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

Can't say I enjoyed 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' but was engaged/shocked and felt something.

Alchemist - utter shite. I knew I'd hate it but a friend 'begged' me to try. I also read the other one - The Celestine Prophecy - although I should have learned by lesson from The Alchemist. These are the only two non 'life changing' / spirituality bits of waffle books I have ever read, and I shant bother with any more. Durge.

The Da Vinci Code. I see a copy in nearly every charity shop i go in!

(Salutes Lottie). You are of course quite right and I stand corrected

Captain Corelli's Mandolin is unreadable bollocks, to be sure. I have never even picked up any of the others mentioned here because I know in advance I won't like them and see no reason to waste my time on them.
I love reading and have a houseful of books but what I like is crime, thrillers, sci-fi and horror, and in these categories you often get great, insightful stuff about human behaviour, unusual and interesting moral philosophies or political viewpoints, lovely descriptive writing, excellent dialogue and actual decent plots.
All these wanky great hyped books about 'the human condition' are either full of smugness about the author's empathy with The Poor or they are just about one middle class, middle aged bloke and his self-obsession.

I read 'remarkable things' some time ago and quite enjoyed it. There's no drama or epic story line, but then that's the whole point (IMO).

Also loved 'Kevin', and 'Post-Birthday World' (also Shriver) is good too.

Chocolat is definitely overrated! It's a lovely story, but that's all it is!

As for Wuthering Heights, it's one of my favourite books. I think the atmosphere created is just amazing.

Anything by Thomas Hardy is just YAWN (I think 'madding crowd' at school put me off big time )

I also tried to read 'war and peace once' and really didn't get very far!

Oooh I liked 'Kevin' too. Agree with Interpretation of Murder being a little dull and slow though. I liked Time Traveller's Wife, not enough to watch the film though.

Have never heard of "If Nobody Speaks".

HATED The Slap and everyone in it - have just done it for Book Club and we all hated it.

Enjoyed Kevin.

I tend to skim read though. A book has to be really bad for me not to finish. I have The Interpretation of Murder but haven't read yet. Time Traveller's Wife was ok. A bit weird.

Didn't like Wuthering Heights either.

I read 'my name is red' and can't remember a single thing about it so quite probably YANBU

Thomas Hardy - on p100 a character will make a decision which is monumentally stupid. They will spend the next 300 pages whinging about it and visiting the sins of the fathers on the next generation. Jude the frigging Obscure my arse, not obscure enough if you ask me.

Wuthering Heights - man who hangs puppies for fun is greatest literary romantic hero ever. Read Cold Comfort Farm instead.

A Suitable Boy - the longest, and by some way the dullest, book written in English.

Catch 22 - major major major major disappointment

Choclat awful
Wolf Hall dull
Da Vinci Code and all those 'secret' books rubbish
Fantasy books that are full of battles dreadful

I agree that if books promise on the cover to be life changing I try to avoid them like the plague.

I have read books that have changed my life
'Happy as a Dead Cat' Jill Miller (good old Women's Press)
'Woman on the Edge of Time' Margery Piercy
'The Fifth Sacred Thing' Starhawk
I share them with friends but don't get offended if they don't share my enthusiasm.
But I do get cross if they recommend trite and boring books.
I also love Nora Roberts and Georgette Heyer which offends someone who told me I didn't know how to read a book properly as I don't have an English first class degree ( only a B Sc so what do I know )

Oh yes, I forgot about my deep and abiding hatred of Wuthering Heights. USELESS

War and Peace is awesome - the best book I've ever read, without a doubt.

DP and I were recently discussing his barking boss, and he said "The Alchemist is her favourite book; she says it's been a huge influence on her life". We then both realised that this confirms she is a giant muppet.

Disgrace by JM Coetze actually won the Booker prize - it is utter shite.

Agree re Time Travellers' wife - and ffs, how did he hold down a job when he kept disappearing the whole time?

We Need to Talk About Kevin - feckin' awful, didn't like any of the characters, not even the little sister. The ONLY reason I kept reading it was to see what utter utter stupid pathetic excuse for Kevin's behaviour, Franklin came out with next. The man was a complete loon.

Howard's End by EM Forster is probably the most boring book ever written.

I read Disgrace recently and I thought it was very good. I thought it discussed race/gender through interesting layers of narrative. I think he is a good writer.

i like books with 'flawed' narrators so Disgrace and wuthering heights both good for that reason.

I loved Captain Corelli! However, the first third of the book was a complete trial, but totally worth it.

"Mayorquimby 'The Slap' is on my reading list at the moment.."

Take it off your list immediately.

It is one of the worst written books I have ever read, with 2-dimensional characters, none of which have anything engaging or interesting about them.
It is attempting to be this cutting edge commentary on modern soceity and multi-culturalism with a bit of pseudo-commentary on the modern gender roles.
In reality it is absolute pulp, it uses some mild sex scenes to make itself seem controversial.
Just truely awful from start to finish.
Disappointing because it starts with an interesting premise but quickly descends into pool-side fodder

Brick Lane was another over-hyped disappointment - so boring and predictable. I gave up halfway through.

Captain Corelli OK as a holiday read but the ending was annoying.

Have never got through anything by Trollope or any novel by Virginia Woolf though I love "A Room of One's Own"

Agree with Bonfire re Thomas Hardy - Tess Durbeyfield, get a fucking backbone / personality, gggrrrrr!

The exception is Return of the Native which is quite good.

Da Vinci was bollocks but at least a pacey read (so I got through it quicker).

I also like to finish a book, but one I could not get through and remains unread is The Famished Road - that too won a Booker, but it's unbearably turgid.

Loved Kevin although I can't bear the author from her subsequent Grauniad articles. Adored A Suitable Boy. Wolf Hall was BRILLIANT and I can't wait for her to finish writing the next one!

I finished The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie but thought it was an awful pile of shite.

Unrulysun - my DH had to do Jude for his A levels - has left him with a deep and abiding hatred of Thomas Hardy and all his works...

The LIttle Friend. thousands of pages in search of an ending.
Time Traveller's Wife...words fail me.

Kevin was inaccurate, predictable, turgid, contrived shite.

My only memory of 'If Nobody Speaks' is the dawning horror as I worked out what the central incident was, after my MIL gave it to me to read THE VERY DAY of my grandfather's funeral after he was killed by being hit by a car.

I think Ian McEwan is massively overrated. And I was underwhelmed by White Teeth although I did then love The Autograph Man.

Have a fondness for Wuthering Heights and Time-traveller's Wife, Catch 22, Cpt Correlli. French Lieutenant's Woman are no hardship

My worst reads for pure boredom are
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, On The Road, Moby Dick & Heart of bloody Darkness.

Have started Possession twice.

I generally avoid anything that claims to be "subtly nuanced"

I'd completely forgotten about "If nobody speaks of remarkable things" but now you remind me agree that it is bobbins.

Jane Austen very overrated IMO. The ending of Sense and Sensibility! I struggled through that book to be confronted with an ending a nine-year-old would be told to rewrite. I wanted to steal her bonnet and push her under a passing gig.
Also Proust - maybe it's the translation, but it's so very zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Apart from Catcher In The Rye, Salinger is a zzzzfest of posh Americans.

Would have to defend Thomas Hardy and James Joyce and the Brontes. Though I feel that Emily is unfairly lauded and Anne unfairly overlooked.

I haven't read the Time Traveller's Wife as it sounds bab and enraged one of my friends to the point where you can't mention it in front of him.

What's the McEwan one that starts with the balloon accident? Yawn.