The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion
Have you ever broken up with a book that everyone else loved?
I have had books that I liked initially but hated later on like Twilight. But I know what you mean. I hated the Life of Pi. Sorry but its true. I hated it and broke up with it about halfway through the second chapter.
Oh Yeah!!! I cannot stand The Great Gatsby. (Although I did read it and several times.) Everyone I talk to, or read on these forums just think it is the greatest work of Fitzgerald's career. I did read it though and several times. I think his best work is Tender is the Night.
I understand that critics are interested in the underlying themes and nuances that are embedded in Gatsby. Get all that. Filled with meaning and a great work of art. Lots of connection to Fitzgerald's disappointment in his previous work.
But really. So yes, lots of people start making noises when I say it does not seem like the masterpiece everyone take sit for. Up until my high school English teacher died a few years ago he and I had agreed to disagree for about 40 years. And I get all sorts of flack even on other forums.
More recently I just could not get into The Hunger Games. Read about 40 pages and then put it in the pile to return to the library unread.
I guess, your mom didn't talk to you for a week because it was a religious book?But no, you are not the only one... I never liked Paulo Coelho's books... ALL OF THEM..I could never understand why people even like it so much..I feel like they are over-rated kind of books, I have read much better than that !
Plus, they are so heavy for my precious mind ^_^ but no really, it's with me as well... like Perks of being a wallflower..it was not so much interesting for me.. It's not like I have issues with any fix type of genre or anything, it's just I can't find myself attach to them, oh and my recent 'discovery' 'Thirteen reasons why' ..it was a complete time waste for me...
I also hated Great Gatsby, I didn't like it at all. My step-grandmother wanted to burn my Harry Potter books specifically but also told my parents they should clean out my entire collection when I was 12. They told her what I read was their business and bought me a harry potter comforter set. Naturally my grandparents think I am probably going to hell.
I didn't break up with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy but I really really wanted to. Forced myself to finish the trilogy. Just don't understand what all the hype was about those books. Way to much detail and too many unnecessary characters and translated horribly.
Yeah I am right now! Persuasion by Jane Austin lol
And I hated the poison wood bible haha so I totally get it!
I felt this way about The Shack. First two of my cousins read it. Then my parents read it (my father several times), bought it and recommended I read it. Four of my really close friends read borrowed the copy from my parents and loved it. I read fifty pages, returned it to my mum and then had to pretend I finished it for my dad because he would just make too big a fuss otherwise. That is the only one that springs to mind, even though I break up with books all the time. It is just the rest of my people are not big readers.
Ulysees by James Joyce - if I've said it once I've said it 100 times, it's like a drunken Irishman reciting the Jaberwocky over and over. Hated it and I despise all the 'oh it's a masterpiece of modernist language whose depth and meaning have numerous levels of both texture and insightfulness. no it isn't it's torture.
Marie Clarisse wrote: "Thirteen Reasons Why. :/"Same...
Life of Pi was my big breakup. Bored me to death. I tried and tried to read it but couldn't. I really don't see what the hype is all about.
Staceyj wrote: "Life of Pi was my big breakup. Bored me to death. I tried and tried to read it but couldn't. I really don't see what the hype is all about."i started and stopped after a few pages. it was too drawn out, boring, and i fell asleep 5 times trying.
The Great Gatsby it has to be for me. It bored me to tears. Judging by what I had heard before about it, it was THE book to read. However, I just found it dragged, and I just couldn't get close to any of the characters at all (except to a slight degree, Nick, possibly because of our shared name!).
Have to echo the sentiments of The Great Gatsby. Love the writing style, couldn't connect with the actual story. Pride & Prejudice is the other one. I tried to struggle through but eventually I gave up. I couldn't get into it at all.
looking for Alaska.i just didn't find the appeal to it
Sigh. Memoirs of a Geisha. I tried. I really did. But it was such a grind. I'm sure it's my fault. :(
I have to echo the Great Gatsby. With how highly acclaimed it was, it let me down.And the Catcher in the Rye. I read both books all the way through, but wasn't very pleased with either.
My book club read CUTTING FOR STONE. I had a terrible time getting through it. The longer I read the more I hated it. Everyone else in the group thought it was brilliant.
Jane Eyre. Everyone in the world loves it, but I had the hardest time getting through it and found it very unromantic. I may try to give it another shot sometime, because I feel like I must have missed something!I'm experiencing this right now too, as I'm reading the Book Thief. People RAVE about it and how it changed their life. I think it's solid, but I don't get all that love. I'm not particularly entranced by it.
And Diana, I had a similar experience with Cutting for Stone. My sister recommended it to me and was 100% in love with it. I had a hard time getting through it too, and found it to be okay, but not great.
I broke up with a lot of books. Beautiful disaster was truly a disaster for me, although a lot of my friends loved it.. And i didn't like catcher in the rye, although in some ways i can understand why it's considered a classic. And Beautiful Creatures, too, which i think was just a tiny bit better than Twilight, because it was written in the guy's point of view. Nevertheless it didn't appeal to me at all.
Fifty Shades of Grey! :( I tried to read it last year and just couldn't connect with the characters at all. I ended up "breaking up" with the book almost half way through. Everyone loves it though so I think I may give it a second try.
I couldn't and still can't bring myself to read Twillight or 50 Shades of Grey. not sure why, I just can't.The one book others have raved about, but I didn't like at all was Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I just thought it was so boring and just couldn't get through it.
