What's the most boring book you've ever read?

[Blow_Pop]

See, as I like reading and read for my enjoyment, once a book bores me I put it down.

So I can say hardest book I've ever had to read for school is a toss up between Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The first I voluntarily read for a book report in 7th or 8th grade (for those of you across the pond 13/14 years old ish) mostly because my teacher told me there was no way I'd be able to ever finish it or write a proper book report on it. Proved them wrong. But I should have waited at least 2 more years to read it just from the usage of bigger words and such(if I'm recalling correctly as it's been almost 20 years since I last read it). And the second I had to read for my senior year of high school (18 for those across the pond) and had a teacher who expected us to immediately understand it without too much explanation on her part. However I have bought that book and read it about 5 or more times since and understand it a little better but still don't understand it well. But it's at least enjoyable at this point.

(snip)

I read Catch-22 when I was about 15 or 16. Voluntarily. My boss thought I'd love it. And she was right. It was the #1 book on GoodReads.com's Most Abandoned Classics list. While the book has a plot, it's less important than the themes and satire. And it's funny.

http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/424-what-makes-you-put-down-a-book

I voted in some of the polls for that infographic....I have a love/hate relationship with Catch-22. I really do. If I didn't I would have just checked it out from the library to read. But liking a book =/= understanding it. And having a teacher expect a class to understand something and be tested on it daily, chapter by chapter and refusing to really help with the understanding/comprehension really makes it a tedious book to read. And she was more focused on the plot than the themes and satire. So. I hate the plot. Love the themes and satire.

5. I can't remember the name it was so bad. same young black girl marries a much older rich black man because her grand mother arranged it or some such then he dies and she marries some slightly older, charismatic dude who starts an all black town then he either dies or she leaves him for some other dude who's a free spirit and then they run away or something and they get stuck in a hurricane and he gets rabbies from a raccoon and goes crazy and tries to kill her so she shoots him. yeah WTF.

I believe you are talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I just read that book and loved it. She is an amazing writer.

 

[Overquoted]

I voted in some of the polls for that infographic....I have a love/hate relationship with Catch-22. I really do. If I didn't I would have just checked it out from the library to read. But liking a book =/= understanding it. And having a teacher expect a class to understand something and be tested on it daily, chapter by chapter and refusing to really help with the understanding/comprehension really makes it a tedious book to read. And she was more focused on the plot than the themes and satire. So. I hate the plot. Love the themes and satire.

(snip)

Yeaaah, that'd pretty much ruin it. And I get you on the understanding part. I think at some point, I just went with it. I could not tell you what happened or why. But I could explain what it was about fairly well.

 

[Aesir23]

1. The Stone Angel by Margaret Lawrence. I had to read it for school and normally I can get through the boring books we were assigned as novel studies but that one really took the cake. It's essentially some foul tempered old woman reminiscing about her life in the Canadian prairies.

The same teacher made us read Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O. Mitchell. Marginally better but also boring as hell since it was also about some boy's life in the Canadian prairies (I'm sensing a theme here). I realize that she probably picked those books because they take place in my city but I don't think she could have made worse choices unless she'd made us read the Twilight series.

2. Although I didn't finish it, the most boring book I've read of my own volition is the Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkein. I managed to get through Lord of the Rings and even enjoyed the trilogy to an extent. However, even though I tend to be a history buff, trying to read through the Silmarillion was like trying to chew gravel.

3. The Catcher in the Rye. I'm actually not entirely sure if I found this boring, mostly because I could barely follow the story and most often wasn't sure regarding what in the world was going on. It's like the character took a bunch of random thoughts, combined them with what was going on and created gibberish. The most I remember is a big city, a prostitute and a creepy teacher.

I think, in short, the next time someone tells me to read a classic I'm going to avoid that book at all costs.

 

[Blow_Pop]

I voted in some of the polls for that infographic....I have a love/hate relationship with Catch-22. I really do. If I didn't I would have just checked it out from the library to read. But liking a book =/= understanding it. And having a teacher expect a class to understand something and be tested on it daily, chapter by chapter and refusing to really help with the understanding/comprehension really makes it a tedious book to read. And she was more focused on the plot than the themes and satire. So. I hate the plot. Love the themes and satire.

(snip)

Yeaaah, that'd pretty much ruin it. And I get you on the understanding part. I think at some point, I just went with it. I could not tell you what happened or why. But I could explain what it was about fairly well.

