What is the most tedious book you have ever read?

[Figmentofmyimagination]

I am going out on a limb here for my first thread - I am struggling through The Well of Loneliness by Radcliffe hall. Aargh. I read it out of "historical interest" because I was interested by her boldness and by the obscenity trial etc but bloody hell she should have got herself an editor. The writing is truly dire. I am not sure I am actually going to make it to the end.

Possession by A S Byatt. And then The Children's Book also by her. Why oh why did I pick up another Byatt? Never again!

Also Jonathan Strange - just dull. I'm also one that has to finish a book. Took me 9 months. However Wolf Hall has been on my 'currently reading' pile for 18 months now. Only half way through.....

Shocked that so many people hated Time Traveller's Wife. One of my all time favourites and I just raced through. Funny just how poles apart our opinions can be.

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson. I don't usually mind her books, but this was dull and so confusing. Even at the end I had no idea who was real and what the main part of the message was.

Yy to Posession

Also Wolf Hall, Prayer for Owen Meany, Lord of the Rings, all Charles Dickens Books (possibly except Christmas Carol which at least has the benefit of being short).

Love this thread and seeing the huge range of opinions. Some of my all time favourite books are mentioned - Waterland, Handmaid's Tale, Girl with Dragon Tattoo.

We Need to Talk About Kevin.
But ultimately worth ploughing through.
Still to finish The Goldfinch. Time constraint rather than tedious reason for not finishing it yet.
War and Peace was tough enough.
No!!! The absolute worst was Moby Dick.

Oh yes - Brick Lane.
BORING

Ooh, yes, Brick Lane was dull

Without a doubt it's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré. Far too many characters, and espionage lingo without explaining them.

The new JK Rowling one under pseudo name of Robert Galbraith. Can't even remember the name of the book. There was a tv show recently of it. I just didn't get the book at all. But I think I'm in the minority with this opinion.

Anna Karenina. I read every single page and at the end I simply breathed a sigh of relief that it was over.

Before I go to sleep. Wish I'd just gone to sleep instead.

oh god lougle - yes! dh said i was swearing under my breath every night while i was reading anna karenina. ugh

Emma

Emma

Ohhhh I LOVED Possession!! Couldn't get through The Children's Book though, admittedly.

This is an interestinng thread - I'd really like someone to pool all the data and do some kind of graph :)...no-one??...

YY to We Need to Talk about Kevin. Gave up about a third of the way through. Dull

Wolf Hall and Goldfinch

Wolf Hall - just about slogged through to the end.
I found Zadie Smith's On Beauty a bit tedious although it picked up towards the end.
Middlemarch.
The Accidental.

Some of these I can hardly remember anything about other than that they were hard-going. It's funny how tastes vary as I've enjoyed many of the books in this thread even if some were the literary equivalent of junk food.

Effnjeff if you could steel yourself to go back to 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' it's worth it to plough through as it has a twist.

I think there's an awful lot of 'emperor's new clothes' about a lot of books ( and art)

Cactus .yup, I can sort of agree. ( am also a Ulysses fan).

Moby Dick I resorted in part to audio book in the gym.

Time Traveller's wife, just a non event. Adequate short haul reading.

Catcher in the Rye, agreed with Ds who said puerile and no excuse for boring bad language.

Les Mis. So much better as a musical.

I enjoy Middlemarch though like Jude and Emma it's full of characters I loathe and social embarrassment at which I shudder.

Tess of the Durbeyvilles. Unreadable.

Arcadia. Don't even try. Was once in a seminar with John Carey where we agreed it was truly awful and the rest of the group loved it. Only time I've ever agreed with him.

Much of Our Mutual Friend. Saved by Lizzie.

Did I say The Magic Mountain?

But Clarissa and Arcadia, comprehensible and turgid, are tops.

I just started A Quiet Belief in Angels and I can't believe it came up several times on a thread about tedious books. I'm totally hooked. I love crime novels though, so might be biased.

The hare with the amber eyes
We need to talk about Kevin
The goldfinch
The sea
Jonathan strange
Suspicions of mr whicher
Catcher in the rye
Anything by Henry James
God.....loads....

Lord of the bloody rings. I was so so bored.