateaubriand. The author can't tell a simple anecdote without raving on and on about the family of the persons involved, and their nobility titles, and how this man was the second cousin of the daughter of the uncle of the third cousin of a man he met last night. Dreadful and also very high on my boring list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomesque

For me, 'digression' equals Les Miserables - one whole flippin' chapter of digression that I painstakingly read, thinking it might be important. Nup. Nothing to do with the story at all, except the fact that it described a battle fought in the same war. Or part of a battle.

I haven't read Les misérables, but I tried to read L'homme qui rit by Hugo. I also found it very boring (stopped reading after 40 pages or something), but not because of disgressions. It was just that nothing was happening. The beginning was about a man walking in the snow, and how difficult it was to walk in the snow, and how cold he was, and how the snow fell on him, and how he was tired... I'm not sure he completed a single step before I stopped reading.

A third author which I find also boring is Balzac. Can't stand the lengthy description.

Hmmm, if it weren't for Zola, Flaubert and Maupassant, I might think I find all classical French authors boring...

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08-06-2009, 02:50 PM	#171
BlackVoid Evangelist Posts: 415 Karma: 510423 Join Date: Nov 2006 Device: Sony PRS-505	I do not mind if a book has no heroes and no plot. But if an author forgets about the story, then the writing or other content should be damn good. Eg. Kurt Vonnegut - most of his novels do not have an elaborate plot, the protagonists are average guys (often "losers"), but still most of his books are just great, because the story is just an excuse for him to write about important things. A boring book is never good for me though. If I enjoy it, it is not boring (even if there is nothing happening). If I do not enjoy, it is boring (even if there is constant action).

08-06-2009, 03:04 PM	#172
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	On the subject of reading, and boring vs. entertaining books, I can really recommend Robertson Davies' essay A Rake at Reading from his essay compilation The Merry Heart (and the other essays in it )

08-06-2009, 03:40 PM	#175
columbus Wizard Posts: 999 Karma: 5487540 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: In my own imagination. Device: Sony Prs 650, 505	Lisey's story (Stephen King) is still at the very pinnacle of the most boring book of all time that I could not read. I have not and will not spend another cent of my hard earned cash on anything from SK until I am convinced that he is back on track !!ie. no booze!!!!! I used to be - as he put it - *a constant reader* - not any more!!!

08-07-2009, 07:25 AM	#179
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,796 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Anything Ursula K. Le Guin has written is going to be described to death and make even a possibly interesting storyline dull.