Score

Atlas Shrugged is pretty high up there! Didn't think it was terribly well written, but not exactly dull...

I agree. I think many people are voting for "worst book" rather than "most boring book"... there's a difference!

Yes, I'm actually tempted to put Anna Karenina there, which i found boring in many places, especially at the start; as well as Middlemarch, but that's not to say i thought they were 'bad' books, - just long-winded.

To me a boring book must fall into *at places it literally put me to sleep* category, or at the very least, they are books that i had to force myself on with.

Well my vote for Atlas Shrugged was just a spite vote against Adam Floridia's vote for Leaves of Grass- consider it a counter-punch or a weave-and-jab in an ongoing literary scuffle- it can be discounted (though I will never take it back...)

Traveller wrote: "Yes, I'm actually tempted to put Anna Karenina there, which i found boring in many places, especially at the start; as well as Middlemarch, but that's not to say i thought they were 'bad' books, - ..."

Trudging through a difficult book can be boring. A payoff of some sort is necessary. Boring is just a waste of one's life, whereas difficult can bore me, but somehow enriches understanding, so the reading will be forced. I've forgotten most of the boring books I've read, but never the difficult ones.

Chance wrote: "Trudging through a difficult book can be boring. A payoff of some sort is necessary. Boring is just a waste of one's life, whereas difficult can bore me, but somehow enriches understanding, so the reading will be forced. I've forgotten most of the boring books I've read, but never the difficult ones. .."

Good point, though i would hardly call Middlemarch difficult rather than that G.E. said what she said in too many words, if you know what i mean, there was lots that both she and Tolstoy could have cut out of their tomes, and the novels would have been the better, not the worse for it.

Now, to me, Gravity's Rainbow and Woolf's The Waves are difficult in the sense that they are dense, and confusing in some respects because you have to try and figure out what they are alluding to, and/or how the events stick together, but i wouldn't have thought of putting them on the boring book list. :)

I think i would also put the Benjy part of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury in the 'difficult ' category, because it is so confusing regarding the temporal aspects. Maybe we should check and see if there's a difficult to read list, or start one. :)

The reason i went out looking for a 'boring' book list, is because i was looking for books that would be helpful in putting a person to sleep. So yeah, with boring i mean 'yawn' boring...

Traveller wrote: "Chance wrote: "Trudging through a difficult book can be boring. A payoff of some sort is necessary. Boring is just a waste of one's life, whereas difficult can bore me, but somehow enriches underst..."

Books that have put me to sleep and remain unfinished:
Look Homeward, Angel
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Anatomy of Melancholy

The Hunger Games, really? This book can be called anything, but not boring from any angle.
You really-really hate this book Traveller :-)

I am surprised that Atlas Shrugged is currently heading the list. There are plenty of rude words I can think of that apply well to the book, but it's a page-turner. Why would it have succeeded so well otherwise?

My top pick was Hegel's Philosophy of Right... I'm willing to go Manny a mano against anyone who thinks it's more interesting than Atlas Shrugged. They can read Hegel and I'll read Rand, and we'll see who nods off first. Heck, I'll offer two to one.

Nilesh wrote: "The Hunger Games, really? This book can be called anything, but not boring from any angle.
You really-really hate this book Traveller :-)"

I promise you i found it boring, Nilesh, which is part of why i hate it so much. Maybe it has a lot to do with my expectation though. I had delayed reading the book for a long time, because i thought it was going to be really, you know, - dark stuff. ..but in the end it was all about a callous teenage girl who managed to be boring even in spite of.. well, having to take part in Teh Hunger Games.

..and it's not the story itself, but the way it is told that i found yawnsome.

The way the 3rd person present tense was handled, was not only pedestrian and clunky, but it also took away all doubt that the narrator would indeed survive the story, since here she is, telling the story, and if she died, the story would end, but you know it still carries on through two sequels...

Manny wrote: "I am surprised that Atlas Shrugged is currently heading the list. There are plenty of rude words I can think of that apply well to the book, but it's a page-turner. Why would it have succeeded so w..."

Timing plays a part. I'd discussed Rand's philosophy ad nauseum and knew folks determined to live by it before reading Atlas Shrugged, so my view was all events developed as propaganda rather than story = boring. Having not read Hegel, I might find it interesting enough to wade through, out of curiosity.

