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/lit/ - Literature

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1958490 No.1958490 [Reply] [Original]

what's the worst book you've ever read ?

>> No.1958492

The Fountainhead

>> No.1958494

Atlas Shrugged

>> No.1958499

Anthem

>> No.1958502

Bolo!

http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0743498720/0743498720.htm?blurb

>> No.1958511

I read half of Twilight, thinking that perhaps it wasn't as bad as everyone said it was.
298 pages in, after not even a single shred of story, almost 300 pages of fluff, I had to stop.
I physically could not take it anymore.
Then I destroyed my copy.

>> No.1958508
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1958508

Toss-up between Gamer Girl and this...one book.

It was written by what seems to be like an autistic child.

It was called Warriors of Darkness or some shit.

>> No.1958513

The Great Gatsby.

I could post Twilight or something, but TGG is actually worth something to some people, but it honestly is the most boring, insipid piece of crap I have ever had the misfortune to experience reading.

>> No.1958515

A lot of people are probably going to post some classic or other that they detested.

But, if they were honest with themselves, they'd rationalize that these books (like the Rand above) aren't even close to being the "worst books" they ever read.

Mine would have to be something like the higher-numbered Goosebumps. I loved them as a kid, but books like "The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena" were truly bad.

Not to mention the spin-off "Give Yourself Goosebumps," which were choose-your-own adventures.

>> No.1958525

something about ukranian tractors, I forget the title

>> No.1958533

I never finish shitty books

>> No.1958537

Naked Lunch or Infinite Jest

I'm talking out of books that are relatively acclaimed

>> No.1958552

That shitty dragons books

>> No.1958760
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1958760

The two "proper literature" books that I consider the worst I've ever read are probably Fahrenheit 451 and Galapagos by Vonnegut. I absolutely could not stand Ray Bradbury's writing style. He tried way too hard to make it poetic and the overall book really suffered for it. Not to mention, the ending. I don't know how to do a spoiler tag, but if you haven't read it and don't want the end ruined STOP FUCKING READING RIGHT HERE. A hobo camp full of outlaws with photographic memories who have dedicated their lives to keeping the classics alive? Really? Not to mention, I doubt the government would just stop chasing the main character just because he made it outside the city limits.

Galapagos, on the other hand, I thought was just shit all around. I loved Slaughterhouse-Five and enjoyed most of Vonnegut's other novels, but it seemed like he didn't even try to do anything new with Galapagos. It felt like he was just doing a parody of himself. And for most of the book nothing happens. It's just Vonnegut talking about pointless bullshit.

But both of those, with all of their faults, are way better than The Lando Calrissian Adventures. When the Borders in my town was going out of business I picked up a couple of Star Wars books because they were dirt cheap and I figured there was no reason not to. Yes, there were plenty of reasons not to. Plenty.

>> No.1958761

Breaking Dawn

>> No.1958767

I thought A Catcher in the Rye was pretty fuckin' awful.

>> No.1958770

Mockingjay

>> No.1958772

don quixote. its just about some guy who thinks hes a super hero how his friend is always hungry.

>> No.1958782

I have never read a book that I didn't enjoy, but I guess my least favorite out of all of the books I've read was Pollyanna and it still made me happy as fuck.

>> No.1958796

Honestly, it had to be Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk. I thought it was pretty dumb.

>> No.1958804

>>1958772
that sounds awesome

>> No.1958805

>>1958772
I don't like to say it, but it is actually 2deep4u

>> No.1958807

>>1958490
I've never read a book i didn't like

>> No.1958822

>>1958796

dude.. yes. palahniuk has become such a gimmicky writer and his experiment with "pygmy" failed horribly.

oh yeah, fuck you pretentious contrarian assholes who think hating a classic automatically gets you literary genius points.

>> No.1958825

>>1958772
I take for granted you can't read Spanish.
found your problem

>> No.1958828

Twilight, followed closely by 1421: The Year China Discovered America. Two utterly terrible pieces of fiction.

>> No.1958829

>>1958511
This pretty much precisely. Cliche at this point, but god it's terrible

>> No.1958835

>>1958796
This. Island by Aldous Huxley probably has to be the absolute worst though.

>> No.1958849

Easy:
Their Eyes were Watching God
I was one of those kids who actually read the books they required in high school, no matter how bad they looked, and that one was just awful...

>> No.1958854

Great Expectations.
Book full of nothing.
Hated every single page.

