Have you ever found a book to be good, but too disturbing to continue? - Page 4

John K · 04-29-2011, 01:51 PM

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. I found the abduction and sexual abuse of the boy in the beginning to be more than I was willing to tolerate.

Unbroken:by Laura Hillenbrand was rough but at least the abuse was of military men.

I added John Pilger's "Heroes" and The Long Walk by Richard Bachman to my TBR list. :-)

Barty · 04-29-2011, 02:30 PM

The Girl Next Door by Ketchum. I picked it up because Stephen King raved about it. It is gripping and well written, but I couldn't take the torture of a young teen girl. Maybe if I knew there'd some redemption at the end, I could finish it.

kindlekitten · 04-29-2011, 02:37 PM

I guess one of the reasons I had such a difficult time with the Long Walk was because I was doing a great deal of backpacking at the time, indeed, worked on and off as a guide. the concept of such an event was really really bothersome

tponzo · 04-29-2011, 03:22 PM

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.

MartinC · 04-29-2011, 05:02 PM

Can't read anything by Ian McEwan, although I admire the writing. He has the knack of implying that awful things are going to happen to his characters and I can't stand the suspense.

grumpy3b · 04-29-2011, 06:43 PM

Anyone read Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe? I read in back around '83. It freaked out my roommate and gave his GF real nightmares. I actually found it so over the top that is became malevolently funny without any true redeeming value.

grumpy3b · 04-29-2011, 06:47 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.

Isn't serendipity fun? Nothing like having a real life analog/parallel happen to you when reading a book like that. Same sort of goes when taking microbiology or infectious diseases and getting that same sniffle. I swear everyone of us in those courses when through torture thinking every time we got sick it was the end of life. Just look in a handy Merck Manual and it's true every symptom leads to the worst possible condition. Even worse than WebMD, hahaha.

covingtoncat73 · 04-29-2011, 09:55 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.

That reminds me of when I visited a cousin in Boston right after reading The Cell. That book begins on a gorgeous day in Boston and there is a ill-fated duck tour boat. Well, my cousin and I were in the same part of Boston on a gorgeous summer day and a duck boat passed. Well, my cell phone rang. I hesitated to answer it.

Oh, I had no probem with Suzanne Collins' excellent YA "Gregor the Overlander" series but my baby cousin, who is 12 and a great reader, couldn't read them because of the roaches or maybe it was the rats. I forget. Funnily enough, she loves The Hunger Games and usually has no problem with darker material. Giant vermin turn her away, though.

lindaf · 04-29-2011, 10:15 PM

"Shake hands with the devil" by Romeo Dallaire. He was the general in charge of the peace keeping forces in Rwanda. Of course, the book is not fiction. It depicts what Dallaire went through during the upheaval in Rwanda. It is so rough, I could not finish it, neither could two of my friends. One of them had worked for the army, and yet he found the facts related on the book too disturbing, not gruesome, frustrating.
I still recommend that book.

zespectre · 04-29-2011, 10:32 PM

I've read a number of very good books, thought provoking and so forth, that were so disturbing to my world view that I'm surprised I made it through some of them. In a few cases I didn't make it through them.

"Hannibal" (Hannibal Lecter)... I hit the "dinner scene" and that was it for me.

"Lucifer's Hammer" took me several long breaks the first time I read it because I was so involved with the characters that I started to get really depressed over their situation(s).

I also once read an anthology of short stories of religiously themed science fiction which did an astounding job of challenging some assumptions I was living under at the time.

One (story not book) that I did make it through and that I still love, and that haunts me to this day, is the seminal work by Mr. Keyes, "Flowers for Algernon".

carld · 04-29-2011, 10:43 PM

A lot of people found Serial (still free at Amazon) too disturbing to read. It's gruesome, but I didn't have any trouble with it.

jhempel24 · 04-30-2011, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barty

The Girl Next Door by Ketchum. I picked it up because Stephen King raved about it. It is gripping and well written, but I couldn't take the torture of a young teen girl. Maybe if I knew there'd some redemption at the end, I could finish it.

There is....I would try to finish it.

jhempel24 · 04-30-2011, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

A lot of people found Serial (still free at Amazon) too disturbing to read. It's gruesome, but I didn't have any trouble with it.

You know, I've read the Un-Cut version, which is an expanded version of this, as well as bought the follow up "Killers", which I don't think is nearly as gruesome.

This little novella was a fun little story...well, as fun as you can get with swiss army knife scissors and eye lids anyway.

covingtoncat73 · 04-30-2011, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhempel24

You know, I've read the Un-Cut version, which is an expanded version of this, as well as bought the follow up "Killers", which I don't think is nearly as gruesome.

