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/lit/ - Literature

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2762174 No.2762174 [Reply] [Original]

What is the worst book you've actually read all the way through?

For quite a while I only read books that had just been published. I told this guy I work with that I was starting to read more classics/modern classics. He told me that I had to read Jonathon Livingston Seagull. All I knew about it at the time was that the Telegraph had included it in their 'perfect library' alongside Hitchhiker's Guide and Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. So I ended up borrowing it off of him...

Jesus fucking Christ. Was this book made for people with brain damage?

>> No.2762182

>>2762174
Tell me more.

>> No.2762179

lolita

>> No.2762187
File: 109 KB, 648x433, 12393807616799e0.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2762187

>>2762174
>All I knew about it at the time was that the Telegraph had included it in their 'perfect library'
So you learned about the media and advertising the hard way?

The worst book I have read was probably The man without by Ray Robinson. Its about a man struggling with 'gender issues'.

>> No.2762191

but it has a Grammy-winning score by Neil Diamond, op!

>> No.2762192

Perdido Street Station - Mieville

>> No.2762203

Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist
shit shit shit shit shit shit

>> No.2762200

>>2762187
I don't think it was a case of it making the list to promote it. I think that the guy who wrote that particular list just has no fucking taste.

>>2762191
Yeah, I heard there was a film of it as well. They should sell it with the book and market it as an aid to suicide.

>> No.2762207

I'm probably going to get killed for this, but Ulysses.

Maybe I'm just not smart enough, but it read like a bloated septic tank of nonsensical drivel.

>> No.2762210

Brave New World.

>> No.2762213

What makes a bad book popular?
Why does /lit/ consider some popular authors bad like - Stephen King - Grisham - Mayer...? I mean if the target audience enjoys it and the writing isn't complete shit then what's wrong with these authors.

>> No.2762214

>>2762207

Did you still read the whole thing though? I figured it was one of those books where if you were struggling to go on you'd just give up. Its not like Dan Brown where even if you think its crap it only takes a few hours to blast through it.

>> No.2762217

The 2nd resident evil book, caliban cove.
It was so awful and uninspired, it's funny that all the books that weren't strictly from the videogames sucked so hard plot-wise, shows how untalented the author really was.

>> No.2762221

>>2762210
This.

>> No.2762222

>>2762213
>What makes a bad book popular?

Marketing.

>> No.2762227

Romiette and Julio.
for high school many years back, worst piece of cliched politically correct shit I've ever read, including troll posts on 4chan.

>> No.2762235

>>2762227
That sounds retarded. The fuck is the point of adapting Romeo & Juliet if you're going to have them survive in the end?

>> No.2762245

>>2762217
Oh shit. That reminds me of "Earth Hive" or some shit. Alien novel. Oh my god. I didn't know books that bad could be published before I picked it up, holy shit, I broke out in hives.

Evil rich people being CEOs and, evil and stuff, like, they even do rich people drugs (this brought to light by the most horrifying attempt at some fictional new-spacey drug thing that I have ever come across) and, like stuff. And then there's this lady and she's in love, but OH NO! He's a robot! What a twist! THEN THE EARTH DIES. Fucking finally.

Ugh. Excuse me while I go read bad whump fanfiction for something with a little bit more quality.

>> No.2762247

>>2762235
I couldn't get over the fact that the Julio character kept describing Corpus Christi as beautiful, but I used to live there and its a shithole. And then the punk skateboarder with a mohawk falls in love with the inner-city black girl. Not saying it couldn't happen, but that book just pushed too far.

>> No.2762250

>>2762247

Tell me they at least got you to read some Shakespeare.

>> No.2762254

Half Blood Prince. Aside from a small part of the beginning and the end it read like bad fanfiction.

Come at me bro.

>> No.2762260

>>2762250
Of course, the book was a summer reading assigned by the school. My teacher that year told us she thought the book was horrible also and wouldn't have made us read it if she didn't have to.

>> No.2762281

>>2762260

Ha, at least she was honest.

My English teachers had total control over what we read. Which is good, because it filtered out anything that was totally shit but then they couldn't handle any criticism of their favourites either.

>> No.2762300

>>2762245
>fictional new-spacey drug thing

I hate this cliche'. Its something you see FAR too often in futuristic sci-fi and cyberpunk. And generally the name, chemical composition, or application of such a thing is so silly as to be absurd

>> No.2762302

Not everything has to be downright sophisticated and academic, OP. Jesus Christ, loosen up.

Though, I did prefer Richard Bach's Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah.

>> No.2762310

>>2762300
Yeah, but at least they try. This was an abomination. It was called "pink orgasm", that's right, it's a girl drink. And apparently, the effects are "pleasant shuddering".

>> No.2762313

Probably Enduring Love. It wasn't that bad though, and when you look at it on a deeper level it is very intelligent, but for fucks sake Joe shut up about fucking science no one gives a toss.

>> No.2762317

>>2762302
>Not everything has to be downright sophisticated and academic

Don't remember saying that it did.

>> No.2762330

>>2762207

You aren't smart enough.

>> No.2762354

>>2762174

Keep reading your hashed drivel, Mister Stupid.

>> No.2762384
File: 90 KB, 321x521, funhouse.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
2762384

Lost in the Funhouse - John Barth

"Let's experiment with writing!"

I mean i like experimentation but this felt so pointless. Signifying that a story is being told within a story within a story within a story by using punctuation like """" """" ? Really faggot?

>> No.2762402

>>2762384
That... sounds... exhausting...

>> No.2762406

>>2762384
Picked the fuck up. Sounds fun.

>> No.2762409

fucking mcteague

>> No.2762515

The Alchemist was pretty bad.
Also:
>The Orchard Keeper, by McCarthy
>The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Stein

>> No.2762520

>>2762384
Barth was such a lousy dork.

>> No.2762560
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2762560

Pic related, very related.

American's can't write for shit,

>> No.2762566

>>2762560
>American's can't write for shit,
>American's
>'s
>shit,
>,

Jesus wept.

>> No.2762573

>>2762520
Sot-Weed Factor was awesome.