Through my multitudes of re-reading it, I have a very basic understanding of the book. It really hit home for me as to what a Catch-22 is and how badly stuck I am in one for the career I'd like to go into

 

[deathjavu]

1. Twilight.

2. The Invisible man

3. the Great Gatsby

4. Lord of the Rings.

5. I can't remember the name it was so bad. same young black girl marries a much older rich black man because her grand mother arranged it or some such then he dies and she marries some slightly older, charismatic dude who starts an all black town then he either dies or she leaves him for some other dude who's a free spirit and then they run away or something and they get stuck in a hurricane and he gets rabbies from a raccoon and goes crazy and tries to kill her so she shoots him. yeah WTF.

The last one is "Their Eyes Were Watching God", not a great book but not horrible either imo.

Ironically, this whole thread is just making me want to read more

Catch-22

The first time I read Catch-22 was in 5th or 6th grade, simply because it was the biggest book we had on the shelf. I didn't understand it at all. When I read it again for class in 9th grade, it made pretty good sense.

There's exactly two things you have to remember/know:

1. The chapters aren't in chronological order/it's not linear. The easiest way to sort out where the story is is the current number of missions needed to leave the island and who is dead, both of which are referred to on a fairly regular basis. You almost have to read it like a time travel story, paying close attention to small details to sort out the "time travel" the narrator has taken between chapters.

2. The whole idea of the book is that war is nonsensical/absurd, and so many of the situations and characters are similarly warped. Milo Milobender is probably the best example, but just about everyone is pressured or forced into making insane decisions. It's supposed to be satire, it's not totally realistic.

 

[Nightmare99]

The Silmarillion.

It was completely un-readable. Not so much a story (or series of stories), but just a bunch of stuff that happens. Terrible. It is the only book I own that I have not read and I have had it for over 10 years.

 

[Fox12]

Starship Troopers.
Man, I never expected to find a case where the movie was way better than the book.
It's just a lot of talking, politics and boring patrols. There's not even a single battle against the arachnids!

There was one in the prologue to tease you IIRC, but yeah, when I read it I was like "I'll bet it picks up when they start fighting aliens!"
And then it never came.

Anyways, when I do read I usually get recommendations from people or read things that seem interesting, so my worst list boils down to school curriculum, but to me it probably goes to "To Kill a Mockingbird." Seriously fuck that book. People seem to remember the whole racism court thing as what that book was about, when really that doesn't even get introduced until well over halfway in, and ends chapters before the book is over. The whole first half has so much useless stuff, which is drawn out horribly by the authors tendency to go into an unnecessary amount of detail. (seriously. 3 fucking pages to describe a tree with a hole in it.) Probably not the worst book I've read but definitely the most difficult to stay engaged in.

Wow, Mockingbird was one of my favorite books. I think it was more about building the themes of the story than the courtroom bit, which is understandable since the kids wouldn't have been involved. but yeah, anything you're forced to read is going to be extra painful.

Thank God you didn't have to read *shudders* Faulkner. The book either made me angry in a bad way or bored me to tears. My body physically rejected that book, it caused me physical pain it was so bad. The Sound and the Fury was terrible.

 

[Thomas Barnsley]

I generally have extraordinary patience for books, but I was tested by Gormenghast. I did enjoy it, but only after I managed to cut my way though the overly poetic page long descriptions of EVERYTHING.

Captcha: high time. Sure, why not?

 

[bdeamon]

Powers by Ursla L'Croch(probely miss spelled.) Think of a world with cool magical properties, interesting culture, and complex political and moral issues. This lady somehow found a way to write around it all and make it about some unrelatable kid who stumbles through his own plot. We are aware of the awesome stuff, but never interact with it as a reader.
My dishonorable mention is to Great Expectations which is almost the same, but there are a few interesting events in there.

 

[bdeamon]

You know the writer based those people he knew in the military and his own experiences, but I still kind of agree with you.

 

[dystopiaINC]

See, as I like reading and read for my enjoyment, once a book bores me I put it down.

So I can say hardest book I've ever had to read for school is a toss up between Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. The first I voluntarily read for a book report in 7th or 8th grade (for those of you across the pond 13/14 years old ish) mostly because my teacher told me there was no way I'd be able to ever finish it or write a proper book report on it. Proved them wrong. But I should have waited at least 2 more years to read it just from the usage of bigger words and such(if I'm recalling correctly as it's been almost 20 years since I last read it). And the second I had to read for my senior year of high school (18 for those across the pond) and had a teacher who expected us to immediately understand it without too much explanation on her part. However I have bought that book and read it about 5 or more times since and understand it a little better but still don't understand it well. But it's at least enjoyable at this point.

