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Original poster

What books were you 'supposed' to enjoy but thought were a pile of crap? And why?

237 replies

MrsMerryHenry · 03/05/2009 23:39

A Suitable Boy

Writing style far too poncey and utterly incapable of moving me.

OP posts:
TheCrackFox · 04/05/2009 22:07

Did she really change her name to Lionel? How odd.

feralgirl · 04/05/2009 22:05

Unfortuantely I didn't enjoy Beloved by Toni Morrison as it just seemed like post-modern, overly self-conscious nonsense.

Have never finished Catch 22 either despite trying at least five times, not really sure why.

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - again, couldn't tell you why exactly, just can't manage to get beyond 20 pages.

I am thoroughly disappointed by my crapness in not enjoying these books as I know I should.

janeite · 04/05/2009 22:03

I liked The Lovely Bones, except for the ridiculous sex scene. I liked The Time Traveller's Wife too, except the foot. Didn't like The Little Friend, or her other one.

Kevin = beyond crap.

ilovemydogandMrObama · 04/05/2009 22:01

Possession - AS Byatt. I didn't get it. Tried to read so many times as I wanted to like it, but don't like books that make me feel stupid.

fishie · 04/05/2009 22:01

tractors in the ukraine or whatever it is called. utter bollocks. also loathe we need to talk about kevin - but anyone who changes their name to lionel is an instant alert.
the road. birdsong.

i am the lone voice who liked the lovely bones. and the little friend.

lockets · 04/05/2009 21:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

maamajullah · 04/05/2009 21:54

The Time traveller's wife- Audrey Niffenegger.
I couldn't finish it. This is the first book that i never finished in my life.

hannahsaunt · 04/05/2009 21:35

Ditto Zadie Smith - v dull.

Also Cold Mountain and another noble one I've just given away so dull I can't even remember what it was ...

nevergoogledragonbutter · 04/05/2009 21:32

Any Zadie Smith.
In principal she writes the kind of books i enjoy but have been totally disappointed by both white teeth and on beauty.
Lots of character set up, followed by one chapter of totally predictable denouement.
Pile of poo.

WhatSheSaid · 04/05/2009 21:31

Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

In the words of Paul Calf, bag of shite!

fulltimeworkingmum · 04/05/2009 21:26

Here's another vote for "Time Traveller's Wife" - total b*ocks. One of the few books I've failed to finish. The characters were so repellent and self absorbed that I just could not be bothered.
The 19th Wife - also C**p and a waste of a birthday book token

janeite · 04/05/2009 20:13

Agree with 'Girl With A pearl Earring' - I finished it but wasbored throughout.

Also that one based on Dickens and his wife. Can't remember what it was called - something about Blue. Yawn.

ra29needsabettername · 04/05/2009 19:58

Glad other have said it - the lovely bones and time travellers wife - utter drivel.

Nighbynight · 04/05/2009 19:58

oh and that Time Travellers Wife cobblers.

God save us from "imaginative" authors.

TheCrackFox · 04/05/2009 19:58

Girl with a pearl earring. Couldn't actually finish it.

I have never like anything by Thomas Hardy. I know that makes me look like a twat.

Nighbynight · 04/05/2009 19:56

so cathartic

Life of Pi - shite
Amis, complete works of - ditto

I read one book by Vikram Seth, it was awful, hated the male hero.

Ladies Detective - patronising
All that vampire/fantasy rubbish, except JK Rowling, should be thrown in the landfill too.

Paolo Coehlo - never again will I make the mistake of buying a book without looking at it because people rave about the author.

Nighbynight · 04/05/2009 19:52

play - Noooo I hated Sophies world too. Stood in the bookshop trying to see what the fuss was about, and didnt buy it.

Nighbynight · 04/05/2009 19:51

Takver,
are you me? I was nodding all the way through your post

playftseforme · 04/05/2009 19:49

Couldn't see the point of Sophie's World, terribly written book supposedly about philosophy. Hated Sophie.

Yet for a while, ever other book on the tube was Sophie's b**y World - did they all hate it too (but only discovered it after reading 50 pages, or am I alone & misguided?)

Takver · 04/05/2009 19:41

LoL this thread is so consoling - I would 2nd (or 3rd) loads of the books mentioned, particularly Ian McEwan (too self conscious by half, We need to Talk about Kevin (found the mother totally and utterly unconvincing) and Ladies Detective Agency (infuriatingly twee).

My additions would be:
Oscar & Lucinda (and I've tried lots of times)
Behind the Scenes at the Museum

and TBH if something says 'Booker Prize' on it I can almost guarantee I won't like it.

Mind you I am not going to defend my reading choices as one of my friends described my collection as being made up of books that are 'either incredibly dense and boring or utter trash'

slng · 04/05/2009 18:34

Labyrinth is bloody awful. One of the few books I had to take to the charity shop because there is no chance I'll read it again.

A Suitable Boy - must defend it - got me through labour without any pain relief

janeite · 04/05/2009 18:25

I didn't read 'Labyrinth' (gave up after thirty pages or so) but did read 'Sepulchre' in desperation on holiday. It was crap.

Whodathoughtit - as a fellow English teacher, I have to say that your dismissal of Miss Austen is extremely disappointing. Now - here's the pointy hat: go and sit in the corner!

Greensneeze · 04/05/2009 18:23

Oh yes, and Henry James. The master of using 10 words where he could have used none at all

cyteen · 04/05/2009 18:22

lol, I hate George Eliot's writing so much it makes me spit. Made the third year of my English degree so much fun.

whodathoughtit · 04/05/2009 18:20

Agree with lots of you about The Lovely Bones. Utter garbage. This might not go down well, but I have never got on with Jane Austen either. And I'm an English teacher too.