>> No.1958863

toss up between The Awakening and My Antonia.

>> No.1958875

>>1958854
holy fuck that book was soul-sucking
I was 15 when I tried reading it
I thought I liked dickens because of david copperfield and bleak house
horrible book
gaawd damn

>> No.1958876

>>1958854
I thought that was the book where Pip tries to marry this one girl and the girl's matriarch sics these robot monkeys on him and spits acid and the dude he frees.

>> No.1958878

The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst

>>1958854
This too sort of, although I was only 13 when I tried reading it. I might like it now.

>> No.1958884

>>1958875
>>1958854
>>1958878
it's a good book. you are all fags.

>> No.1958886

>>1958854

This, curse you English Literature gcse coursework!

>> No.1958887

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
Babby's first piece of shit Tolkien ripoff.

>> No.1958890

MAYBE THE DRESDEN FILES BOOK 1.

>> No.1958891

I am tempted to give Dicken's another try, How is Bleak House?

>> No.1958892

>>1958884
They're called opinions. However, honestly, I don't see why people keep making these threads, they serve little purpose, and sometimes steer a person away from a piece of literature they may have wished to read. But... do whatever the hell you guys wish, I guess.

>> No.1958908

>>1958892
What was the point of your post? Do give us your permission to continue having a discussion which you disdain? Thanks, dickwad!

>> No.1958911

>>1958891
You know it's like 900 pages right?

>> No.1958922

>>1958911

I have a shit load of time on my hands anyway.

>> No.1958925

atlas shrugged

>> No.1958930

Kobo Abe's The Ruined Map. Only once have I found absolutely nothing enjoyable or redeeming in a book and that was here. Runner up goes to Virginia Woolf's second novel, Night and Day. She herself said of it something like "interminable ... i can't believe a human being could get through it"

>> No.1958962

>>1958822
He is a wasted author, all about shock value now. Fight Club was good, wayyyyyyyyyyy better movie though and Choke was pretty good I thought and the rest sucked (imo).

>> No.1958964

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar

>> No.1958977

Least favorite period = Screenplay by Syd Field
Least favorite acclaimed piece of literature = On The Road by Jack Kerouac

>> No.1958984

>>1958908
Your welcome, good sir.

>> No.1959003

Kurt Vonnegut's "Timequake"

LOLOLDINGALINGSOFUNNAY

>> No.1959010

>>1958770
>>1958767

These.

Also, Saving Max. Don't know if you've ever heard of it. I've never heard it mentioned, except by the one friend that recommended it to me.

And holy fuck, was it BAD.

Not in the, "Oh this classic novel that is the champion of scholars is so boring and insipid way" that all of you seem to be throwing out there.

This shit was bad in the objective, "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW" kind of bad. The kind of bad that Twilight has NOTHING on.

I honestly recommend you read it, just in case you ever decide to right something, just so you'll have a comprehensive guide to everything NOT to do.

{Spoiler}

It reads like a shitty romance novel, but is in fact about a single working (lawyer) mother trying to get her kid out of an insane asylum for a murder he didn't commit. About every third page, the book regales her as a strong individual, capable of standing up for herself and making decisions, even though she is the most timid, incapable creature I have ever seen.

A series of bad decisions TO SNEAK INTO THE HOSPITAL AND STEAL RECORDS right at the moment things are looking up for her kid almost lands her in jail when the shining male love interest comes and saves her.

I want to give more examples, but I don't think I can. You really should read it, though. I know.

>> No.1959015

Chromosome Six by Robin Cook.

>> No.1959024

Maybe it's just 2deep4me, but I've heard the world of it, and after giving Tinkers a look, I honestly can't drudge more than five pages in. Flaming, insipid crap.

>> No.1959025

>>1958977
Screenplay is fucking terrible

>> No.1959030

The Awakening

>> No.1959033

The Alchemist.

>> No.1959036

Snow Falling on Cedars. Don't remember who it's by, don't care. Shit sucked.

>> No.1959039

>>1959033

Book was absolutely slow and uninteresting.

>> No.1959043

Catcher in the Rye or Crime and Punishment

>> No.1959159
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1959159

>>1959036
Watched that movie. It was pretty bad. Dull.