(snip)

I read Catch-22 when I was about 15 or 16. Voluntarily. My boss thought I'd love it. And she was right. It was the #1 book on GoodReads.com's Most Abandoned Classics list. While the book has a plot, it's less important than the themes and satire. And it's funny.

http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/424-what-makes-you-put-down-a-book

I voted in some of the polls for that infographic....I have a love/hate relationship with Catch-22. I really do. If I didn't I would have just checked it out from the library to read. But liking a book =/= understanding it. And having a teacher expect a class to understand something and be tested on it daily, chapter by chapter and refusing to really help with the understanding/comprehension really makes it a tedious book to read. And she was more focused on the plot than the themes and satire. So. I hate the plot. Love the themes and satire.

5. I can't remember the name it was so bad. same young black girl marries a much older rich black man because her grand mother arranged it or some such then he dies and she marries some slightly older, charismatic dude who starts an all black town then he either dies or she leaves him for some other dude who's a free spirit and then they run away or something and they get stuck in a hurricane and he gets rabbies from a raccoon and goes crazy and tries to kill her so she shoots him. yeah WTF.

I believe you are talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I just read that book and loved it. She is an amazing writer.

Yes it is, but to be honest for me reading that book was like walking five miles uphill in four feat of snow and ice with a car strapped to my back. it was hard to get invested AT ALL with any of the characters, Couldn't stand any of them. and the plot was boring and seemed like it wasn't going anywhere. stuff happened that's it.

To each his own.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Atlas Shrugged.

After playing Bioshock and hearing it was heavily inspired by Ayn Rand's political ideals I thought reading one of her books might be interesting. Good God was I wrong. I got maybe a quarter way through and all it ever was was a story about a dystopian Train Company employee being sad about stuff.

EDIT: Honorable Mention goes to this:

The Silmarillion.

It was completely un-readable. Not so much a story (or series of stories), but just a bunch of stuff that happens. Terrible. It is the only book I own that I have not read and I have had it for over 10 years.

 

[Blow_Pop]

I believe you are talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I just read that book and loved it. She is an amazing writer.

Yes it is, but to be honest for me reading that book was like walking five miles uphill in four feat of snow and ice with a car strapped to my back. it was hard to get invested AT ALL with any of the characters, Couldn't stand any of them. and the plot was boring and seemed like it wasn't going anywhere. stuff happened that's it.

To each his own.

I had a hard time investing in the characters too. Part of the problem is that I'm a white person and was raised in a different era. It's written from the experience of a black woman. Two completely different worlds. But yes. To each their own.

 

[Reaper195]

1984. People go on about that book being a literary gift from god. I got half way through it before putting it down and masturbating from boredom. Fuckin' nothing happens. It's almost like reading the daily routine of some guy. I'd normally be fine with this, considering the world 1984 portrays...but since we never see anything outside from this guys perspective (i.E. What the entire world outside of a single township is like), and that by halfway through the book, the only thing I can think of that happened was this guy going to a pub and getting a drink. And something about razors being expensive. If it were only the first couple of chapters, I'd be fine. I have no problem with setting and world building. But since there isn't much to see, and that by the halfway point there hasn't been any story progression....fuck 1984. That book can eat a bag of dicks.

 

[RedDeadFred]

The Wheel of Time books. I read 5 of them before finally stopping. There's so many characters and they mostly do nothing except talk. That would be fine if the dialogue was top notch but it's mediocre for the most part.

 

[Dire Sloth]

Hemingway's To Have or Have Not.
Granted I read it waaay back in highschool, so maybe now I'd like it a little more considering then I didn't do too much reading anyways like I do now.

 

[cerebreturns]

Things fall apart. Horribly depressing book about a tribe in Africa and one of the leaders, his life falling apart as Christians come from the north and convert his tribe. The man is a horrible person and it portrays everything happening to him as horrible. it was just boring and terribly depressing for no apparent reason other then "he's bad stuff happening to a bad guy for no reason"

 

[Matilda Ward]

I could never stand the Harry Potter series, I love the movies but god I could never ever get through the books and dreaded reading it, I only had to read because the die-hard fans of HP would murder anyone with any criticism.

Twilight was terrible, absolutely terrible for obvious reasons.

Lady Chatterly's lover, a very well written book, but it was all over the place, how many times does D.H. Lawrence have to use the word 'bowel'?

 

[Harley Q]

The Chronicles of Narnia ,the one with the throne and the lack of ideas. I struggled through most of Lewis' stuff, but by the time I got to the 6th or 7th book or whatever, I just couldn't read any more useless drivel dressed up as "storytelling".

Unengaging, uninteresting, just pure meh-ness.

 

[Talvrae]

http://www.amazon.ca/Children-My-Heart-Gabrielle-Roy/dp/0771075987/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379245706&sr=1-13
that fucking thing (in original french version)... had to read it for school... it was an absolute bore fest... trought i will first to admit i had zero interest in it to begin with. It was kinda to initiate us to reading, problem i had already over 100 novel under my belt at that point and had reads things that in my opinion was much better..