to ask what was the most annoying book you have ever ploughed through?

[pandarific]

I am reading Her Fearful Symmetry for bookclub and I'm a fifth of the way through and hating it. It is just striking me as very cutesy and mimsy wimsy and I have eyerolled so many times in the past 100 pages. (Children, in 2010, in London, happily playing croquet - really? Oh and then there's a ghost. And some creepy twins! Great.)

It wouldn't be so bad, but the fecking thing is 500 pages long.

I know it's a matter of taste as the author's books are massive bestsellers. And I may be being unfair as I seem to just really dislike magical realism in general. And I am open to reading all kinds of different books (last one A Game of Thrones, before that The Kite Runner), and anyway, half the point of a bookclub is to read things you wouldn't pick for yourself. But but. The salesperson at Waterstones even went on about how great it was when I was buying it, ffs! Waaah, boo, disappointment, 500 pages of life wasted etc.

Anyway, I definitely will finish it as it's only fair to give it a real chance, and I will try not to BU and judge so quickly, but I have to ask - what books have you made yourself finish, bookclub or no, that you've hated?

I love Anna Karenina - read it on a train in December in the '80's between Moscow and Leningrad - it was snowing and cold and awesome and the mood was so right for the book. Luuurve it.

Sounds brilliant, just the right atmosphere.

Anna K is my all-time favorite. I got my husband to read it (major - he's non-fiction all the way), and it's now his too.

Oh, dear, I feel like such a philistine, now. I'm not proud of having struggled with it - I really want to read it.

And I have read other serious books, honest.

Vanity Fare. Utter, utter crap. Made myself read about 300 pages before I decided I couldn't take any more.

Nearly every book club book I've ever read- most of which have been mentioned up thread.
Panda you're on to something in your OP, about taste and best sellers. I'm afraid that almost by definition if something vvvvv popular it'll have been hyped beyond belief or a bit obvious- neither of which are any indication that they'll be good.
Proper ffs, throw across the room, recent reads include One Day, gone girl, that silly 100 year old man one.
I like the Slap- I found the characters v unpleasant, but it was still compelling. I've bought Barracuda; its big!
DrNick is that Utz, Chatwin?

Up thread a PP mentioned Saturday by Ian McEwan. Agree irritating. I was getting on ok with it and then hit the squash match and ground to a halt. So, so dull.

Agree Gone Girl didn't even begin to live up to the hype.

And talking of disappointing thrillers- Kathy Reichs. Awful. Got to about page 20 of one of hers and simply couldn't continue.

On Chesil Beach....turgid to say the least.

whippetwoman Sun 02-Feb-14 13:49:51

How Late it Was, How Late.

Just don't. Not ever. Words cannot describe....I cannot articulate my annoyance with it.

Couldn't agree more. There are two good things about this book; it ends (thank fuck) and it persuaded me that life's too short to read shit books. My rule now is that if they're still shit by page 100 they go to the chazzer.

I loved Anna Karenina too, but I read it at 15 when I did not have DS had the mental space for that kind of novel. Now, I suspect I would struggle a bit...

On the other hand, I intensely dislike those novel with titles that seem to have been written by committee or by some smug sub-editor (the Ukranian tractor thingy, Eat Pray Love, etc). I suppose this doesn't count for this thread though, as these are the books I never buy

50 Shades was a crock of shit, but I felt that i had to finish it if I were going to critisise it. Horrible glorification of abuse, written so poorly that I wondered if it was an early attempt by a room full of monkeys tapping away at their typewritters.

I'm afraid that I have judged my boss upon her declaration that she blooody loved it.

I keep expecting Derren Brown to admit that the whole thing was a brainwashing trick by him for a yet to be shown episode of his tv programme.

I can't remember the title, but it was a true story about an Australian man who ended up in a Thai jail. It was utter shite and full of unnecessary swearing even though I don't mind a bit of swearing myself

It ended up in the bin.

I also tried to read The Turn of The Screw, but couldn't cope with the archaic language, so that got binned as well.

Oh, and another one called Housekeeping by someone I can't remember. I bought it because I liked the cover

It had won some sort of award, but was just awful.

Wuthering Heights. One of the most overrated books I have ever read.

'The End of History and the Last Man' by Francis Fukuyama. Read [most of] it with steam coming out of my ears at the rank stupidity and hard-of-thinkingness of it, being published as a real book for real money. It was quite heavy so made a dramatic sound when it hit the wall. That was the best thing about it.

Lots of books I loved on this thread. Totally agree re The Slap though. What a nobcheese. IMO people who hate everybody make bad writers.

The Book of Dave by Will Self. I loathed it all the way through and only finished it because the ending had to redeem the misogynistic awfulness of the plot. It didn't.

Oh yes The Slap for me, too. Horrid and infuriating, nasty characters, nasty authorial voice.
And Twilight. Like a PP, I read all four for some reason. Well, all but the very end. I stopped about 100 pages from the end of the last one as I had a horrible feeling that the odious characters actually WERE all going to survive the series without growing or changing or suffering in any way. So I checked Wikipedia and I was right, they did .

On the other hand, Catch-22 is one of my favourite books ever ever ever, and I am at the poster who hated American Gods, I loved that book an unreasonable amount.

Oh I LOVED Chesil Beach, you're all a bunch of Heathens!

Housekeeping is by Marylin Robinson . I quite liked it and it was made into a film by Bill Forsyth.

Her next one Gilead however is platitudinous drivel which just goes on and on and on.

chrome don't say you liked Enduring Love too? I'm one of your Heathens!

Enduring Love is brilliant! Shame the film was so bobbins.

I also loved Chesil Beach - I've often thought of it. I disliked Atonement and also Caitlin Moran's How To Be A Woman, despite really liking Caitlin.

OP, have you flung it yet?

I loved TTW and was massively disappointed in HFS - at least I only got it from the library.

I abandoned The Slap, planned to go back to it one day - but don't think I will after this thread!

SGB, Lindsey Duncan or Carol Jordan?

Glad I'm not the only one who couldn't finish Love in the time of cholera. I think that's the only book I've ever given up on.

I did finish Wolf Hall but didn't get why everyone raved about it.

Glad I haven't attempted Her fearful symmetry judging by the responses here (loved time travellers wife).