Books you regret reading

[razor343]

Cell by Stephen King...don't get me wrong, I love King and Cell is probably one of his best works but the death of a certain character just kind of made me regret ever picking it up (those of you who have read it will surely know what I'm talking about)...The death itself just shows how fucked up some people can be (And the thing is this probably would happen in real life) and how fragile life is.

 

[jklinders]

I felt profoundly depressed after reading Farnham's Freehold.

That was some pretty fucked up and depressing stuff.

 

[rob_simple]

The Others by James Herbert. I'd previously read his book, The Secret of Crickley Hall and it's still one of my favourite ghost stories of all time, so when a friend recommended this one I was excited...until it turned out to be utter dross and actually mildly insulting to people with any sort of physical deformity.

On the topic of Ray Bradbury, he was the only man who could make sci-fi interesting to me; I'm very grateful for that.

 

[Axyun]

Recently: The brief wondrous life of oscar wao.

Immediately after finishing this book I had to ask myself what was the point in reading it. None of the characters grew or developed, nothing changed save for things dictated by the course of time and the lesson of the story seems to be: it is OK if you are a misguided, socially inpet, romantic-to-the-point-of-metally-defficient, useless, unproductive member of society who constantly and willingly makes stupid decisions with dire consequences as long as you got laid once in the process.

I picked it up based on several recommendations due to the fact that I was born in the dominican republic and my parents lived through the era that the book constantly flashbacks to. While the author might impress someone who is not of said cultural background with his mangled spanish and attempts at being a culture hipster, it completely failed to impress me, who could read the combination of spanish and english without batting an eyelash.

After all the cute attempts at being witty with spanish dialog, all that was left for me was a book about an idiot whose attempt at getting laid gets him killed. And it was totally worth it because he did get laid.

Talk about tripe.

 

[loc978]

Never finished a book I didn't enjoy... except for school-related crap. I don't regret those, though. Torturous as they were, they were also necessary for graduation.

I read the first 4 books of the Wheel of time series after being suggested to it by someone who likes them. I can't believe I got that far, suddenly expecting it to get interesting. It was probably the most boring accomplishment in all my life, its just pages and pages of throwaway characters you don't care about bickering about stupid crap.

...hmm, probably not for you, then. Lots of politics.

The anarchy and death starts really ramping up toward the end of book six, though. All the politics lead to some pretty satisfying war.

...not nearly as satisfying as A Song of Ice and Fire, mind you.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

I disliked Rye for the same reason. The Great Gatsby was also a boring book.

Honestly, I disliked most of the books in English class. I've been moving more towards Non-Fiction as of late. Something I really enjoyed reading was the Rommel Papers.

I'm reading them now for my dissertation, absolutely fascinating read. I would also reccomend Lost Victories by Field Marshall von Manstein
The sing le wors book i have ever read however is The Art of War by Antoine Henri Jomini. And absolutely awfull book. I can't believe if formed the basis of American military thought for over a century.
Also Orcs, Orcs was just terrible

 

[AngelOfBlueRoses]

I regret reading The Lovely Bones, I pretty much just kept on reading to see if it got any less unpleasant. It did not.

Also I kind of regret looking through my sisters pregnancy books. I'm already freaked out enough about pregnancy and it didn't help. (Basically `How you will feel at so-and-so weeks: like shit`)

I'm going to have to agree with you on The Lovely Bones. I read it my junior year of high school after everyone kept telling me over and over and over again how good of a book it was. Well, it wasn't. It was the worst book I've ever read, and I've read almost all of the Eragon series. It was terribly paced, chaotic plot that zig-zagged to and fro too wildly, I could not sympathize with the characters at all - like, the fucking mother for instance, that crazy ***** - and not to mention how unbelievably creepy the entire book was.

 

[peruvianskys]

Recently: The brief wondrous life of oscar wao.

Yeah I thought it was trashy too. Far too much over-stylized ghetto linguistics and far too little actual substance.

