Books that weren’t shit, just underwhelming/didn’t get

[KenForPM]

So we’ve had a number of shit books threads... how about a thread for books that we didn’t necessarily hate, but were underwhelmed by/were forgettable, if you get what I mean.

I read Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud a good few years ago. I remember getting to the end and thinking “what even happened in that book?” I remember thinking it just felt like there was no plot. I suppose it’s partly to do with the fact that the narrator is so young (four/five IIRC), but others seem to rave about it when I googled it. It made no sense.

With Captain Corelli ( the only book that ahs actually made me weep real tears on each reading) you do need to get past the first chapter about Mussolini : it has no bearing on the rest of the book. Not a spoiler : the platonic love story involving the noble and heroin 'omosessuale' and Francisco and then Correlli is the most affecting story I have ever read. And some of it is very funny. There is a bit with an erection that makes me laugh out loud. The actual love story is to me not the strength of the book. And I learnt so much WW2 history that is not generally known from CCM.

I have taught this one at A level and - after the slow start- the students love it without fail.

I am not a rereader but have read Corelli, Tess, Beloved and God Of Small Things many times and they get me every time!

But then I also love White Teeth and it has become very prescient.

The book about bees. I read a few pages and didn't persevere. Wolf Hall tried a few times but didn't get into at all. Keeper of Lost Things was rubbish. I've not read a decent book all year. Didn't like the Miniaturist either only read a few pages. Maybe I'm too hard to please.

Ok, Piggy, I'll give Corelli another go! I love historical type settings usually. I can't even remember if I made it past that first chapter as it was so many years ago. I know I didn't get far in White Teeth before deciding life was too short.

Just reiterating exactly that about Corelli!! Get through Mussolini and it's the best novel I've ever read.

Anything by Salman Rushdie. I feel very ignorant saying it but I cannot get on with his writing style at all.

I loved Captain Corelli. But, along with everyone else I know who loved it, you do have to get through the first 70 pages or so. "My" Corelli was nothing like Nicholas Cage though.

Oh the film is just dreadful !! It's so bad it makes me angry.

I love the film so much I went to Kefallonia for my 20th anniversary last summer :)

I’ve read 570 pages of The Goldfiinch with 200 more to go. I’ve put it down and started to read The girl with all the gifts. HELP!

So true. Never ending!

Hear, hear.

I had to start Captain Corelli about six times to get past the dreadful opening. I persevered because so many other people loved it and it is really worth it.
The hundred year old man for me was utterly underwhelming. Pointless and dull.

Agree with previous posters on Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and Girl On The Train. Also really disliked Me Before You. Couldn't finish it.

Grief Is The Thing With Feathers.

I rarely enjoy books that have been written in a dialect or 'slang'. Every time Crow appeared I wanted to give up. I got through it in the end but it felt like a real chore, in spite of it being such a short book.

Just remembered Catcher in the Rye. Have started it a couple of times but always given up. I can’t bear Holden’s moaning and navel-gazing.

Catcher in the Rye is the most meh 'classic' I've ever read.

The people I know (including me) who love Catcher in the Rye all read it when they were teenagers/early 20s. And everyone I know who thinks 'meh' read it as an adult. Conclusive proof that feelings for books are about right time, right place as well.

My first attempt was when I was a teenager, and I’m still in my early 20s! I was just irritated by Holden’s moaning and general attitude to everything.

I read it in my early 20s.

Eats, shoots and leaves

I liked the Grief is The Thing With Feathers and could appreciate its original style. I also quite enjoyed Girl on The Train; it is all very subjective what we do and don't enjoy. Having said that I wouldn't personally tackle The Essex Serpent or The miniaturist as I have low tolerance for finishing books and have heard some negative reviews from other sources about these books.

Damn!

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. What a slog. Yet so many people rave about it. I just couldn't engage with any of the characters.

It's the sort of book I usually enjoy and I was so sure that I'd love it that I bought the first three in the series. The second and third went off to the Oxfam bookshop in pristine condition.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - I bought it after reading good reviews on MN, and began it with every hope of it being a gripping read. It wasn’t. I felt as though the whole book skirted round the plot, if you could even say that it has a plot. Nothing much actually happened. Each time I thought the story was going to take off, it fizzled out. I never managed to feel anything other than frustration and boredom, no connection to any of the characters. Not even the bloody chimpanzee!

Still ploughing through thread but had to take issue with those not liking The Essex Serpent. I found it entertaining, thoughtful, atmospheric and rich. Loved the protagonist.

Another Esther Freud one –Lucky Break, about a young actress and her training and early career. Think it's highly autobiographical. Not dreadful – she can write –but just not that interesting (I don't remember anything much happening), and packed with actorly terminology and slang that makes you feel simultaneously like an outsider and like you don't care about the characters and their affectations.

I'm sure I'll come back with more!

Each time I thought the story was going to take off, it fizzled out.

Yes, I had all sorts of ideas of where the plot might go and it didn't go anywhere near any of them - it didn't go anywhere!!!