Books you regret reading

[putowtin]

There´s been a lot, most were 19th Century English literature. Man that stuff could put me to sleep. Most recently however was the novelization of Assassin´s Creed 2. I usually love video game tie in novels, but that one was just plain aweful. Never mind that I already enjoy the source material and that it´s about revenge and assassin´s and all those really cool things. It was as about as fun to read as the back of a soup can.

Oliver Bowden has managed to take exciting source material and produce four utter shite books, this man should never be allowed to write again!

 

[ZombieGenesis]

'Catcher in the Rye'
'Alias Grace'
The original ending to 'The Prestige'

Everything else I've read was good. I don't tend to pick up stuff I find questionable.

 

[DeltaWolfson]

None, cause I don't read books! HA HA!

 

[Darren716]

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.

I second this, when I had to read this book this year I felt kind of uncomfortable as a white male since according to this book all white people and all men are the sole emboyment of the Devil and black women are the true master race and can not do anything wrong and shouldn't be held responsible for their actions such as instigating and fight and hiding an escaped convict.

 

[Yopaz]

Hmm normally if there is a novel I did not like I would just stop reading it and the only one that really comes to mind is the prequel to the Wheel of Time series. I read the first book and while it took awhile to get some action into the book, I really did enjoy the novel and even bought the second one but then I found out there was a prequel and thought that adding some back story would be a nice idea. I was wrong, oh so very very wrong. I probably made it halfway through the book before boredom finally convinced me to do something else. That book was completely boring and was completely pointless. I am sure if I were to finish it then it might make some sense but nah not now.
I might try to re-read it later but I still have a bad taste in my mouth.

If you want the full story of the series I would recommend that book, but the prequel doesn't really provide anything essential to the series. I read New Spring after The Gathering Storm and besides an OK read I didn't get much out of it. I think New Spring is written while he had a writer's block, or maybe the suggestion that he believed that he wouldn't die until the series was done so he decided to drag out as much as possible in order to extend his life has some merit to it. Anyway, if the book bored you at the point where you got there's probably nothing that will spike your interest in the remaining part of it. The last couple of books are great though.

OT: I think I will have to go with Eragon and Avalon. Those books were so boring. I tried watching the movie and that bored me so much that I was on the brink of falling asleep the entire time it was running. The book was even more sleep inducing.

 

[Heronblade]

"the Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Let me put it this way, it puts "Pride and Prejudice" to shame when it comes to plodding storyline and characters.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo

Interesting characters and storyline, but poor execution. I found myself plodding through the text, it may be that some of the prose was lost in translation from the original French, but it is almost unreadable. (If you're thinking of the Disney movie, stop, just stop, the only things they have in common are the title and a few character names)

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

The necronomicon by Lovecraft. I didn't read the whole compilation, but I read enough.

Possibly trying to read them back to back was a mistake, as it highlighted how formulaic a lot of them where. The narrators where invariably annoying, because they'd waste a page going 'the horror the horror' before telling the damn story. Especially when the horrible thing turned out to be a fish-man he saw once for 2 seconds before getting his arse out of there.

I learned to put up with that, as in his longer stories that was less of an issue, and the idea of characters being affected by witnessing horrific things is interesting, as opposed to being unflappable heroes. And there where a lot of genuinely interesting ideas and mosters presented.

What finally ground me down was the relentless racism and snobbery in them. He had backwards idea on evolution which where constantly used as plot devices (people of 'low character' 'devolving' into sub-human monsters), seemed to see the poor as some sort of underclass, and seemed to think all black people where devil-worshippers.

It got to the point where I felt sick after reading them, so I just stopped.

 

[Zetsubou-Sama]

I would like to second (third?) Catcher, with the same reasons. I also hated it because Holden tended to gloss over things that may be seen as rather important. Did you know that he was sexually molested by other guys before? Neither did I. It's brought up all of once, VERY VAGUELY, and then completely pushed aside for something else. Characters are introduced with little closure for them and the story, as a whole, is tragically quaint; it's that stupid teenage angst thing that's been done over and over again. It's like "oh, ANOTHER one of these? [sarcasm]I wonder how this one will turn out.[/sarcasm]" Maybe it's because I don't get it, like people tell the OP, but if people don't get your book when they read it, you have done something wrong.