As already mentioned, The Catcher in the Rye. I was annoyed by that book because everyone kept saying how revolutionary it was. I don't get how people that from Holden's character, he is just a pretentious little shit acting like everyone around him, even the people who are trying to help him, are elitists and corrupt. It comes off as the biggest temper tantrum ever thrown by a teenager, I just wanted to punch the main character in his smug little face and tell him to go back to his nice little private school that his rich parents were nice enough to put him in and get back in line. Holden was honestly complaining for no real reason, his hatred of authority was irrational when that same authority had given him a comfortable and easy life, maybe if he had a harder life it would be easier to sympathize with him but his life was easy and yet he still tried to run away from it.

You realize that you're totally spot-on, right? No one who reads the Catcher in the Rye is really supposed to feel differently about him. The whole point is that he's confused, angry, unfair, pretentious, and prone to lashing out. You're not supposed to like him.

With that said, I don't think Holden is unlikable so much as he's just human. Most teenagers are like that. They're angry and bitter and unappreciative, but deep down there's more than that. Holden is also insecure, self-hating, scared, and lonely. He's a complex character. It's wrong to identify with him as some kind of saintly teenage hero but it's also ignoring a lot of the more subtle characterizations to say that he's just a whiny shit.

 

[Fortunefaded]

The worst one I've ever finished, however, is "Catcher in the Rye". I keep hearing a lot of people telling me that I "just don't get it". I get it, all right. It's about a whiny kid being a whiny kid, while telling the world he is the only one who has it right, even when he doesn't. I have never disliked a main character as much as Holden Caulfield. The real phony is the author acting like they are being deep.

.

I think you missed the point of the book hence not getting the full enjoyment.

This imo tho; reading catcher in the rye as a misfit teenager who dislikes school, their peers and family due to being a teenage is very relatable.

Reading as an adult with some actual life experience, the book is instead 90% of "I want to punch this whiny phony Holden in the face". I came to a completely different summary of Holden by the end of the book as I had understanding of where he was coming from but also aware how immature and underdeveloped he is in life and he is only beginning to see this.

The closing section of Catcher in the Rye really made me think about myself and how I've acted over the years and I found it rather profound.

 

[Evil Alpaca]

"So long and Thanks for All the Fish" and "Mostly Harmless" by Douglass Adams

These felt like he was writing for the paycheck rather than love of the series. The jokes seem to be more focus on being mean to Arthur Dent than being satirical.

"Dune Messiah" by Frank Herbert (sequel to Dune)

I love Dune. It is one of my all time favorite books. If you haven't read it, do so immediately. However, this one felt like the author wanted to write a sequel but now had to work around his all-powerful main character.

"War of Honor" by David Weber

This one just ran the series on too long. The Honor Harrington series was a decent military science fiction series but this book showed he wanted to keep the series going to the point where it doesn't seem to make sense. Nations seem to go to war at the drop of a hat compared to the first 3 books of the series which showed how big a deal a nation going to war was.

 

[BaronUberstein]

I disliked Rye for the same reason. The Great Gatsby was also a boring book.

Honestly, I disliked most of the books in English class. I've been moving more towards Non-Fiction as of late. Something I really enjoyed reading was the Rommel Papers.

I'm reading them now for my dissertation, absolutely fascinating read. I would also reccomend Lost Victories by Field Marshall von Manstein
The sing le wors book i have ever read however is The Art of War by Antoine Henri Jomini. And absolutely awfull book. I can't believe if formed the basis of American military thought for over a century.
Also Orcs, Orcs was just terrible

I'll look into it for sure. Never read the Art of War myself...how was it awfull? Was it simply outdated or some other factor?

 

[JLML]

Well, probably the Necronomicon. Ever since I read it I've been haunted by nightmares most terrible. And I see things, things that shouldn't be there. I am utterly convinced that this is not my imagination playing tricks, no, I am sure that it is real, that there is something otherworldly out to get me. Maybe I should take my life, if only to save myself from the constant strain of these hauntings. . .


More seriously though, I'd say. . . hmm. . . while not a book per se, Einstein's theory of relativity. It's not that I don't like it, I do, I find it extremely interesting, but it makes me think about stuff. You know, the kind of thoughts that can make you just sit there and stare at the wall for ages, making yourself confused and possibly a bit scared. All in all, it's something of a Lovecraftian experience, when you start thinking about how the universe works, and how infinitesimally small our part in it is.

