Popular book that you didn’t enjoy

[Wanttocry]

Not really a TAAT but inspired by the Crawdads thread.

What’s a book that has been raved about, but that you didn’t really enjoy? For me it would have to be The Goldfinch, I just didn’t really get it.

I've said this on a another thread before but without a shadow of a doubt Wolf Hall

Oh I would like to add Love in the Time of Cholera too

But I was reading Wolf Hall when the original lockdown came in. It will forever be associated with lockdown for me 🙈😂

@JaninaDuszejko can’t believe the audacity of putting 50 Shades in the same category as The Time Travelers Wife and then go on with your examples in 2 and 3!

(TTTW is great btw. But I’ve tried and failed to finish your other examples as I didn’t like them - aside from 50 Shades which I refuse to even pick up! )

I was ok with Cholera, it was 100 Years of Sodding Solitude that did for me. I gave it a good go but blooming heck, on and on and on it went.

Agree with Time travelers wife, completely overrated.

Fifty shades, I got through a few chapters and thought I’m not wasting any more time on this utter crap writing.

Shantaram, I finished it and there were a few bits I enjoyed but overall rubbish.

wanderedlonelyasacloud
I wish I'd done the same. It was the audio version I had as well.
It became like something to battle through rather than enjoy and it seemed so long and never ending.
I'm usually the one saying to people "life is too short to slog on with books your not enjoying"
I didn't listen to my own advice 😆

Definitely Secret history for me - it's always recommended on here and I just feel like I completely missed the point, none of the characters were likeable and I really didn't care what happened to them. I finished it, but it was a slog.

I'm also conflicted on A little life - I see PP described it as misery porn and that is such an apt description, but it was beautifully written. I wouldn't read it again, but I don't regret reading it.

I'm with the poster who said Lincoln in the Bardo.
The quality of the writing was good, but I just found it sad and depressing. I'm into history and already knew quite a lot about Lincoln's family tragedies, and I'm not sure why this more supernatural take was so popular.
Waiting for Godot. Nothing much happens, they just wait. I can't even remember the ending, it was so underwhelming.

@elQuintoConyo
Yes to A Confederacy of Dunces. I'd forgotten about that one! I didn't get very far in it. I didn't see how it could be funny, and thought the way Ignatius spoke to his mother was very rude.

Kite Runner and The Miniaturist

I have never gotten beyond chapter 5 in the first Harry Potter book. I know I would have loved Harry Potter as a child, but I'm not much younger than the author, so was already an adult when it was written. I have started reading it about three or four times now. Both my DS's love HP. I really want to love HP because I admire JK Rowling. Maybe I should try one of her crime novels.

The Goldfinch, however, is one of my favourite novels!

I have A little life on my Kindle.
I've not read it as most people say it's misery porn.
I read, A child called it back in the day and I don't wish to repeat it.
My Dark Vanessa was bad enough.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I think I read about 3 chapters. the Major's only positive attribute was that he was kinder to Mrs. Ali than to other characters, but other than this he seemed very cold and distant with his family and I didn't really care about what would happen to him.

Sorry, that should read that the Major's only positive attribute was that he was kind to Mrs. Ali, whereas others in that community seemed to be less so.

100 Years of Solitude - I'm not scared of a classic, complex book, but dear god, what utter purgatory. It would have helped if nearly every character didn't have the same name.

Normal People- a lack of punctuation does not make a book more interesting and edgy. Complete waste of my time.

A Man Called Ove - way overhyped. Predictable and very very average.

A Gentleman in Moscow - (I'll qualify this with the fact that I speak Russian and have a degree in Russian literature) I should have LOVED this. It has a great surmise for a story and doesn't develop it at all.

Wuthering Heights- misery lit with too many Catherines/Haretons/Hindleys. I'm obviously a Jane Eyre person.

A Suitable Boy - a decent enough story but you could cut out the turgid chapters on Indian politics, make the book 700 pages shorter and it might be more readable.

Terry Pratchett - I've tried several time with various books. Nope.

Where d'you go Bernadette

Utter shite.

In some ways I don’t think the Thursday Murder Club belongs here. Yes, there was hype at the beginning associated with Richard Osman having written it. But actually I’m yet to meet anyone who really liked it so I don’t think there is actual hype in the way of Crawdads where everyone was buzzing about it.

I do agree about Thursday Murder, it was passable enough for a boring weekend. I’ll probably read the second when it passes through Kindle for 99p.

I’d say A Gentleman in Moscow is a bit like conversations I have in real life about Louis de Bernieres. Few people either are ok or a solid 3 star perfectly good book. They either clicked with them and they worked or they really didn’t. There seems to be very little in between.

I’d also agree Love in the Time of Cholera was better than One Hundred Years of Solitude which I did find a slog, but I still think about now so perhaps it was better than I gave it credit for.

@kofiban

I've not read normal people but enjoyed the tv show, but read Conversations with Friends and thought everyone in it was either boring, unkind, annoying or pretentious or a mixture of all 4.

So glad you mentioned Donna Tartt, I've tried to read The Secret History and The Goldfinch and have found both soooo hard to get into, I just want to scream "get on with it!".

Agree re Goldfinch and gave up

can’t believe the audacity of putting 50 Shades in the same category as The Time Travelers Wife and then go on with your examples in 2 and 3!

There's not a lot between 1 and 2, I've just unfortunately read group 2. I know enough about TTTW to know it's sentimental tragic love shite, I don't need that in my life. Similar to Benjamin Button but at least BB was a short story and written a long time ago. Forrest Gump is another. Hate this type of story.

@Wanttocry

Not really a TAAT but inspired by the Crawdads thread.

What’s a book that has been raved about, but that you didn’t really enjoy? For me it would have to be The Goldfinch, I just didn’t really get it.

I could not get into The Goldfinch when I tried to read it (twice) but then I listened to it on Audible - OMG - I absolutely loved it!! The narrator was amazing and brought it completely to life. Have to say the film was nothing in comparison to the Audible book though!!

I've just thought of another one - My Beautiful Friend. That one is our book club measure of awfulness, although I've heard the TV series is amazing.

Hamnet
The Couple Next Door
Three Things About Elsie
Small Pleasures
Atonement
No One is Talking About This

I often check Goodreads 1&2 star reviews of a book I’m uncertain of and then do the compare books thing with the reviewers to see if we have similar or opposite tastes.

I think I would have liked Lincoln in the Bardo, had it not been about Lincoln or that time period in America. I liked the style but I really wasn’t interested in it.

I forgot to add: Lord of the Rings is only bearable if I skip all the battle scenes