What is the worst book you have ever read?

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**Swordbreaker**

"A Tale of Two Cities". I tend to dislike about half of whatever I was forced to read for a course, since the instructors always ended up over analyzing them ad-nauseam. Reading this one however, really sticks out in my memory as being a simply horrible experience.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

Does anyone who has studied English at Uni have or used to have problems reading purely for pleasure because you end up dissecting the novel and analysing every aspect?
Not necessarily at Uni - guess this would be feasible at any level, it was just that I was useless at Eng Lit at school and have never analysed what I read to a great extent.

**malfred**

NELS1031 wrote:I had to read The Chocolate War in high school english.

Hated it from start to devastatingly and completely defeated finish. Not sure what sort of lesson or theme that teacher was trying to impress on us, as the guy who is doing the right thing gets punished throughout the whole novel by his student peers and the higher ups, who are priests or something (but only one in particular if memory serves) and they get away with it. I realized then (and still now obviously) that bad people do get away with the things they do, but it seemed the lesson of this book was to just go with the flow, no matter how wrong it is. If not, you get bullied and beat the hell up. Just seemed to me like they were trying to program us.

Not the best lesson to impart on the youth of a private catholic school, as the novel is set in the same exact setting.

I <3 the chocolate war.

The publication of The Chocolate War in 1974 is now seen as a groundbreaking event in the establishment of young adult literature as a separate genre. Robert Cormier's novel was originally conceived as an adult book, for all his previous fiction had been for adults. Nevertheless, it quickly became both an inspiration to other writers and publishers for teens and the standard by which much subsequent young adult literature has been judged. Shocking in its relentless and unsentimental representation of the power and control exerted by bullying adults and boys at a Catholic school, the novel was criticized by some early reviewers for its failure to include for its young readers a redeeming resolution. (Cormier had resisted pressure from a number of publishers to alter the ending.)

The plot for The Chocolate War was inspired by an event in Cormier's own life. When his son decided, without repercussion, not to sell chocolates in his school's annual sale, Cormier asked himself, "What if?" This question, he has declared, is the spark for all his writing. If the novel had been simply about harassment and intimidation among a group of boys, it would not have been in any way remarkable. What makes it disturbing is the collusion between the Catholic teaching staff and a group of boys known as the Vigils who exert a Mafia-like influence at the school and employ psychological tactics against other pupils and staff. One of The Chocolate War's principle themes is the futility of individual protests and resistance in the face of such power structures and, by implication, the importance of collective action.

**Albatross**

Perkustin wrote:Did you buy the Secret society book because of the da vinci code?

No. And I got the book from the library, I didn't buy it.

BTW: I agree that mediums are frauds who pick on the vulnerable, desperate and the unhappy for profit but isn't that galaxy chocolate's marketing strategy also?

Perhaps, although Galaxy chocolate makes no claims that it can help you contact your dead relatives.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

Would make for an interesting marketing campaign.

or maybe a special Day of the Dead Mexican Mescallito bar of Galaxy would make good such a claim.

**Mannahnin**

Either Angels & Demons, which I finished (actually, The Accidental Pope is comparably terrible and I finished that too), or Atlas Shrugged, which I gave up on halfway through.

**filbert**

4M2A wrote:

One of the my least favourite is Lord of the Flies. Had to read the book for english at school and hated it. Oddly I actually enjoyed ( and agreed with) the point he was trying to make. It would have made a great book if it was written as the author talking about his idea but it's one of the most boring stories I've ever read. Theres just too much description about item that have no relevance to the story. I really don't care what that random rock looks like if i'm never going to see it again.

You think that's bad? I have faintly repressed memories of studying this book for GCSE too. On one memorable occasion, our teacher spent an entire 45 minute lesson devoted to a semi-colon and how said semi-colon balanced 2 sentences.

**4M2A**

Ouch I had similar experiences but nothing that bad. What I found most annoying was the way the teachers tried to find hidden meanings and links within the book which were usually so complex i'm sure they weren't intentional.

**filbert**

That's the entirety of studying English literature right there - everything gets dissected in its minutiae to the extent that you start reading meaning where there is none. Its like killing and dissecting an animal to see how it works; you get to study it in detail but in the process all the art and beauty is destroyed.