Manny wrote: "I am surprised that Atlas Shrugged is currently heading the list. There are plenty of rude words I can think of that apply well to the book, but it's a page-turner. Why would it have succeeded so w..."

After someone else voted for Atlas Shrugged, i also voted for it, because i agree that the tone is so offputting that it's actually a kind of force-read by the end.


From what i've seen of Hegel's The Doctrine of Being, that might give your Hegel a go, Manny. Here is a small excerpt:

"They are not reciprocally sublated--the one does not sublate the other externally--but each sublates itself in itself and is in its own self the opposite of itself"
and so on.
But, i guess your Hegel might be boringer. (I know that's not really a word)

The question is: Do i really want to read both of them, in quick succession, in order to find out?

Oh, thanks, Manny, i've just remember more boring literature...

But...The Vampire Lestat was not...BORING! I also agree, that while The Hunger Games was...mediocre, it was not boring. If it had been boring, it wouldn't be that popular, today's kids (most of them) do not have the patience for boring novels, so...I really don't see how it was boring!

Traveller, I'm willing to take part in a Rand vs Hegel match. I have no opinions on who might win the all-Hegel championship. My doctor has advised that a close interest in this subject could be medically inadvisable.

Fatin wrote: "But...The Vampire Lestat was not...BORING! I also agree, that while The Hunger Games was...mediocre, it was not boring. If it had been boring, it wouldn't be that popular, today's kids (most of the..."

I agree that Lestat and Anne Rice is not boring, whatever else they may be.

Although i love many children's books, i do find some of them boring, because they're written in too much of a simple tone, without any humor to sweeten the deal. I can read Dr Seuss, because it's funny..or Roald Dahl's books, which often seem to be directed at adults as much as children - take for instance his brilliant Fantastical Mr Fox.

..but when a book deals with a topic as dark as children killing children, (1)i want to see it handled with more...skill than i found in THG. Kids tend to be very uncritical readers indeed. Look at the stuff they read - Wolverine, Batman..- wait - actually i find Batman a lot less boring than Teh HG.

..but yeah, ok - Diary of a Wimpy Kid then. I mean, they (younger kids) find things like picking your nose and farting amusing. At my age, i'm afraid i don't anymore, and i know Teh HG is aimed at a young audience, but - like i said; the theme is dark, and - see (1) again.

Manny wrote: "Traveller, I'm willing to take part in a Rand vs Hegel match. I have no opinions on who might win the all-Hegel championship. My doctor has advised that a close interest in this subject could be me..."

I'm willing to bet that Hegel will win hands-down :D

..but the question is: Who is going to read these to give us a verdict?

*sneaks away*

Traveller, yes, I agree the books could have been handled better, but that does not mean that the book was boring.

I'm going to ignore that little lash out against Batman because...he was my hero.

Anyway, the point is, most YA writers, do not write very well. (Of course there are exceptions, that's why I said most, I'm a HUGE HUGE fan of Dahl's short stories aimed at adults, and his children stories aren't all that bad either.) They're simple reads, that don't really deal with a lot, and honestly, you don't even have to think while you read them, which is precisely why they cannot be boring .

I personally think the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy explored some dark themes quite well, the book was very rushed and there were plots but it was realistic. (view spoiler)[ Finnick's death was...perfect. It was barely paid attention, there was no reason for it, and it just..happened. Which is exactly what happens in war. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, I just...and this is my opinion, I just think that you're meaning to say you disliked the book, and are calling it boring when it's actually not.

Nope i stick with my guns, i found it boring. I did not find it an interesting, stimulating book. So boring in fact, that i simply couldn't force myself to carry on with the sequels, and therefore i have no idea of the spoiler you mention. I could hardly force myself to finish the first book.

Perhaps i will find the sequels less so, but in any case, i only voted for the first book in the trilogy, and that's the one that i found boring, :)

I'm sorry if you really liked the book, but hey, there are books in this list of boring books that i personally love, and i don't get all sore that other people find them boring. That's just how life is, some people's boring is other people's exciting.