Twilight = nightmareJohn Grisham books are really boring.. I've read a few.. Could never make it through more than a few chapters..
The English Patient. I saw the movie several times and couldn't get past that they don't start the same. I could probably try now because I haven't seen the movie in years, so it isn't fresh in my head.
twilight definitly, although it was good that i hadn't read beyond book 2.....
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell...many people I know say it's romantic and wonderful and although I was glad things ended well, I was bored much of the time. It took me forever to finish and being so big didn't help...
The English Patient...I just couldn't get through it..I thought it was really boring and neither the movie wasn't better than the book...
To Dance with Kings-- I've tried, AND tried... several times to finish that damn book. It started out great! :/Also, Coleen Hoovers book "Slammed", found myself skipping paragraphs just to get to the end. (Still not sure why it's noted as being so good?) Baffles me.
Bryn wrote: "So, the post about Jane Austen's Persuasion got me thinking. Have you ever read a book that just about everyone loved, neighbors, critics, your mom, etc.? But you just couldn't get through it? U..."Oh, and I just recently broke up with a book-- called, "The statistical probability of love at first sight". (should have guessed by the titled. (bugger!)Totally bought it for my e-reader and cant seem to get past the first chapter.
You're not alone. lol
Staceyj wrote: "Life of Pi was my big breakup. Bored me to death. I tried and tried to read it but couldn't. I really don't see what the hype is all about."Me too, pretty slow and boring
The Quillan Games bobby pendragon series, the series has like what, 10 books or 11 ?Well, at first the curiosity leads me all the way to the 6th book. But somehow the 7th book my half-consciousness mind tell me this series doesn't worth my time. And then , boom. I didn't even bother to finish until the end. though I read the 7th book until half of it.
Nyree wrote: "To Dance with Kings-- I've tried, AND tried... several times to finish that damn book. It started out great! :/Also, Coleen Hoovers book "Slammed", found myself skipping paragraphs just to get to..."
I didn't get it, either. I suppose it's considered a good book because some people are easier to please than others.
Couldn't finish The Shack and fast forwarded to the end while reading Fifty Shades of Grey. How many times can one character say 'holy crap'? Oh and almost hung myself while trying to finish The Fiery Cross. That was the book that broke up my love affair with the Oulander series.
The first time I read The Fault In Our Stars, I cried and had too many feelings. Then I finally brought myself to read it again at a moment of boredom and found that it wasn't as good as I thought.
Beautiful creatures.. could NOT get through it.
Josh wrote: "I have to echo the Great Gatsby. With how highly acclaimed it was, it let me down.And Catcher in the Rye. I read both books all the way through, but wasn't very pleased with either."
And if you are old enough, or read about banned books, can you imagine why the Catcher in the Rye was ever banned?
It is all so ridiculous. Yes, there are words in older books that can certainly offend today. Yes, it was horrible that these words were used at any time. But to remember these times are past and we are merely reading a story that was written long ago.
Another one is The Lord of the Flies. One of my high school English teachers tried to add it to our reading list as he considered it a masterpiece. The outcry was deafening. Not sure I would ever agree this is great literature, but lots of people think so.
3rd book of the Hunger games. To me it felt like a draft that was rushed out to meet a deadline. The ending made no sense based on my interpretation of Katniss. I really enjoyed the first two but the 3rd one really grated on me.
Everyone loved the Celestra series by Addison Moore, but OH MY GOD how stupid can the main character be honestly!!!!!-_- Plus the story just drags on and on and ON!!! I hate this series and would never suggest anyone to read it.
Craig wrote: "3rd book of the Hunger games. To me it felt like a draft that was rushed out to meet a deadline. The ending made no sense based on my interpretation of Katniss. I really enjoyed the first two but t..."I agree, I did not like book 3 of Hunger Games.
Marie Clarisse wrote: "Thirteen Reasons Why. :/"I liked how it was from the guys point of view but seriously the supposed "13 reasons why" she killed herself sucked. I would not kill myself over that, plus the book was a work of fiction, come on Mr. Asher put some thought and emotion into it.
Anything John Steinbeck. I just am not a negative, see the glass as all empty, naturalist. The other one? As an English major BA and MA, I'm actually a little ashamed to admit this: Moby Dick. Not a Melville fan (I'd prefer not to read it again. Or Billy Bud, Sailor.)
Oh I forgot 50 shades of grey trilogy
Deborah wrote: "Anything John Steinbeck. I just am not a negative, see the glass as all empty, naturalist. The other one? As an English major BA and MA, I'm actually a little ashamed to admit this: Moby Dick. No..."
Yes. Just goes on and on and on. How much can readers take?
I loathed every character in Wuthering Heights and I skipped the lecture so I didn't have to talk about it.
The da Vinci code :( it got such a hype but for me it was such a disappointment :(
I did broke up anymore, as it couldn't attract my attaction. My latest read was TO LET GO, I'd tried hanging on, eventually I learned to let go. That's life.
The Perks Of Being A Book Addict
Books mentioned in this topic
Shiver (other topics)Breaking Dawn (other topics)
City of Bones (other topics)
Cinder (other topics)
The Selection (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
David Nicholls (other topics)Jane Smiley (other topics)
Donna Tartt (other topics)
Of course, I break up with books pretty quick if I'm not hooked after 80 pages or so. Just wondering if I'm the only wierdo out there who wonders why people make such a fuss over some books.
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author: Cuban Sun