Books to avoid

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - dull and cloying
How to be Good by N. Hornby - such irritating characters as I remember.

But I loved Wolf Hall and the Time Traveller's Wife, and thought Her Fearful Symmetry was a good read too despite being rather ridiculous

Catch 22. Hated. Every. Page. So did DH.

Why this book is regarded as a classic is beyond me. Pile of poop.

The film of the English Patient is very different from the book - in the book, the love story is one small part, but the film focuses (and expands) on that to the exclusion of everything else.

It's not a gripping read. I wanted to like it, and I can appreciate that it's well written, but it's quite a grind to get through.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie

'The English Patient' - it's beautifully written but precisely nothing happens
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27/07/2015 10:42 CoteDAzur

I watched the movie and quite a bit happened. Is it not based on the book?

I read the book and hated it but couldn't remember a single thing about it. I loved the film, possibly just because Juliet Binoche, Kristin Scott-Thomas , Ralph Fiennes and Naveen Andrews were so beautiful to look at.

Watching the film I had no recollection of anything on screen happening in the book.

Errol, has anyone ever actually read the Silmarillion? I tried to as a teenager and failed

I don't believe anyone has read it.

Oh and Catch 22 lord I have tried and failed.

Madame Bovary also made me want to slap her... (I am not usually violent, honest!)
I've never met any female reader who didn't want to slap her. Her and Anna Karenina. Neither of you are tragic heroines - you are vain, shallow narcissistic pains who ruin several people's lives.

A.M Holmes This Book Will Change Your Life No it won't, it will use up hours you will never get back.

T C Boyle The Tortilla Curtain dreary beyond imagination.

I agree some things are a matter of taste but I can't believe anyone enjoys those Shopaholic ones, I just wanted to slap the daft woman all the way through. (Some people presumably must like them though...)

Also, that one - I think it was called Before I go to sleep? - about the woman with no memory and the very-obvious "twist". Picked it up in a holiday cottage and seriously wished I never had, what a waste of holiday hours.

Madame Bovary also made me want to slap her... (I am not usually violent, honest!).

Atonement Is pants but the film is fantastic.

Completely with you on that one cdtaylornats.

Pretty well anything that won a Booker prize

Atonement, loathed it and could not understand the hype at all.

Anything by Dickens, I am quite widely read but try as I might I cannot enjoy his style of writing (watch films though as the stories are good)

The Casual Vacancy - i hated it and felt vaguely grubby after reading it

Sleepers - no idea that the scenes of abuse would be so graphic. I found it very upsetting

American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis has no redeeming features at all, and Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger must be the most boring, whiny book ever written. Can't stand either of them.

I did like The Lovely Bones, We need to talk about Kevin and The Road; all of which have been mentioned as ones to avoid!

I liked the time travellers wife, and loved Lord of the Rings.

Agree with hating The Slap- I need to like at least one character. Hated Never Let me Go also. A Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes) also makes it on my list, it was a huge disappointment to me having been highly recommended.

Sorry errol

Thanks for the warning enrol. It's too late it's on my kindle

I'd forgotten about Eat, Pray, Love. It was awful. In a similar vein I'd also forgotten about the Alchemist which was another pile of bollocks that was supposed to be life changingly spiritual.

Ditto to anything by Ian McEwan. I just can't get away with him at all.

Muskey - I'm pretty sure that the Silmarillion won't be interesting! Probably in combination with French food and wine will ensure plenty of sleep though.

Some of my friends acquaintances love 50SOG. I haven't read it.

I do rate The Lovely Bones, though. And tried 3 times to read Wolf Hall and gave up.

AnyFucker: "interesting that many of these books appear on both hated and loved lists"

That is so true! I think usually it's the sign of a writer with a very strong and distinctive voice - look at how e.g. Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant has divided people.

Mind you, I haven't come across anyone yet who thinks that 50 Shades of Grey is any good at all. I'm amazed it has sold so many copies given that no-one - apparently - will admit to liking it.

I have decided after being on this thread to challenge myself to read the simarillion as my holiday reading (we are going to be staying in the middle of nowhere in France) should be intersting

interesting that many of these books appear on both hated and loved lists

I loved so many of the books on here, and I agree with whoever said that it is often a style that people don't like. It also depends on the circumstances of where and when you're reading something. I have to be in the right mood for the right book, and I want something quite page turnerish in the summer holidays. Something a bit more cerebral in the dark days of winter.

One thing I have FINALLY learned is not to read books just because everyone is talking about them (Girl on the train, Gone girl, Us) but if quite a few broadsheet reviewers say a book is amazing then I generally find it amazing too (Wolf Hall, narrow road to the deep North, No Harm done). I also know to avoid anything recommended by a couple of my friends as they always like the "woman has a secret bad thing happen in her past" type books. I can't bear those!

(And am I the only one who actually liked Lovely Bones? It was a long time ago......)