**Albatross**

Well... I'm with Barthes on this one.

**Luke_Prowler**

The Great Gatsby. It was like trying to read through mud and most of the metaphors flew over my head. That it was school assigned didn't help one bit.

Probably the second worse would be Eragon, but it would be for a while after reading it did I actually realize that it was bad.

**Kilkrazy**

Tyyr wrote:

corpsesarefun wrote:It is ironic that English class pushes people away from good literature

It is, but think about what they do. They shovel the "classics" down kids throats and get pissy when you are bored with them. Sorry, but a teenager has absolutely no frame of reference to relate to any of the classics. Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn maybe but Little Women, Oliver Twist, Moby Dick, etc? Really? Do you think a fifteen year old is going to care about reading Melville's whaling diatribe? That they're going to be able to relate to any of it? Hell no, it's boring nonsensical crap to them.

In my opinion the way to do it is just encourage kids to read. Find a book that interests them and read it. Doesn't matter how pulpy, how campy, how little "literary value" it has let them read it. The focus should be on getting kids to read first and then introducing the classics. Instead we just shove the classics down their throats and wonder why they loathe reading later on.

I totally agree.

I never read any Dickens until my 30s, thanks to boring experiences with other classic 19th century authors at school.

**Melissia**

Personally I was more interested in sci-fi than the classics anyway. Which explains why I'm here. Frankly, and I know I'll take flak for this, I thought Shakespeare was a bit of a boring read. There's something about an English professor's overbearing excitement for shakespeare that takes all of the joy out of it that you'd normally experience when watching the actual play by talented, non-high school actors.

Why didn't we study The Lord of the Rings in high school? That's a fething classic but no, noone's allowed to study that in class. Or any of the other many wonderful sci-fi and fantasy classics, which actually interest kids and get them to WANT to read? feth you English professors, feth you and everything you stand for.

**ChrisWWII**

As we all know science fiction and fantasy aren't real forms of literature, and no respectable english professor would be caught dead treating them as such!!! /sarcasm

But yeah, I'm lucky in that my high school had a speculative fiction class, and we got assigned some science fiction. Brave New Worl, Handmaid's Tale, We.....so it wasn't in full effect with me.

I guess I have to add Sense and Sensibility on to the list of books I can't stand....it was just so...boring. I mean....I didn't care for ANY of the characters or their miniscule personal problems.

**CptJake**

I think the worst book I ever read was The Kite Runner. I just could not identfy with the narator/main character at all. I undestand the different culture meme but the main character just made me want to slap him

A close second is The Road. The story may have been okay, but the style it was written in was just crap in my opinion. I finished it, but when I did all I could think was 'wow, this book just sucked'. It was not the story or the ending, it was the writing.

Jake

**malfred**

The Road sucked?

It's a fantastic piece that sucks your soul out of you.

He also wrote No Country for Old Men, which is also depressing.

**CptJake**

Depressing I can handle. The style, in my opinion (and as a guy who shelled out what ever Amazon charged for the book I feel entitled to have an opinion on it) was lousy. Honestly the journal type narative was just poorly written. Again, I feel what could have been a good story was ruined by the presentation.

Jake

**Destrado**

Melissia wrote:feth you English professors, feth you and everything you stand for.

I wouldn't really blame the teachers. Dunno how it works out there, but here teachers can't teach what they want. They have to teach what the Ministry of Education tells them to.

**Melissia**

I don't really blame high school teachers, but they aren't usually considered professors.

**KamikazeCanuck**

I read Lord of the Flies before I was supposed to and so I think its a great book. Then when I was supposed to read it in high school the excessive analysis of every little analogy and allegory was unbearable. I wouldn't doubt that if that was my first read that the school might have ruined the entire experience.

**Tyyr**

Yak9UT wrote:Bridge Of Terabithia for me.

Reading that wasnt really what you want out of a kids book.

Oh man, I loved reading even when I was little but few books have come close to ruining reading for me like that one.

I feel compelled to point out that I love Moby Dick and most of Jules Verne's stuff. When I got my Kindle copies of those books were some of the first things I got. However even I'll admit that they are not conventional sit and read for the fun of it kind of books. Moby Dick's more an indepth study of the whaling industry with occasional bits of fiction thrown in and Verne's writing style can be a pain to read to someone used to reading modern works. I still love them though, but I'd never hand a ten year old a copy of "From the Earth to the Moon," and expect them not to hate it.