Also, The Book of Negroes is one of the worst books that I have ever read. The characters are ridiculously unrelatable. The worst part is that it's hilariously dated; perhaps I could relate if I lived in slave-era America, but I am living in contemporary Canada and little to none of the things that happen in the book happen here. And it's a recent novel. How a recent novel could be dated, I would not have known if not for this book. It was an ordeal to read for English class, even more than Catcher.

Firstly you have to understand that the book was the first to deal with the whole teenage angst secondly, Holden glossing over important details is part of the point of who he is, someone so screwed up but does nothing about his personal issues only focusing on those around him and the world.

Secondly the Catcher is part of the mythos of the Caulfields that spans across many books and short stories and gives closure to every Caulfield mentioned as well as going into detail and showing a lot of the episodes Holden mentions or even omits, if you ever give a chance to J.D Salinger's work you'd see it's mostly distributed into two big families (The Glass and the Caulfields) that are part of most of his work and his short stories. Including the final chapter of the Caulfield saga which will only be released in 89 years (90 after J.D's death) or you can go and read it at Princeton where you'll be assisted by the librarian the whole time you read it.

 

[Les Awesome]

"Goodnight Mister Tom"- Michelle Magorian

I Had to Read and Relentlessly Study it Three Times in School For a Question
on a State Examination That Never Came Up

 

[Mebulous]

Old Soldiers by David Weber

It/she/They open up a door by blasting it with some blasty cannon.

She/They considers what It/her has done.

It/Her calculates for .0012 seconds and Her/They/It is satisfied that the door is indeed blown apart.

Her/It cries digital tears of Hers/Theirs/Ours/Bolos/Its primal mechanical joy.

It got pretty damn annoying, reallly damn quickly.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

1984- A really well written book, but its far too depressing to enjoy
Twilight- Do I really need to explain that
The Hunger Games- Up to the third book they were ok but the third book was dreadful. The last 100 pages are dead air and the ending made me regret reading the series

 

[Fat Hippo]

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. . .

And so go the last words of JLML. May he find more peace in death than he did in life.

As for myself, probably 80% of the books I've read for school. Especially Buddenbrooks, even though I only read the first 150 of its 700 or so pages, but those 150 pages...THE HORROR! Boredom, as I've never experienced. Staring at a white wall wearing a straitjacket would be less boring than reading this book. Yes, it's that bad.

 

[Vhite]

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/burgess-clockwork_orange.jpg

I'd started reading A Clockwork Orange a few times, and found it an exercise in frustration with the use of a made-up language and a meandering plot that didn't seem to be going anywhere. However, with continued recommendations and praise, I restarted once more and made it all the way through to the end.
I was annoyed that I had done so.

The premise may have been interesting at the time, but it's so poorly executed that it easily ranks as one of the worst reads of my entire life.

The language wasn't made up, it was slavic, mostly slovak. Thats why it was so easy for me to read even in english.

Im now reading Flowers for Algernon and while it's a great book, Im not sure I like where it is going going.

 

[Nazgual]

I don't think I regret reading any books. I've certainly read some that are rubbish but if as someone who is interested in learning to write then I learn something from every book I read. Especially if it's crap. From just a readers perspective I'll pick Twilight and Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever.

 

[Hylke Langhout]

I know that's already been mentioned, but Mockingjay was a really crap book. After two books of violent and suspenseful goodness, Collins got waaaaay too caught up in love triangles and whiny teenage angst. The slaughtering of multiple characters I actually liked probably didn't help either.

Secondly, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I don't agree with the accusations of racism that this book has received, but it's just a slog to get through. Conrad takes a lot of time describing the environments and settings, which were supposed to emphasize the themes of the book, but he did it to such an excruciating extent that it just starts to feel really redundant after a while. This may seem like nitpicking, but I need to get it off my chest; there are only 2 characters in the book that have real names, Kurtz and Marlow. The rest are limited to titles such as "The Russian" and "The Doctor". It's supposed to be for thematic reasons, but it's also really annoying.

