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/lit/ - Literature

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9075476 No.9075476 [Reply] [Original]

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

>> No.9075483

metro 2033

>> No.9075501

>>9075476
Infinite jest

>> No.9075509

My Diary Desu

>> No.9075526

>>9075476
On the Road
What a worthless piece of trash novel that was. I should've gone with my intuition when I saw his face on the cover. The guy looks like someone who goes to a bar and when some bitch asks him what he does, he tells her 'oh, i'm an artist'

>>9075483
also, this was recommended to me like five years ago and i still have it somewhere. should i throw it away or are there at least some cheap thrills in there?

>> No.9075539

The fault in our stars

>> No.9075548

>>9075526
Throw it away, there's literally nothing redeeming in the whole book

>> No.9075552

Well in reckon Along came a spider by Robert Patterson

>> No.9075555

>>9075476
naked lunch and the lost world by chrichton (sp)

>> No.9075558

>>9075552
James*
Roberts the actor. I'm getting mixed up.

>> No.9075598

A seperate peace

>> No.9075606

>>9075476
Picture of Dorian Grey
>But anon that's good
I'm good at judging covers.

>> No.9075706

>>9075476
American Psycho
The superficial descriptions of clothes really drags and then the graphic descriptions of the murders kind of leave you with no real imagination for the book

>> No.9075707

Pride and Prejudice

>> No.9075719

>>9075476
An Alien novelization. I think it was called Earth Hive? It was... beyond horrific. It was a 13 yr old's fanfiction, except less palatable. I still have it, because I don't throw books away. Also, I have to have proof that it's actually real, and not a fever induced hallucination.

>> No.9075733

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Fuggin' high-school English

>> No.9075737
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9075737

My grandmother gave me this for Christmas. Low-hanging fruit, maybe, but damn. I've never read anything so genuinely terrible.

>> No.9075744
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9075744

>>9075737
wtf anon, why did she give you this?

>> No.9075746

>>9075476
Ready Player One
Looked shitty but all my normie friends said it was really good and that I had to read it. It's one of the most cancerous pieces of shit I've read and the fact that it's considered a best seller made me realize just how garbage our society has become in terms of taste.

>> No.9075754

The Martian. It's entertaining for engineering students as a 'what if' scenario, but it has some of the worst prose and characterization ever published in a mainstream novel.

>> No.9075783

>>9075746
You think that's bad, I'm >>9075719
and apparently this septic tank has a 3.89 rating on goodreads. It's like humanity doesn't even deserve to survive. It's literal sewage.

>> No.9075841

I didn't hate it but I read the first book of the wheel of time and it wasn't really good enough to read for 13 more books so I gave it up

>> No.9075846

Possibly this. It was required reading for my 9th grade english class. It actually makes Catcher in The Rye seem like an exciting novel

>> No.9075852
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9075852

>>9075846
Forgot pic

>> No.9075898

I had to read gifted hands by Secretary of Urban development

>> No.9076024

some book about native american snipers during ww1.
But maybe the translation was just terrible.

>> No.9076028

>>9075476
The House on Mango Street

>> No.9076043

A collection of short stories by Lovecraft

>>9075509
this, too

>> No.9076222

The hunger games and its sequels
>>9075598
Kys pleb

>> No.9076226

>>9075476
We did a module on "Misery Literature" in college - nothing but the life stories of people who got beaten up and raped a whole lot by their families, friends, teachers, ect.

I can't even remember one of the three books I had to slog through.

>> No.9076232

>>9075476
a dirty job by christopher moore
people who complain about one dimensional characters truly have no idea. utter irredeemable shit.

>> No.9076281

>>9075706
That's that point anon

>> No.9076312

ur autobiography

>> No.9076313

60 page book on songwriting. The only good parts sounded like something taken off a pintrest picture to get "inspiration" Basic Bitch stuff

>> No.9076346

>>9075476
Either the The Perks of being a Wallflower or Inferno a Poet's Novel by Eileen Myles.