This little novella was a fun little story...well, as fun as you can get with swiss army knife scissors and eye lids anyway.

*Shudders* Maybe I won't read that one, though I do love Gaiman's Sandman and that has The Corinthian in it.

Poppaea · 04-30-2011, 03:29 AM

Edgar Hilsenrath Nacht

Ranek, a teen struggeling in an Ukrainian Ghetto to survive. I was 15, the same age as Ranek, when I read it. But this is no YA book, it was written for grown ups.

The horrors are even worse as the author is never whining or trying to make you pity Ranek. It is literature of the highest sort and utterly disturbing.

I did not stop reading it, but I will never be brave enough to re-read it.

04-29-2011, 01:51 PM	#46
John K Reader Posts: 266 Karma: 13465550 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle DXG, Kobo Forma	Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. I found the abduction and sexual abuse of the boy in the beginning to be more than I was willing to tolerate. Unbroken:by Laura Hillenbrand was rough but at least the abuse was of military men. I added John Pilger's "Heroes" and The Long Walk by Richard Bachman to my TBR list. :-) Last edited by John K; 04-29-2011 at 02:00 PM.

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04-29-2011, 02:30 PM	#47
Barty doofus Posts: 2,549 Karma: 13089041 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	The Girl Next Door by Ketchum. I picked it up because Stephen King raved about it. It is gripping and well written, but I couldn't take the torture of a young teen girl. Maybe if I knew there'd some redemption at the end, I could finish it.

04-29-2011, 02:37 PM	#48
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	I guess one of the reasons I had such a difficult time with the Long Walk was because I was doing a great deal of backpacking at the time, indeed, worked on and off as a guide. the concept of such an event was really really bothersome

04-29-2011, 03:22 PM	#49
tponzo Addict Posts: 239 Karma: 237 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: OH USA Device: Sony PRS 900(gave it to my sister); Sony PRS-T1; onyx book note air	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.

04-29-2011, 05:02 PM	#50
MartinC Hanger on Posts: 148 Karma: 1355233 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dorset, UK Device: Kindle 3, Galaxy S, Sony PRS-505, Sony tablet	Can't read anything by Ian McEwan, although I admire the writing. He has the knack of implying that awful things are going to happen to his characters and I can't stand the suspense.

04-29-2011, 06:43 PM	#51
grumpy3b Banned Posts: 246 Karma: 14967 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Kindle 2 (x2), Kindle 1, a couple old PDAs	Anyone read Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe? I read in back around '83. It freaked out my roommate and gave his GF real nightmares. I actually found it so over the top that is became malevolently funny without any true redeeming value.

04-29-2011, 10:15 PM	#54
lindaf Member Posts: 18 Karma: 108 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: kobo 1 and kobo wifi	"Shake hands with the devil" by Romeo Dallaire. He was the general in charge of the peace keeping forces in Rwanda. Of course, the book is not fiction. It depicts what Dallaire went through during the upheaval in Rwanda. It is so rough, I could not finish it, neither could two of my friends. One of them had worked for the army, and yet he found the facts related on the book too disturbing, not gruesome, frustrating. I still recommend that book.

04-29-2011, 10:32 PM	#55
zespectre BookMonkey Posts: 90 Karma: 18008 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Shenandoah Valley Device: NOOK, iPod Touch, Asus Netbook	I've read a number of very good books, thought provoking and so forth, that were so disturbing to my world view that I'm surprised I made it through some of them. In a few cases I didn't make it through them. "Hannibal" (Hannibal Lecter)... I hit the "dinner scene" and that was it for me. "Lucifer's Hammer" took me several long breaks the first time I read it because I was so involved with the characters that I started to get really depressed over their situation(s). I also once read an anthology of short stories of religiously themed science fiction which did an astounding job of challenging some assumptions I was living under at the time. One (story not book) that I did make it through and that I still love, and that haunts me to this day, is the seminal work by Mr. Keyes, "Flowers for Algernon".

04-29-2011, 10:43 PM	#56
carld Wizard Posts: 2,698 Karma: 4748723 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	A lot of people found Serial (still free at Amazon) too disturbing to read. It's gruesome, but I didn't have any trouble with it.

04-30-2011, 03:29 AM	#60
Poppaea Lucifer's Bat Posts: 2,577 Karma: 20638583 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Earth/Berlin Device: Kobo Libra Colour	Edgar Hilsenrath Nacht Ranek, a teen struggeling in an Ukrainian Ghetto to survive. I was 15, the same age as Ranek, when I read it. But this is no YA book, it was written for grown ups. The horrors are even worse as the author is never whining or trying to make you pity Ranek. It is literature of the highest sort and utterly disturbing. I did not stop reading it, but I will never be brave enough to re-read it.

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