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Original poster

Authors who are very popular but you just don't get....

211 replies

Corneliawildthing · 21/01/2020 18:38

I read the first Harry Potter book when my kids were little and was rather underwhelmed by it (maybe I wasn't the target audience). I started The Cuckoo's Calling and seemed to have been reading for about 2 hours and had only reached page 25.

My in-laws raved about the Stieg Larsson books but I think I lasted about 20 pages. Confused

OP posts:
ImportantWater · 21/01/2020 22:43

I love most of these authors, but completely agree re Sophie Hannah. I’ve heard her speak and found her really lovely and entertaining, I really like her Poirot books, but cannot get into her other books at all.

maddy68 · 21/01/2020 22:40

Jk Rowling....shoddy writing imho

KatyaZamolodchikova · 21/01/2020 22:38

I’m so pleased so many of you also dislike Ian McEwan. I read Enduring Love for A Level and HATED it. Later on I thought I’d give him the benefit of the doubt and read Atonement and I hated that too.

MyBlueMoonbeam · 21/01/2020 22:37

Oh yes DH Lawrence is a hard slog too
Love Shakespeare though

Mistymonday · 21/01/2020 22:30

50 Shades author
DH Lawrence

MyBlueMoonbeam · 21/01/2020 22:21

Dan Brown - dreadful
JK Rowling - much prefer Enid Blyton
"Chick lit" in general
Thomas Hardy - really hard going
Charles Dickens - just thoroughly depressing IMO

30under · 21/01/2020 22:21

Kate Atkinson. I keep reading them in the hope I will like them. No more though.

SploshMeBackwards · 21/01/2020 22:20

Giovanna Fletcher - only successful because her husband is in a band! Her books are ZzZzZzZzZzZzZz

fruitpastille · 21/01/2020 22:19

I tried Behind the scenes at the Museum and had to give up. Maybe I should try another Kate Atkinson but I keep putting it off.

highlandcoo · 21/01/2020 22:16

Hi Strawberrypancakes Grin Grin

You could try anything by Dan Brown, Jeffrey Archer, Sophie Kinsella. I Don't Know How She Does It and I Think I Love You by Allison Pearson would be fab. Oh and Eat Pray Love might be worth a look too!

As they say, wouldn't life be boring if we all enjoyed the same things? Where did you read your set texts btw?

HouseworkAvoider10 · 21/01/2020 22:14

Celia aherne
Marian keyes.
Awful drivel.

Michaelbaubles · 21/01/2020 22:10

Ian McEwan makes me all eye-rolly nowadays.

I like Sophie Hannah but she puts this supporting cast of police people in her books who have ongoing story arcs and all the rest, and I get the feeling you’re supposed to regard them like old friends, except I don’t care about any of them and I never can remember who’s who and it just annoys me.

lazylinguist · 21/01/2020 22:07

Yy to Ian McEwan and Jane Austen. Love Rowling and Pratchett. And Tolkien, although I can totally understand why some people don't!

lljkk · 21/01/2020 22:06

John Updike. I can read any trash but not his. Pratchett bored me. James Joyce defeated me, but I might try him again.

I read most of Saturday (Ian McEwan) with horror. tbf, it wasn't the writing, just the story (plot). So utterly mind-blowingly ridiculous. It would have been lovely if the criminal could have jumped off the operating table & slashed the surgeon's throat after all.

SexIsAProtectedCharacteristic · 21/01/2020 22:03

I agree about Ian McEwan; I enjoyed his earlier books, but he now has assumed the mantle of 'A Great Writer.'

Very much this. I haven't read any of his books since Amsterdam/Saturday, neither of which I enjoyed particularly. Used to be my favourite writer, now I just feel disappointed!

EmmaGrundyForPM · 21/01/2020 21:57

I don't get the love for Elena Ferrante.

I love Ali Smith though.

Strawberrypancakes · 21/01/2020 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Synecdoche · 21/01/2020 21:51

I really like Sophie Hannah and Philippa Gregory!

I tried a Marion Keyes once but couldn't get past about p.38.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 21/01/2020 21:44

I really enjoyed the one I read @ChessieFL which was And Then There Were None but I was in no mad rush for another.

Bezalelle · 21/01/2020 21:44

Most of the classics, TBH. And I have an English Lit degree...

Also Ali Smith. So oddly whimsical but heavy-handed.

ChessieFL · 21/01/2020 21:37

Yes to Ali Smith.

Mine is Agatha Christie. Tried three now so think I have given her a fair shot!

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 21/01/2020 21:27

@TheLidoOfThighs

It would be that one I have waiting to be read 😩

highlandcoo · 21/01/2020 21:24

Jodie Picoult, too formulaic and exploitative.

Elena Ferrante. I spent the whole book waiting to feel involved with the characters and it never happened. I'd bought the trilogy sure I would love them but gave the other two away.

Stuff like The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl .. in fact almost any book with a title like The Somebody's Daughter/Sister/Wife. Do women have to belong to other people to be interesting?

Tartyflette · 21/01/2020 21:00

The English translation of Stieg Larsson's books is dreadful, it completely turned me off reading them. The translator seemed to use totally wrong words in places, so much so it was puzzling/jarring and interrupted the narrative.

I've had the same problem with Jo Nesbo books, poor translation.
Sophie Hannah books are odd, quite densely plotted but somehow lacking in impact for me.
Jodie Picoult is known for tackling difficult themes but her books seem a bit holier-than-thou, we're supposed to be 'improved' but I dislike being bludgeoned with righteousness. And they're just a bit too obvious, too much playing on the emotions.

TheNavigator · 21/01/2020 20:10

I cannot get on with Tolkien, I find it unreadable.

I did read a Lee Child out of interest - it was turgid, never again.

Also Steig Larson I just found grim.