 

[Havegun]

I don't know if I actually regret reading it, but one book that I consciously decided to put down was the Warhammer Gotrek and Felix Omnibus. I think I made it to Skavenslayer before being fed up with it. I kinda liked it in the start, the short-story format worked fairly well for it.

Safe to say, there are many more books I regret not having read, especially as some them are books I already own.

 

[Danzavare]

I don't regret this because my marks depend on it, but Midnight's Children is a book I would NEVER have read if I didn't have to! Every single situation ends in the most implausibly vile and repulsive outcome and everyone in that book is a terrible TERRIBLE person - and the incest! The constant and disgusting incest! And the supernatural elements! Freak, every bit of fantasy that could've been interesting is used in the most offensive and/or dull of ways!

I hate the book and I hate the author for writing it.

To add to my frustration the quotes from critics on the book keeping praising it as book that'll never go away. GAH!

 

[Scarim Coral]

This Autobiography called Madworld. I can't remember who the bio is on but I think it was some English writer.
At that time I was retaking English class and we were on the subject Biography. Our teacher advice us to read biography and autobiography to know the difference. While I did read a biography on The Sting from Top Gear at the local libery but they had no interesting Autography.
I went to local cheap book store and their had this biography book called Madworld and it was super cheap. I look it up online which had gotten some good reviews so I bought it.
Anyway the book was so dull and boring as I couldn't keep track what was going on. So I guess I regret buying it in the first place (I guess those who gave it a good review were people into literature).

 

[5ilver]

The first book of the Hunger Games. I kept expecting the protagonist to change in some way because she kinda maybe seemed to start an arch and then the story just made a complete 180 at the end. Even worse, I couldn't help but feel bored and annoyed at the actions of the characters. I feel dirtier and cheaper as a person for reading it.

A song of fire and ice book 1- Again, someone had recommended this and I kept slogging through and through, expecting it to somehow become amazing. It never did
If anything, it managed to get worse near the end. I did not care about the characters, the tiny countries and that stupid, pointless throne everyone else deemed so important.

Les Miserables by Hugo. I feel like the author was angry at life and beauty and just wanted to write as much pain, suffering and ugliness and put them all in 1 book. And then my school made me read the damn thing -.- Because you know, teenagers need more reasons to feel depressed and think about suicide.

 

[Infernai]

The books Crusader and Hades Daughter by Sara Douglass- Warning, spoilers.....ah, who am i kidding, not like any of you are gonna read these books anyway..

The first was essentially pulling off the end of a trilogy much like Mass Effect 3 did: What's that? Big bad's dead? Well, time to kill THE ENTIRE WORLD TO MAKE SURE THAT BIG BADS DON'T APPEAR AGAIN! (God, i wish i was kidding when i typed that.). The rest of the series wasn't super awesome, but i still enjoyed reading it and i had fun..

The second has literally the most UNLIKEABLE GROUP OF PROTAGONISTS I'VE SEEN THIS SIDE OF TWILIGHT. The main character, Brutus, is such an unlikeable ************ even by the rest of the casts standards.
He's an emotionally manipulative douche with a penchant for fucking peoples lives up with Disproportionate retribution (What's that? You're planning on trying to send a few assassins to kill me because i took over your kingdom, raped you and left you to suffer ungodly emotional and physical abuse? Then i'll not only unleash an unholy amount of arcane energy that will brutally murder every person in your city not on my side, BUT i'll also go on to blame you horrifically for this by saying it could have all been avoided if you hadn't tried to kill me because did all those terrible things!) whose also praised to hell and back for doing all these terrible things (Admittedly he's called out ONCE on this and one or two minor characters complain about him, but apart from that...NOTHING!). Now, i understand that this is set in ancient greece and naturally the author went for historical accuracy in regards to characters personalities. So, values dissonance applies. BUT, did i mention that Brutus was also responsible for murdering his own father so he could get power which lead to the destruction of his kingdom? And suddenly, even most ancient Greeks wouldn't wanna support this guy. To the point you wander why, when the very people he screwed over and to whom this exploit is common knowledge to, suddenly want to follow him again when he says he's going to get them a new kingdom...somehow...

Needless to say when you're repeatedly calling for every cast member to die horrifically (One of them PARTICULARLY more then others) you know the series can only really go downhill from here..