The Inferno wasn't bad in the sense that it was poorly written but poorly advertised as a novel when it is truly a very self centered memoir

>> No.9076357

>>9075476
Not the worst because it's entertainingly bad
>The deepest sounds of the retiring and invisible column had ceased to be borne on the breeze to the listeners, and the latest straggler had already disappeared in pursuit; but there still remained the signs of another departure, before a log cabin of unusual size and accommodations, in front of which those sentinels paced their rounds, who were known to guard the person of the English general.

But last book I quit was Mezzanine.

>> No.9076379

>>9075476

Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow, and Infinite Jest.

>> No.9076420

Blood memeridian

>> No.9076428
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9076428

As a kid i loved Cirque Du Freak, so naturally i started Shans next series. Even when I was 14, all I could think is "wow this book is awful"

>> No.9076432

>>9075476
Mother Night by Vonnegut.

>> No.9076974

>>9075598
lol nice
>>9076028
it was kinda funny when that retard broke its leg

>> No.9076977

>>9076420
worst book i read this year for sure

>> No.9076981

>>9076428
these books were wild man

>> No.9076985

>>9076981
They were weird and grotesque, sure. But even calling the characters one dimensional would be doing then too much justice

>> No.9077423
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9077423

>>9075476
fucking this
i read it in jail and it was the fucking worst

>> No.9077509
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9077509

2666, or maybe it was just a shit translation.

>> No.9077514

>>9077509
Tell me the translation and I'll compare real quick a couple lines.

>> No.9077990

Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

For some reason my English teacher in high school had us read at least one TR book. It was so bad that I almost couldn't finish it.

>> No.9077999

>>9075476
There's probably worse ones, but the first one that comes to mind is The Crystal Star by Vonda McIntyre.

Awful fucking book.

>> No.9078027

"Torture the Artist" by Joey Goebel. Horrible prose, black and white flat stereotype bullshit characters that did not go beyond "sensitive artist type" or "promiscuous white trash whore". I died a little

>> No.9078042

>>9075476
your diary desu

>> No.9078121

Cat's cradle and The man in the high castle

>> No.9078122

>>9075737
what the fuck is this

>> No.9078266

>>9075526
Read it, it's better than that anon gives it credit for. It's like a pulp equivalent of Strugatsky Brothers' work.

>> No.9078285

>>9075744
"you like book reading, don't you?"

>> No.9078289

>>9075754
Agreed, the humour was especially irritating for me.

>> No.9078290

>>9076420
>>9076977
embarassing

>> No.9078298
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9078298

>the New Testament is arguably one of the greatest feats of literature ever made, with the Gospel of Marc being the pinnacle of Western Civilization and thought
>it inspires total shit like pic related

How is that even possible?

>> No.9078310

Luncheon at the Cafe Ridiculous by Alice Kahn
I wanted to diversify my reading material, it was just name dropping and felt like a chore

>> No.9078623
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9078623

>>9075476

This piece of shit. The author doesn't understand a single line of Heidegger. I ended up drilling a hole in the book to turn it into a lamp.

>> No.9078678
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9078678

I read the first 6 in the series. And it is actually one long book.

>> No.9078689

>>9075476
I only read books that are good and my intuition in that regard is flawless
though since i was forced to read shit back in the uni i had to read hunger games making it the worst

it was so bad that i stopped reading after a quarter and just listened to the audiobooks

>> No.9078696

>>9076281
It's not a good point. It's a pointless dumb shallow book that stretches on about 350 pgs longer than it justifiably should or needs to. Reads like it was written by a 16-year old.

>> No.9078714
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9078714

>>9078298
Books interpreting current news stories through vague references to prophecy are a huge money-making racket. See also: "The Harbinger", "Four Blood Moons", etc. The Wal-Mart crowd eat it up, same as Amish romance novels and the musings of Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty.