**ArmorOfContempt**

Destrado wrote:
Melissia wrote:feth you English professors, feth you and everything you stand for.

I wouldn't really blame the teachers. Dunno how it works out there, but here teachers can't teach what they want. They have to teach what the Ministry of Education tells them to.

Also, there's the whole mentality young people have where they don't like to do anything they're required to do.

**malfred**

CptJake wrote:Depressing I can handle. The style, in my opinion (and as a guy who shelled out what ever Amazon charged for the book I feel entitled to have an opinion on it) was lousy. Honestly the journal type narative was just poorly written. Again, I feel what could have been a good story was ruined by the presentation.

Jake

The presentation was part of the point of The Road. I can see you not liking the
style, but the style itself seems like it was intended to make the world and the man feel
gray and dead.

**Bromsy**

Well, I dunno about worst book exactly, but worst series - Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling. I wanted so bad to like them. There are a lot of cool things, but I've never read an author that can totally ruin a great idea so well. There are just so many completely, utterly implausible things that happen. The scene that killed it for me (even though a kept reading) was when two of the improbably lucky main characters happen to accidentally outrun their support and ride into a full on camp of bandits. Are they going to both make it? How badly will they be wounded escaping? Nope, never mind, 50 ghillie suited longbowmen who just happened to be right there right then leap out of the bushes and slaughter the bandits. Yay!

**RustyKnight**

The Catcher in the Rye

I couldn't stand this book. After all the hype (capturing the teenage spirit, inspiring murderers, etc), you get a whiny twit who sits in a hotel room complaining for a few days then going home. What?!? The only reason I could see people murdering that book is in anger over how pointless the whole story is. The only good part is the quasi-molester.
---
I enjoyed Gatsby. Short, colourful, and it ends with a bang.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Amazingly people do sing socially for entertainment,

maybe in England

Grabbed Pynchon's "V" for the want of a read and there on the very first page is a song
And lo a few more pages in another song, this time in a bar.

This in Norfolk, Virginia.
So there you Crazy Canuck!

It could be a retelling of the LoTR in post war America?

I guess not.

**Amaya**

Melissia wrote:Personally I was more interested in sci-fi than the classics anyway. Which explains why I'm here. Frankly, and I know I'll take flak for this, I thought Shakespeare was a bit of a boring read. There's something about an English professor's overbearing excitement for shakespeare that takes all of the joy out of it that you'd normally experience when watching the actual play by talented, non-high school actors.

Why didn't we study The Lord of the Rings in high school? That's a fething classic but no, noone's allowed to study that in class. Or any of the other many wonderful sci-fi and fantasy classics, which actually interest kids and get them to WANT to read? feth you English professors, feth you and everything you stand for.

Probably due to the length and I don't think that LotR really warrants study. Yeah, there's a lot of crappy reads in high school lit, but LotR isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I'd really like to know why Dracula and Lovecraft aren't even taught, let alone mentioned.

**Mr. Burning**

Amaya wrote:
Melissia wrote:Personally I was more interested in sci-fi than the classics anyway. Which explains why I'm here. Frankly, and I know I'll take flak for this, I thought Shakespeare was a bit of a boring read. There's something about an English professor's overbearing excitement for shakespeare that takes all of the joy out of it that you'd normally experience when watching the actual play by talented, non-high school actors.

Why didn't we study The Lord of the Rings in high school? That's a fething classic but no, noone's allowed to study that in class. Or any of the other many wonderful sci-fi and fantasy classics, which actually interest kids and get them to WANT to read? feth you English professors, feth you and everything you stand for.

Probably due to the length and I don't think that LotR really warrants study. Yeah, there's a lot of crappy reads in high school lit, but LotR isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I'd really like to know why Dracula and Lovecraft aren't even taught, let alone mentioned.

Frankenstein is taught in some schools over here.

**Chibi Bodge-Battle**

Isn't he a bit old for school?

**Amaya**

What does Frankenstein have to do with Dracula and Lovecraft?