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Original poster

Has anyone started to read a book and realised that they HATE it with a vengeance before the even finish the first sentence??

116 replies

GetOrfMoiLand · 10/03/2008 11:57

Out of curiosity picked up The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory in Tesco yesterday and started the read the first page. First sentence goes on about weather, lacing up corsets and scaffolds. It was then I thought this book is going to be a pile of shit and will not waste my time.

Have I missed a good book or was my initial impression correct. I usually read a page before I pass judgement (memories of plouging through first page of The English Patient before flinging it to the floor)

OP posts:
mrsruffallo · 11/03/2008 13:48

I thought the english patient was rather good

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 11/03/2008 13:43

It's not just high brow stuff either. My best friend loaned me a Louise Bagshawe novel once which I thought was shockingly bad. Written to try and be a Jackie Collins come Jilly Copper come Penny Vincenzi, and failing dismally on all counts.

OP posts:
mumdebump · 11/03/2008 13:42

Just checked on Amazon for titles -
Illywhacker by Peter Carey
The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie

mumdebump · 11/03/2008 13:40

Rare that I have to give up on a book, but couldn't get into books by Peter Carey and Salman Rushdie - can't even remember the titles now.
Did read all of something by Philippa Gregory once, but wished I hadn't bothered after - it was s**t. Well done on having the intelligence to stop now before you waste any more of your time.

MyEye · 11/03/2008 13:40

anything by Henry James
or Nicola Barker

GooseyLoosey · 11/03/2008 13:37

Can I also ask if anyone remebers trying to read Ben Okri's Famished Road - beautifully written, but nothing ever happens.

In fact, in recent years I have come to the view that almost anything on the Man Booker short list is going to be stupendously constructed and very dull.

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:35

Gosh yes, he is reckless ahundred .

Yes, the lovely bones is shockingly simple, I agree.

ahundredtimes · 11/03/2008 13:31

DH gives up all the time, he reads five chapters and adds it to the pile on his bedside table

He is reckless.

I'll read anything actually, I struggle with things that are very, very badly written. And am surprised at how simple some books are - like that Tractor books, and Lovely Bones too.

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 11/03/2008 13:28

Oh, Wuthering Heights. Awful book. But I did actually read the whole thing (masochist)

OP posts:
francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:27

I do apologise for my English, I'm making more mistakes than usual.

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:26

Yes, I feel guilty at not finishing a novel, but the older I get the more complacent to myself I became. As a teenager the only book I didn't finish was the lord of the rings, got stuck at page 20. and kept looking obsessively at the map.

GryffinGirl · 11/03/2008 13:26

Wuthering Heights - tried about seven times to finish it. I really don't understand how it has lasted (other than amongst Kate Bush fans).

We Need To Talk About Kevin.

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shrieve, I did finish but hated it. She had been taught on a creative writing course how to write a book. And she had clearly never been to London, where half the book is set.

marmadukescarlet · 11/03/2008 13:25

Thank you 100x, I'm sure it was a good book just at the wrong time iyswim.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 11/03/2008 13:23

Me too. At the moment I am reading T.C Boyle short stories which are great and easy to dip in and out of.

ahundredtimes · 11/03/2008 13:23

Marmaduke the book you read was by Helen Dunmore, it's called Talking to the Dead. I quite liked it

I'm not good at giving up on books, it makes me feel guilty and besides I feel obliged, and so keep on going. Though there are some where I get that sinking heart feeling by p3.

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:21

Will give it a try, once I finish the books that have been piling up on my bedside table (have become and incredibly slow reader )

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 11/03/2008 13:19

Suspiria is fab, I can watch it over and over. I put it on the tv when we have parties as it's a good artistic visual to go with loud music (poncetastic).

If you read any Douglas Coupland go for Girlfriend in a Coma, it's not so tied to the time as his other things and is a great book.

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:14

coupland

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:14

Possibly (never read douglas copeland though), I have completely enjoyed all BEE's books, but yes, I'm not tempted to re-read them. Have read Lunar Park as well, and like all his other books, I found it excellent at the beginning, then somehow he literally loses the plot .
I like Suspiria as well TDWP

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 11/03/2008 13:06

Bret Easton Ellis is a bit Zeitgeisty, as is Douglas Coupland. I loved them in the 90's but think they are a bit dated now.

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:03

lol tdwp!!

francagoestohollywood · 11/03/2008 13:03

I love Bret Easton Ellis !

I couldn't bring myself to go past page 45 of a Dpris Lessing's novel, can't even remember the title.

I finished the lovely bones, but didn't like it at all.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 11/03/2008 12:51

The Judgment is fantastic.
And Metamorphosis always makes me laugh (I know it's not meant to)

It's good to read a bit of Kafka, if only so you can use the work 'kafkaesque' from time to time.

DumbledoresGirl · 11/03/2008 12:50

I had to read Kafka's Metamorphosis in German for my German A level. It was sheer hell. I did once pick it up in English to see if it came across with any more vigour in a language I could understand. It did not.

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse proved unreadable too.

Foucaults Pendulum by Umberto Eco.

Loads more, I am sure.

Pennies · 11/03/2008 12:50

The House at Riverton - the opening line is taken straight from Rebecca and is an indicator of the utter lack of a single original section of writing in the entire book.

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