Ever read a book so bad that you actaully stopped reading?

[Siege_TF]

I remember a couple Dragonlance books booring me out of my skull fifteen years ago, but that's probably because I prefer sci-fi over fantasy. If manga counts then Naruto Shippuden's prime on the list because it's Harry Potter: The Manga.

The only diffference I can notice is instead of having Ron and Draco they simply have Ron do a face heel turn. What galls me (very mildly; fans gonna fan) is that fans of one series or the other points this and a few very minor cosmetic differences (Harry never had a crush on Hermione as Naruto did on Sakura) out as proof that they're different as night and day...

Or at least different as Star Trek and Star Wars.

 

[newguy77]

The Knight by Gene Wolfe. May not be a bad book, but the main character is such a self entitled prick that I could not finish it.

 

[Commissar Sae]

Never, I fought my way through the absolute piece of shit that was 'grunts!' loathing every page with a fiery passion but I finished it. I've dropped series before, having lost interest in them after the first few books but I've damn well finished every book I've started.

Oh crap, forgot to finish 'Young Stalin' because I decided to take a break to read some fiction. I guess that counts, but I do intend to finish it and it was actually a pretty good read so not sure that counts.

 

[Dr Pussymagnet]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

It was a funny idea, until I started reading it and found it to be as boring as the original Pride and Prejudice.

 

[Neonbob]

Great Expectations. No other book has managed to put so much drivel on one page. There were insignificant details upon inconsequential observations upon the mind numbingly slow plot movement.
It felt like he put more useless information on one page than the entirety of the Guiness Record book.
I was assigned that book during High School, and it was the only book that I ever hated so much that I actually considered burning. I probably stopped at the third chapter, and just let myself fail that entire section of the class. Thankfully, there were enough other books to make up for me doing so.

 

[Commissar Sae]

Cthulhu's Reign: a collection of short stories about what a world post Eldritch horror takeover would be like, which I thought was interesting and I'm a big fan of Lovecraft mythos stories in general. But when Cthulhu downsizes a human size Cthulhus (that keeps saying "thooloo," you konw, like a Pokemon) and basically stalks a group of survivors and gorily rips them apart B-movie sci-fi style, I could not keep reading. THAT IS NOT WHAT THE LOVECRAFT MYTHOS IS ABOUT!

Yeah that one kind sucked, some of the stories were decent though. The one by the Japanese author was pretty creepy if nothing else.

 

[Sagacious Zhu]

Breaking Dawn (Up until the werewolf falls in love with the hell-fetus)

You should really read the birthing part, it's so worth it.

I did. I stopped shortly thereafter when the lycanthropic pedophilia began...

 

[spartan231490]

Actually, The Silmarillion was sooo boring I had to stop. I just couldn't keep reading. The problem only book that I couldn't keep reading just because it was bad was . . .

I can't remember the title, but it's the 3rd book in the "Game of Thrones" series by George R.R. Martin.

 

[Dalmonite]

Crime and Punishment.
To be fair, it isn't bad. It's just wordy as FUCK. I suppose the Russian translation is to blame. I could make jokes about how long that one letter is.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

Three of them, all for University.
Alastair Duncan's disgusting Metro (in the bad way).
Michael Crichton's hyperactive, bipolar Next.
And a Mills and Boon/Harlequin novella (that should tell you all you need to know) titled SOS: Marry Me: pilot meets bridesmaid, sudden romance and mutual understanding ensues on deserted island. The lecturer couldn't keep a straight face.

 

[Jacco]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.

That is all.

 

[BringBackBuck]

The Bible. Has anyone else tried to pick it up and read it like a normal book? I didnt get very far through it before it was just lists and lists of people begatting each other. Not a great read.

 

[Ruzinus]

Yes, many times. Of course a book doesn't have to be super terrible for me to quit it. I'll put a book aside as soon as I think "yknow, maybe I'd enjoy other book X or even other activity Y more."

 

[DJDarque]

and to this man... Though I adore Lord of the Rings and Tolkien, I can see where you're coming from with this. It does get quite slow. I will accept 'boring' as an adjective for LotR, but what I don't like, is when people call it stupid. That is when I would start 'giving people shit'.

It also starts ridiculously quick in Fellowship. I've never made it past Fellowship because of the onslaught of characters. The Harry Potter series is a good example of books which handles having many characters well.

It is like 7 books long. It'd be pretty easy to introduce characters gradually over the course of 7 books.

Unless I'm mistaken Lord of the Rings was originally published as six books. Not that big of a difference.

I dunno about originally but I've always seen it collected in three books. And by page content it's noticeably smaller. Also, HP's annual format gives it a very easy way of introducing new characters on a book by book basis.

The version I have is also three books, but each book has two separate parts each labeled as a book. Perhaps it's just the format.

 

[Matt-the-twat]

It's called Useful Idiots. First and last time I ever buy a book based on the cover and the title. So boring, didn't grip me in the least.

 

[Siuki]

Because its pretentious and long winded. Oh and Tolkien coudnt just use common sense in battle scenes.

I agree. Getting through that last mile of Return of the King with Frodo and Sam mucking about was hell.

Off-topic: Hey, Boyvirgo666.

 

[Damian Dominguez]

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin. Absolute drivel, a philosophical feminist lecture drowned in bad intentions.

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

The Grapes of Wrath. I don't understand how this one got to be a famous book. It might be a good indicator of Depression-era America, but it's mind-numbingly dull. Poor characters, overemphasis on themes and description combined with no sense of flow make for a terrible book. And this is coming from someone who managed to finish Atlas Shrugged.

 

[boyvirgo666]

Because its pretentious and long winded. Oh and Tolkien coudnt just use common sense in battle scenes.

I agree. Getting through that last mile of Return of the King with Frodo and Sam mucking about was hell.

Off-topic: Hey, Boyvirgo666.

You think the end was bad? here ill ruin the second book for you. why didnt the humans just run into those caves in like...the first few seconds of the battle with the orcs at helms deep? I mean its much easier to defend or they could have just run and left like 50 guys behind to distract the orcs...and why didnt the orcs have a troll throw the bomb at the wall?

off-topic: Sup mate.

 

[Mikaze]

I could not get through Dracula, the titular character is right there in the first 2 chapters and then completely dissappears for the next 18, I assume he comes back at some point but I never got that far. Also 'Paradisio', the third part of the Divine Comedy, Inferno was good, Purgatorio was bearable, Paradisio was awful.