Manuel's comments (member since Aug 29, 2008)

Manuel's comments from the Books I Loathed group.

Emily,
I thought I was the only one who hated that trivial mind numbing book.
If I had one week to live, I would read "A Separate Peace"; it would make each day an eternity.

In high school, I loved Shakespeare, I endured Billy Bud, I tolerated The Scarlet Letter.....

but I absolutely detested and loathed "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles. Such mindless dribble about teenaged angst . I was glad when Phineas died!!!!! no more whining!!!!

No, Never.
Unfortunately my bias against a book I dislike is carried to the writer's other books too. That should'nt be the case, but I cant help it, I'm petty that way.

I read Ken Follet's "All the Pillars of the Earth"

some of the worst sex scenes on print. Im not a prude, but his discription of what a woman is feeling during a rape is disturbing and creepy. And as bad as the rape scene was, he did it again a few chapters later.

Wrong on so many levels.
emotionally, physically and psychological and just plain bad writing.

I loved the Dune series; yet each subsequent book became harder to read and like.

I was such a fan of the original book, I figured I owed it to the characters and myself to find out what happened to this strange and wonderful planet and the universe created by Frank Herbert.

I shouldnt say this.
But when Herbert died; I thought to myself; "Thank God, no more sequals"

I was wrong.
Herbert's son has taken on the task of filling in some of those gaps in the 10,000 year history of human civiliztion and space travel.

In a way, it feels like visiting Europe at Epcot instead of actually flying across the ocean.
The books are tedious and have none of the rich character development of Herbert Senior. Significant points of human history such as the Butlerhian Jihad; turn out to be triggered by a mother's wrath after the death of her baby.

Herbert Jr, takes great care in describing the epic battles between free human beings from the outer planets and the synchronized worlds run by robots and computers. Yet he never tells us why these supposedly super thinking machines need to enslave billions of human beings? He shows us how much the masses are struggling on the occupied planets, but he doesnt show or tell why?
I kept reading and waiting for the answer yet my question is never satisfied.

And yet,
even though I know the milk in the fridge has gone bad and its three weeks past the due date; I still have to take a whiff to know it stinks. I continue reading the damn books.

Dear Fire-Fish

That is the most unique disposal of a hated book I have ever heard. It seems it was almost a ritual.

Bravo to you.

I used to have a hard time disposing of books. Much like Tom, I also venerated all books.

I kept thinking of Farenheit 451 and how some people loved books so much they memorized them rather than see them disappear forever.

(perhaps that should be a seperate theme-what books would you memorize if books were illegal?)

Finally one day I realized I was never going to reread them and I couldnt burn them (though I fantasized about it--- A Separate Peace-) I felt better when I put them in the paper recycle bin.

I hated Piggy in "Lord of the Flies"

He is one of those hangers-on who mean well, but never shuts up. He is always overstating the obvious and going off on useless tangents.
He has a few good ideas; such as introducing the conch as a symbol of authority. Unfortunately his mannerisims and lack of self esteem make him a subject of ridicule and no one takes him too seriously.
(its been years since I read it) But I think he is also the person who introduces the idea of "The Beastie" living somewhere on the island this idea is yet another destabilizing element to an already chaotic enviroment.

didnt shed too many tears when he dies the way he does.

Phiney in "A Seperate Peace" by John Knowles.
I found him so annoying and needy.

I was actually happy when he finally dies.

Not too crazy about Gene either.

Has anyone read Reagan's biography "Dutch"?

The writer used an interesting "device" in placing himself in Reagan's life as a peripheral character. They supposedely went to the same highschool and then they keep bumping into each other throughout the course of Reagan's life.

This writer said he did this as litterary tool to emphasize certain events and flesh out some of the iconic moments taking place through out the country in the 40's-80's

All this was done with the knowlege of the Reagan family.

Ironically, Ron Reagan Jr. said it was the most accurate biography about his father.

It was a good read. But I was a little uncomfortable with this writing concept.

I never read Million Little Pieces, but did your dislike come before or after or during the book scandal between the author and Oprah?

King is not for everyone.
I tried to read his Dark Tower books, but I kept falling asleep. I figured it would get better and I continued to plow through it for about a week.

The Stand is not my fav book, but I thought it was interesting reading for my summer before college. Definetly a massive work to process. I was amazed a few years latter when it was rereleased as an even longer version.

Ive always been curious why King chose Boulder Colorado as the setting for the new craddle of civilization?
For some reason, Boulder keeps getting picked, in novels as the place where humanity picks up the pieces after a holocaust.

Was this a really really strange coincidence or an inside joke from King?

King is not for everyone. I started to read is Dark Tower books but I couldnt read more than a few pages without falling asleep. I figured it would get better and I kept trying to plow through it for about a week.

The Stand is not my fav, but much more interesting than I thought it would be.

I thought it was weird to have Boulder as the new cradle of civilization for the survivors.

Why is Boulder mentioned in so many novels as the place civilization picks up the pieces? I kept thinking, its either a really really strange coincidence or an inside joke from King.

Yes Tom,
I finished the book.
Yes I know he dies later in the hospital from a blood clot.
I was trying to save time by summarizing as much as possible.

I loathed it!!!!

In high school they made us read a lot of books for a variety of reasons. As I grew up I learned to appreciate most of them.

However;
The book I loathed with a passion
"A Seperate Peace" by John Knowles.

A piece of crap about teenaged agnst.
The first and ONLY book I would choose to take to a book burning rally.

I didnt find the characters sympathetic or appealing in anyway. When the antagonist dies by falling off a tree, I was acutally glad, his whimpering friend will be free of him.

There are so many other and better books about growing up as a teenager. This book was a total waste of time, space, paper and ink.