>> No.9078794

Shantaram, holy shit that was a bad idea

>> No.9078869

Atlas Shrugged

>> No.9079796

Moby Dick

>> No.9079815

My Struggle

>> No.9079821

>>9075501
This followed immediately by Interview with a Vampire

>> No.9079902

Wicked

>> No.9079915

>>9075476
the stranger is overrated

>> No.9079920

>>9075476
Ebb Tide.

>> No.9079923

Meditations was crazy boring

>> No.9079935

>>9076043
As someone who is reading Lovecraft at the moment, what in particular did you not like?

>> No.9079972
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9079972

>>9075476

Generation Identity. A sixteen year old read the Euro New Right / GRECE / etc. canon and turned it into a rambling, autistic twitter screed.

>> No.9080002

>>9075555
quads confirm Naked Lunch is total garbage

>> No.9080063

Atlas Shrugged

>> No.9080073

>>9075539
Seconded

>> No.9080306

>>9075476

a separate peace

>> No.9080327

Either The Stranger or Metamorphoses. /lit/ tricked me.

>> No.9080360

>>9080063
This.

1000+ page sexual fantasy novel for the author's self-insert with a distorted view of reality and a warped perception of mankind. Not to forget the cartoony mustache twirling villains and the completely meandering story made to fill pages as some sort of self-fulfilling testament of Ayn Rand's ability and superiority as an author because more = better apparently

/lit/ trolled me good.

>> No.9080478

The Road

>> No.9080484

>>9075476
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

>> No.9080525

>>9075476
milo book

>> No.9080537

I have to read The House of Mirth right now for school. It's pretty bad. Maybe about one or two relevant paragraphs per chapter and the rest is basically filler that I literally can't stop myself from just glossing over and not even registering it. I go over some pages like 5 times looking for something that happens in the giant block of text about what this woman thinks of this other woman but it just isn't there.

This book could probably be edited down to 1/4th of its actual size and have the same amount of actual relevant content

>> No.9080565

>>9075744
>>9078122
>>9078285
Anon with Twins for Christmas here. She knows I like to read, so she's always trying to give me these awful romances. (The male lead is called Noah Knight. Even the names are fucking cringeworthy).

>> No.9080704

>>9076977
>>9076420
You should both have your /lit/ passes revoked

>> No.9080728

On the heights on of despair by EM Cioran. Shit tier edgy "philosophy" i could have written at 15

>> No.9080834

>>9075476
the invisible man

>> No.9081002

The shack

>> No.9081023

>>9075476
either the crying of lot 49 or some shitty warhammer book

>> No.9081032

Hobbes' Leviathan. Even for his time he was pretentious beyond belief.

>> No.9081036

>>9081023
>TCOL49
you have shit taste my friend

>> No.9081085

>>9075606
But anon that's good

>> No.9081090

>>9075476
Cry the Beloved Country

I
DON'T
GIVE
A
SHIT
ABOUT
YOUR
YAMS

>> No.9082289

>>9081023
>the crying of lot 49
worst one i've read so far this year, but i may be stupid though

>> No.9082567

How to Read a Book

>> No.9083520

>>9082289
did you read any Pynchon before hand? i want to know why you guys don't like it

>> No.9083561

Frankenstein.

Why the fuck anyone thought the pseudilicious ramblings of a teenage girl would be worth reading I don't know.

Eragon was better.

>> No.9083586

Fahrenheit 451

>> No.9083592

>>9083586
it really was awful

>> No.9083603

Fifty Shades Freed was truly horrible

Fifty Shades of Grey was okayish, fifty shades darker was the best of the three and also somewhat interesting but fifty shades freed was total bullshit even though the most happened

>inb4 Inner Goddess, 1000x grey eyes, etc.
I know but I found these parts funny as well.