 

[scorptatious]

I can't say I've enjoyed Lord of the Flies. Can't exactly remember what it was that I disliked about it considering I haven't read it since my sophomore year in High School. All I remember was that I just didn't like it.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

I'll look into it for sure. Never read the Art of War myself...how was it awfull? Was it simply outdated or some other factor?

Jomin's art of war (don't want anyone to get it confused with the work by Sun Tzu of the same name, as Sun Tzu's The Art of War is worth reading) is outdated and the theories within are inherently flawed. This is a man who annoyed Napoleon so much he was given command of a division just to get rid of him. He constantly tries to defend himself from critics within the text of the book but gives no justification for said defence. Much of what is written is also contradictory and the rest is needlessly complicated.
This is a quote from my Theories of War lecturer
"The language is deliberately obfuscating to try and hide his own ineptness."

Seriously, i have never seen a man more obsessed with lines of operation.
The thing that i found most infuriating though is that he says there is one fundamental principle that will lead to success in war. Then he gives a list of about 20 different maxims that form the principle, spends a few pages talking about more lines of operation and then says the key to victory is finding the decisive point in the battle before it has begun. Of course, that would require the ability to see into the future, or time travel, neither of which are currently possible.
Sorry for the rant but that was just one seriously awful book.

 

[Marshall Lee]

For myself I'd say it's a long string of recommendations given by my high school librarian after she found out my favorite genre is science fiction... After that, cue any crap book with any sort of remotely advanced technology or takes place Twenty Minutes Into The Future. This stuff made The Hunger Games look 2001: A Space Odyssey. So much of it was an excuse to take illogical teenage angst and spin it into a whole setting where the world really IS out to get them. The worst I can remember was this book called, if I remember correctly, "House of the Scorpion." Other than some weird background detail about genetic engineering, it was a sloggy melodrama about The Social And Class Divide in a rural South American country. Fortunately, I managed to find a number of gems in that library, notably Asimov's Foundation series and Simmon's Hyperion Cantos, on my own time.

I'll also admit a masochistic vein in myself with this thread... I only it opened up to see if anyone out there absolutely despised a book I enjoyed. Other than Hyperion (which I feel has done some of the best and strangest worldbuilding I've ever come across) and Atlas Shrugged (which I read for the humorous spectacle of itself, much like a clown car pileup) I find myself somewhat relieved and incredibly glad I could never stand JD Salinger.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Oh, there are so many books I've read that sucked:

- The Great Gatsby Sucked hard. It was nothing more then the 1920's version of Jersey Shore. The characters never stuck to anything they talked about; it goes from talking about boats, to talking about dogs, to wondering about Gatsby. It was just dull, dull, dull!

- The Great Divorce Sucked. It had a neat little idea to it; basically, a place where your tested to get into heaven. But it doesn't go anywhere! We don't actually see heaven (Or a lot of heaven, basically by the end of the book, they start getting bigger and bigger). We don't know several of the characters well enough to care about them. Worst yet, it was a dream! The whole thing, was a dream. Pointless, pointless, pointless!

- The Alchemist Sucked. Basically, its about a Boy who lives in Spain, looking for gold near the pyramids of Giza, because his dreams, and then everyone else, told him to do it. The Alchemist is actually a very minor character in this, who isn't introduced until halfway through and is dropped out when the boy is on the final stretch to finding his gold, so calling it "The Alchemist" is misleading. On top of that, it turns out the Universe was being a jerk to him, because the gold was actually in Spain, not in the pyramids, and he only learned this because Bandits were about to kill him near the pyramids until they learned he was looking for gold from his dreams, and one of the bandits told him not to fallow dreams, because he had a dream there was gold in Spain, which was stupid because it was a dream. Terrible way to end what would have been an okay book.

- Catcher in the Rye sucked. I understand the kid needs help, but the way he goes through the novel just makes him look like a massive dick.