I lived out in the middle of nowhere years ago, and the podunk library had very little to choose from, so I tried Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith, by Gina Nahai.
Contemporary tale told in a semi-mythological sort of way. It went on and on about an abandoned little girl being passed off onto the next relative, who were always single and hated for it. Three layers of women the narrator continually berates as more "sinful" and "depraved" than the last, why the last one actually wore makeup! The authors sarcasm was just so think I had to return it.
Previously I had read an Amy Tan novel and enjoyed it.

>> No.1959186

>>1959159

Reading the book was 10x worse.

>> No.1959194

>>1959159
FUCKING LAZY TYPOS
I apologize.

>>1959186
I can imagine! I mean I've seen some stinker films, but I'd never read a novel length book of Jack Frost or Inspector Gadget.

>> No.1959206

Infinite jest or 2666

>> No.1959209
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1959209

>>1959194
>Jack Frost
>Inspector Gadget.

He thinks films are the same as movies!

>> No.1959231

Sword of Truth.

Made it through the first book and about 1/3rd of the second. So fucking bad.

>> No.1959242

>not realising a book is bad whilst reading, stopping, then moving onto something more fruitful

I seriously hope you guys don't do this.

>> No.1959246

Cat's Cradle... and I love Vonnegut...I was oh so sad

>> No.1959255

Neuromancer. I stopped reading that after about 40 pages in, it was truly shit.

>> No.1959256

>>1959209
They're all still on film. Are your trying to distinguish the better ones from the tripe? Why not call them Cinema?

I saw those two films (Well very little of them, I fell asleep!) when I was working at a theatre. Free time, free movie... Good nap.

>> No.1959268

The Great Gatsby
Seriously, the expectations made it a big, big piece of crap

>> No.1959273

It was probably a gay novel....like the gay equivalent of chick lit, essentially.....like Paul Burston or Christos Tsiolkas. Genuine shite.

>> No.1959316

>>1959256
No, tardfarm.

Cinema includes film and movies. It also refers to the place where these things are viewed.

Film refers to the artistic branch of cinema.
Movie refers to the shit you're talking about.

>> No.1959318

>>1959256
Also, you didn't work at a theatre. You worked at a cinema.

Theatre is actors on a stage.

Now you know.

>> No.1959351

>>1958513
Are you me?

>> No.1959367
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1959367

>>1959316
>Film refers to the artistic branch of..

Whateva Sea-cow.

>>1959318
>Also, you didn't work at a theatre. You worked at a cinema.
I worked at a movie theatre, you ponce.

>> No.1959374

The Old Man and the Sea.
Audrey Hepburn's Neck. AWFUL trash of some asian guy with daddy issues going on and on about wanting to meet Americans, getting aroused,

>> No.1959395

The Hunger Games.

Seriously, how is this book so fucking popular?

>> No.1959414
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1959414

>> No.1959421

Naked Lunch.

I wouldn't have minded that it didn't have a plot if it at least pretended to be intresting. Instead I got a plotless mess homoerotcism and a nonsense vocabulary buliding up into nothingness.

>> No.1959609

>>1959421

Glad i'm not the only one

>> No.1959619

Every time this thread comes up I say Jane Eyre.

>> No.1959621

Pride and FUCKING Prejudice.

>> No.1959632

The Holy Bible. Fuck all of you who claim it's "good literature". It clearly is not.

>> No.1959637

>>1959632
I haven't got past the Old testament yet.

Half of it is about who's related to who.

>> No.1959640

Kind of hard to really quantify "worst". Instead I'll say that Ethan Frome was the only book I've ever had the urge to destroy my copy of.

>> No.1959641

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Generic pile of shit of shit with insert-big-word-here writing in a failed attempt to disguise blandness of style and subject. Only the undiscerning fell for it though, so that's alright.

>> No.1959659

Vagina Ass of Lucifer Niggerbastard was really awful, but yeah, it was supposed to be.

From the acclaimed classics probably Catcher in the Rye. To think of it, it was actually even worse than the aforementioned.

>> No.1959669

The Road, by Incomprehensibly Boring IV

>> No.1959698

>>1959632
>>1959637
Most of it is garbage, Ecclesiastes, Job, Genesis and Revelations are the shit though.

>> No.1959701

I didn't like Steppenwolf at all, but that's because I think that the kind of dude he is no longer exists and the difference between readin from his POV and a dinosaur's is that dinosaurs are all big and stampy and cool.

>> No.1959702

>>1959641
>>1959669
Either this or To Kill a Mockingbird for me.