>> No.9083606

>>9083561

it was read by other girls

>> No.9083608

>>9083586
can confirm

>> No.9083636

>>9083561
Dracula, on the other hand, was very entertaining

>> No.9083653
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9083653

this turd (apparently they inflicted it on movie audiences as well)

for some reason, it serves as the "literary" foundation for highschool English as a foreign language

>> No.9083659

>>9075476
Ethan Frome

>>9075719
That book was great

>> No.9083665

>>9083636
It legitimately was, honestly. For the historical value if nothing else.

But Frankenstein didn't have the cheesy gothicism of Frankenstein. It was just a rather badly put-together tour de pseud. It was just like reading something -- from here. For fuck's sake, there's a bit where the creature sits down and reads all the literature Shelley can't stop fangirling about.

I don't blame Shelley, and I think it's worthy of respect to publish something you wrote when you were nineteen, but God damn is it mediocre.

>> No.9083667

>>9083665
Dracula is meant to have the cheese.

>> No.9084107

Tai Pei

just... no

>> No.9084148

>>9075706
yeah, you should hate yuppies by now

>> No.9084223

>>9078678
>Reading anything by L. Ron "first draft, best draft" Hubbard

>> No.9084240

>>9083659
>That book was great
why are you even here, you fucking savage

>> No.9084256

>>9080565
Please post an excerpt I must know how bad it truly is

>> No.9084302

>>9083665
>like 50 fucking pages dedicated to the story of how the creature learned english by squatting next to a window while an immigrant girl inside is being tutored, including her entire backstory

not the worst book i've ever read, but holy fuck i couldn't believe how terrible that part was. my high school english teacher wasn't wrong when he called it the worst subplot in english literature

>> No.9084606

>>9075476
Probably Black Girl by Joyce Carol Oates. Required reading for school

>> No.9084620

>>9075555
Checked
Also, Meditations is the worst

>> No.9084703

Annie Duperey - Le Voile Noir

It was the only thing apart from fashion magazines my dentist had in his waiting room a few years ago.

>> No.9084751

>>9075476
katie.com: my story

some chick met a pedo in an online chatroom and got molested. she wrote a book about that experience. it was assigned reading in high school, back when people were still super freaked out about pedos lurking in yahoo chatrooms.

>> No.9084764

>>9076974
I liked when her friend got raped by a clown personally, comedic stuff right there

>> No.9084780

>>9080565
Seconding >>9084256
I need to know

>> No.9084813

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon. Bay Area cliché up the ass. If a cuck ever wrote a book, it would be this one..

>> No.9084818
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9084818

Ready Player One.
I cannot believe the amount of people that excused the awful writing because it was "fun."

>> No.9084850

>>9075476
Chuck Palahniuk's: Choke

>> No.9085303

>>9083586
I hated it too. But I read 1984, and read F451 again, and I like it. Interesting read. But that's my opinion.

The book I hated reading the most was The Whipping Boy. Other than that, I haven't really read a book I hated reading.[/spoiler

>> No.9086239

>>9075733
This is the only acceptable answer.
You just cannot write a book worse than this one, it's impossible.

>> No.9086309

Probably a tie between I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, American Sniper, On Bullshit and The Other Wes Moore.

>> No.9086411

>>9084240
The Dark Horse treatment of Alien was something I kept up with throughout my childhood

>> No.9086417

>>9086411
What. I'm not saying alien novelizations can't be good- I have a couple- I'm saying Earth Hive was a fucking abomination.

>> No.9086819

>>9079796
no, it cannot be

>> No.9086828

>>9081023
>>9082289
Why didn't you like it?

Personally I love that book, Oedipa's attention towards a supposed mystery ends up revealing her desperation to find any meaning and connection in any detail, no matter how superficial and disconnected. She's a bored housewife who sort of hopes for more than just using a washing machine for masturbation.

>> No.9086832

>>9083603
all are horrible what the fuck

>> No.9086852

>>9081090
This, I hated this book when I had to read it in high school.

The yams are from Things Fall Apart, though, which is a better book.

>> No.9086862

>>9075476
Dune.
Just... fuck

>> No.9086933

>>9075476

The Kite Runner

>> No.9086999

No Longer Human.