- Siddhartha... Oh dear god, Siddhartha! This, right here, is probably the worst piece of garbage I've ever read, ever! Take an already boring concept; the life of an Indian around the time of the Buddha, and just drag it out as long as possible, while making the character act as if he has some sort of mental issues (Most likely a form of ADD, Depression, and Self Loathing). I couldn't get through this novel, it was that horrendous. Now, all these novels suck, but I would still give them 3/10-5/10. This one, I would give a 1/10. It is simply a horrible, horrible novel, and I recommend no one to read it.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going back to read a good novel, like "I Am The Messenger".

 

[Promethax]

The Secret Life of Bees (had to read it for school).

Where do I begin?

1) The protagonist is completely unrelatable. Her constant whining about her dead mom and tendency to do stupid random shit out of nowhere is the opposite of a good character.

2) Only one of the characters gets an arc. Even the protagonist, who has allegedly had a life changing experience, remains completely stagnant throughout the book. Even the death of one of the main characters doesn't affect anyone in the slightest for more than a chapter.

3) The plot is poorly structured. What would've made a shocking plot twist had it been placed near the climax is instead vomited out in the opening exposition, ruining any build up the story could've potentially had. There are problems beyond that, too. One of the main characters gets fucking arrested and the obvious plot point of hiding from the authorities for most of the book has no consequences.

4) Every so often the book touches upon a deep and interesting idea that's never further discussed, leaving the reader frustrated that the author never even attempts to make her book something more than bargain bin schlock.

This book made me hate bees almost as much as Nicholas Cage does.

 

[MammothBlade]

The Necronomicon by Abdul Alhazred. It changed my life, forever. It turned me into a mass-murdering monster - made me kill everyone who was once dear to me. I cannot unsee the horrors in that book. They are burned into my mind, and into my blood and DNA. No, I am the necronomicon now. Its ink flows through my veins.

 

[Muspelheim]

Like many else, it seems, I didn't like Catcher in the Rye. I can understand why it was a bit of a watershed when it came out and that it has a place in literary history, but... No, I'm just not a part of that same era, I can't "Feel" the book. I just found it flat and stale. Still, was worth having a look, I suppose...

And while I don't regret reading it... Christ, A Clockwork Orange... Dear. Oh, dear me... I wasn't right for days after reading that. It's just so... Cruel, almost to a pointless degree. It makes me feel like a monster just to have taken part in it by reading that story.
Furthermore... Alex sucks. He ought to have been taken out the courtyard and killed by neckshot. And what's worse is, there's thousands of him. What on earth happened to Alternative Nadsativerse London?!
Also, I'm now the sworn arch-enemy to any and all Alex-apologists. Kubrick did the right thing when he did a self-imposed ban on the film version in Britain after he learned some wastes of air tried to emulate it. Oh, dear, oh dear... I can't really stomack to look at it.

Another odd book I sort of regret reading was a strange sort of memoir work I found in my bookshelf from... Lord knows where.

It's "I Fält" (In the Field) by a certain Gilbert Hamilton, some sort of noble fancypants person who join a German cavallry corps during the first world war. Now, I thought I'd find it fascinating to see his perspective, but... Gilbert is such a self-righteous, pompous wanker that I get irritated half a page in. It's all "Ahrr, nobility is awesome, Germany is great, Poles are poor and dumb and Bolsheviks are all satan. If only the conscripts would stop dying in their ratholes so I got a chance to ride down some Russians on my steed!", which only gets worse when he start complaining about his lodgings and lack of supplies when you know full well that the conscripts less than a kilometer away have it much, much worse.

He's the sort of person who got the Great War started in the first place, and it's a bit difficult from a 21'st century perspective to not want to put a fist up his gob. Well, at least there's many interesting pictures.

The Necronomicon by Abdul Alhazred. It changed my life, forever. And killed all my family, and turned me into a mass-murdering monster. I cannot unsee the horrors in that book. They are burned into my mind, and into my blood and DNA.

I know what you feel... It took me a long, long time to put my experience with the Devil's Bible behind me... I knew I shouldn't have done it, I knew I shouldn't have pried... But what can you do? The urge to turn page after page is... Irresistable.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Devil_codex_Gigas.jpg

It... It should have remained hidden away in Prague... How many more will It claim?

When will the wound heal?

 

[Psykoma]

The only one I can think of was for school.
Don Quixote.
No-one agrees with me, I thought it was just too dumb.