Worst Book(s) You Ever Read?

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by hols57

I did try to read The Count of Monte Christo and to be fair, the first third or so was good, dealing with the imprisonment and escape and so on, but then the whole thing stalled and got involved with these characters on a (very) long trip to Rome, and I realised that there was still another 1000 pages to go! So I gave up....

I think it's actually the best classic I read in all my childhood! I didn't like 3 musketeers, I read Les Misérables in over 2 years, I couldn't finish David Copperfield... but I could read Monte Cristo over and over again

Originally Posted by DMB

Ah. I love the Count of Monte Christo. I have to admit that Dumas is easy to read in French, so OK for my level of French, whereas I have horrible problems with Balzac, for example.

I think one reason why Monte Christo works is that it's a revenge story, and most of us find something deeply satisfying in seeing the baddies get their comeuppance.

I agree with your comment up there about the revenge part! I know that Dantès gets revenge, kills the bad guys, wins the girl... they all seem a little bit too perfect for a poor lad imprisoned 14 years. In comparison, Voynich's The Gadfly is more "realistic": even though he proves to be incredible, almost flawless in characteristics, the protagonist becomes ugly, cruel to others, he dies in the end and never has the girl he loves. How about that?

[carld]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As for his Mission Earth series, that was a joke. I tried reading it and had to seriously give up. What a mess.

I enjoyed Battlefield Earth myself, but was badly disappointed by Mission Earth. For the life of me I could not keep myself interested. I read the first one and part of the second and then set it down and never went back. It was all just too silly for words.

[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by carld

I read the first one and part of the second and then set it down and never went back. It was all just too silly for words.

SP! SP! SP!

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I think it's actually the best classic I read in all my childhood! I didn't like 3 musketeers, I read Les Misérables in over 2 years, I couldn't finish David Copperfield... but I could read Monte Cristo over and over again



I agree with your comment up there about the revenge part! I know that Dantès gets revenge, kills the bad guys, wins the girl... they all seem a little bit too perfect for a poor lad imprisoned 14 years. In comparison, Voynich's The Gadfly is more "realistic": even though he proves to be incredible, almost flawless in characteristics, the protagonist becomes ugly, cruel to others, he dies in the end and never has the girl he loves. How about that?

Sounds even better! I added to my Amazon wish list to remind me to get myself a copy of it.

[Aurora13]

"The Time Travelers Wife" one of the worst books I've read....I couldn't even finish it it was so bad. I just don't understand how such a poorly written book received so much "hype". The next worst book ever was "The Stone Angel". I had to read some pretty bad books in high school but this one was the worst!

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Sounds even better! I added to my Amazon wish list to remind me to get myself a copy of it.

the Gadfly, you mean?
It was the first book I bought myself. It's about rebelion, betrayal, conspiracy, love, hatred, revolution, some Italy parts, sacrifice, religion, politics, moral...