I would hardly say that Roald Dahl deals with 'not a lot'

I think he deals with a great deal in the book i mentioned, for instance, Fantastical Mr Fox.
There's a ton of issues in there.

...and i love Batman- the Batman comic has always been one of my faves, and i will always love him.

What i meant by mentioning those comics was, that kids are attracted to a different kind of literature than adults are, and they will often like literature in which the author exploits certain ...ok, i have to go - will discuss in more depth later, but suffice to say, i didn't mean to down Batman. :P

No, I did not love The Hunger Games, I enjoyed them a little more than Meg Cabot, but...no, not love. So I'm not upset about you finding something I love, boring. I just don't understand how you found a book that, yes, not stimulating at all, but it's... I think I'll just agree to disagree with you.

Fatin wrote: "No, I did not love The Hunger Games, I enjoyed them a little more than Meg Cabot, but...no, not love. So I'm not upset about you finding something I love, boring. I just don't understand how you fo..."

I think i know where you're coming from, since the theme of the book is not boring. Maybe you read the first book while it was still 'fresher', but by the time i read it, there was already so much controversy about it, that i knew quite a bit about it before i even started; and i think i felt let down compared to what i was expecting..

If i told you a book or film was pretty bad, and you then went in with that expectation, chances are you'll find it not so bad, because you were expecting it to be really bad, see what i mean?

Sigh, maybe i'll just cancel my vote, since i'm probably in a minority re finding it boring...

I found the Hunger Games boring, too, so muc so I couldn't get very far into it. Maybe it would have been more exciting later. The main reason is that it was so trite and predictable and depressing. I honestly did find it boring.

I too loved at least one book on this list but that doesn't mean someone else wouldn't find it boring.

I do agree that some of the books I hated weren't boring, they just made me mad.

Traveller wrote: "Fatin wrote: "No, I did not love The Hunger Games, I enjoyed them a little more than Meg Cabot, but...no, not love. So I'm not upset about you finding something I love, boring. I just don't underst..."

No, no! Your opinion is just as important as anybody else's. Yes, I read the book early on, so I didn't have many expectations about it. The only thing I'd heard was that Meyer (Twilight series) liked it, which really had no affect on my opinion of the book at all. But yes, i get what you mean. I've gone into things people found to be so extra-ordinary that I expected them to be but they only let me down because I expected that much.

Scott wrote: "There is a serious problem with this poll: many (most?) voters confounded their worst with the most boring. Its clear if you look at the top 50. Many of these books while bad (=insignificant or ..."

You are right there. I feel rather bad that i invited all my friends to vote on it before checking it out properly first.

I should simply have started my own list, that asks for books that are guaranteed to put you to sleep; since that is exactly what i and a few fellow insomniacs are looking for - books that are so... dull, that reading them will put you to sleep if indulged in during a bout of insomnia.

I must beg to differ with you about Catcher in the Rye though... - i didn't see it in the list or else i would definitely have voted for it. I haven't read many books that are quite as snore-inducing.. please, i would like to know why so many people love this book. What's to love? Being privy to the inner world and thought-processes of a teenage boy isn't quite my idea of stimulating, exciting reading, i guess.

I also wondered what Hemingway and Garcia Marquez was doing there- in fact they've listed my favorite Hemingway.... oh well.

GET ELDEST OFF THAT LIST!!

Catcher in the Rye is one if those books where I can understand what the author was doing and why it was "groundbreaking" but I had to force myself to keep going because it was so incredibly dull.

There's nothing like a computer manual to put you to sleep Traveller. :)

Traveller wrote: "Yes, I'm actually tempted to put Anna Karenina there, which i found boring in many places, especially at the start; as well as Middlemarch, but that's not to say i thought they were 'bad' books, - ..."

I also found that it got very boring about 3/4 of the way into it. He just rambles on and on like someone who loves the sound of their own voice. thanks for adding it.

I really don't understand why several of these books are on the list... just because a book doesn't fit your preference doesn't make it "boring."

Let's face it. Reading is subjective. What fascinates one person will bore another to tears. I, for example, have never been able to finish a Jodi Picoult book while some folks adore her. On the other hand, I've read The Scarlet Letter several times. I can even objectively say a book is well written but never become engaged by the story.