to think this is the most over-rated book ever

[SlightlyJaded]

'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'

I love books. From big dramatic plotlines and epic storylines to subtle and beautfifully written prose with well drawn characters. I like quirky books, classic books, modern literature, poetry - anything well written or engaging.

I almost never have to 'force' myself to finish a book but always do finish a book if I've started (why do we do that? ) but thought 'If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things' was the dullest most over-rated dross I've ever read.

Or did I miss something?

And yes, this should be in books, but I prefer AIBU

yeah Ed, you say that now, after your earlier gross faux pas

Not sure if anybody has mentioned them but:

Life of pissing Pi....dull as shite and Captain corelli - also a snooze fest

UnquietDad Tue 09-Nov-10 19:59:44

Norwegian Wood. Self-indulgent pants by middle-aged man idolising the 60s and unable to write convincing female characters.

Disagree with this! Love Norwegian Wood and most Murakami (although new one 1Q84 not really up there with some of others...)

I was going to nominate Life of Pi but see a couple of people got there before me. I really don't understand why so many people loved it... Same goes for The Island.

I found 100 years utterly confusing. So many characters had the same name, I was constantly having to go back and check who was who. Love in the time of cholera was good but didn't make up for the wasted hours reading 100 years.

I thought I was the only person who HATED The Time Travelers Wife. Utter tripe.

Yay for mumsnet! I am not alone!

Hully, seriously, should I try Satanic Verses again? I loved Moor's Last Sigh, but have found all his kinda samey since, with exception of SV which just didn't get.

Oh yes, John Irving. The Hotel New Hampshire. What's that all about. His writing style is SO grating.

The Shipping News is wonderful though

Oh yes, John Irving. The Hotel New Hampshire. What's that all about. His writing style is SO grating.

I'm afraid you will ahve to be locked away

I found 100 years utterly confusing. So many characters had the same name, I was constantly having to go back and check who was who. Love in the time of cholera was good but didn't make up for the wasted hours reading 100 years.

You too

Hully, seriously, should I try Satanic Verses again? I loved Moor's Last Sigh, but have found all his kinda samey since, with exception of SV which just didn't get.

And you, unless you redeem yourself by reading AND APPRECIATING SV AMD MN.

Oh, and yes. I have never understood Murakami and I have tried four of his books: Kafka on the Shore; Norwegian Wood, Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; and Hard-Boiled.

I could just manage it to the end of Kafka and Wind-Up. Kafka was ok; Wind-Up was insufferable but it was the only book I had to read in the middle of nowhere so just stuck with it.

And speaking of Kafka,Metamorphosis. Shite

Ok, ok, I'll have another go! Did like Midnight's Children, but wasn't wowed by it having previously read Moor's Last Sigh.

The Enchantress of Florence. Crapola.

I loved the Wind Up Bird Chronicle. Haven't read the others though.

Sorry Hully re Irving. I can't even tell you what it was apart from it made me want to throw the book across the room. I read about three-quarters before giving up entirely. It seemed... self indulgent, I think. So lock me away, but preferably far away from John Irving or Salman Rushdie or Terry Pratchett, or Sebastian Faulks, all of whom (Faulks' Engleby excepted) make me want to poke myself in the eye with a fork.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill everyone to be on the safe side.

The Quickening Maze (longlist Man Booker 2009). Urrgh.

It's all getting a bit Patrick Bateman now

Scara, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? That book was fucking brilliant.

Sorry, Keep forgetting that people are entitled to hteir own opinions. Will go now.

What, the Quickening Maze? The scene where the guy gets an enema and his guts spill all over the table. Get me a bucket.

IMO, just a few overrated books:

Chocolat (stupid book where they made a movie with Johnny Depp in it)
Labyrinth - Kate Mosse (sp?)
Notes on an Exhibition (or something similar)
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (obviously)
The Historian
Any of the fucking stupid Twilight saga

surprised at the number of nominations for chocolat, I really enjoyed it. I also loved life of Pi and the Island

Agree with whoever nominated white teeth though, i did finish it, but it didn't really grab my attention.

The most over-rated one for me has to be The Return by Victoria Hislop. It is SO DULL that you will the characters to top themselves... and it has so many annoying inaccuracies I couldn't believe anyone had edited it.

Couldn't get through TTW, also Midnight's Children. Does anyone remember Behind the Scenes at th Museam? Tried twice to read it, gave up.

For most over-rated, I'm with the James Joyce brigade - have tried Ulysses a couple of times, and never got past page 96. Fared even worse with Finnegan's Wake.

Re: other books mentioned here (skim read) I loved 100 Years of Solitude.

And Middlemarch is one of my favourites ever.

Could not finish Midnight's Children, and consequently have not tried any other Rushdie.

By far the worst book in the universe is 'Aaron's Rod' by DH Lawrence. All his books are shite, but this one is stratospheric.

No one will of heard of it, of course. 'Cos it's shite.