What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
Just to chat
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Name a book that everyone else seems to love, but that you hated
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Sorry for those who love it, I just couldn't finish it. No matter how much my husband insist that I do, I will not re-open that book. :P
Jeremy wrote: "Here's the flip-side to my previous post:What books have you read that everyone else (friends, critics, teachers) seem to love that you though were garbage?
For example, I used to have screaming..."
Was The Sound and the Fury one of Faulkner's stream of consciousness novels? I tried to read one of those SOC books by him and couldn't get past about 20 pages - just not for me at all.
G.G. wrote: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Sorry for those who love it, I just couldn't finish it. No matter how much my husband insist that I do, I will not re-open that book. :P"
I second this book, I couldn't take the movie either.
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Oh, I have to agree with you there. I don't even remember much from it except a vague awareness of stupidity.
Laurie wrote: "Jeremy wrote: "Here's the flip-side to my previous post:What books have you read that everyone else (friends, critics, teachers) seem to love that you though were garbage?
For example, I used to..."
I had to read his book As I Lay Dying my senior year of high school. It was stream if consciousness and I hated it.
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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Columbine
Knight's Mistress by C.C. Gibbs, well whole All or Nothing series. I got stuck at the third book and just couldn't finish. I despised the heroine too much. Yet I was able to read through books 1 and 2, but the third was just too much.
The Pillars of the Earth... so, so, very BAD!There another one that I just can't seem to remember. Probably come to me at 3am :(
Oh, and wasn't really a fan of Pride and Prejudice the book either. Def didn't read the characters the same way they come across in the movies (and I love most of the movies).
And the one about the mice...? With their different territories... The larder mice and the library mice? I just couldn't get into it at all.
Elizabeth wrote: "Laurie wrote: "Jeremy wrote: "Here's the flip-side to my previous post:What books have you read that everyone else (friends, critics, teachers) seem to love that you though were garbage?
For exa..."
You HAD to read As I Lay Dying in high school? How cruel! But hey, I had to read A Tale of Two Cities in high school which was pure torture.
I'd like to officially add to the list:
A Tale of Two Cities
Lobstergirl wrote: "Bridget Jones's DiaryPerfume: The Story of a Murderer
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
[book:Columb..."
I still do not to this day understand all the hype over Perfume either after I read it. One of the darkest and most depressing books I've ever read. I'm still angry I bought that book too.
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..."
Sucked, I made it about 50 pages and then gave it away.
Just be thankful MJ that you didn't read the sequel to Pillars of the Earth:World Without End
which I felt to be one of the most inaccurate examples of historical fiction ever - not to mention just plain bad as well.
The Great Gatsby I suspect I'm not American enough for the great American novel. I'm not a big fan of To Kill a Mockingbird or On the Road either.
Stupidly, I bought World without End at the same time... and in another moment I'm not proud of - cause I already knew how much I hated the book - I bought the PotE DVD set too, thinking it must be better than the book... But no... can't decide which was worse, the written word, or the bad acting and sets of the written work :/
One Day, mainly for having been mislead in believing it would be a love story and not just a tale about two selfish scumbags. :)
Confessions of a Shopaholic There are many factors that made me hate this book/series. But the most obvious one is the constant lying by the heroine. I understood it was part of the shopaholic plot but...
Anie_chan wrote: "Confessions of a Shopaholic There are many factors that made me hate this book/series. But the most obvious one is the constant lying by the heroine. I understood it was part of the sho..."Oh, I did love CoaS... but hated the movie. Saying that, if I had the books in front of me again, I'm not sure if I'd read them again... and I re-read some real crap ones :/. Might be for the same reason as you - I could LMAO for it once, but might just be irritating the second go round.
Lobstergirl wrote: "Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "The Little Prince"Oh, I have to agree with you there. I don't even remember much from it except a vague awareness of stupidity."
I read it for the first time this month and I wanted to throw the book; it was just evil kinds of stupid. I suddenly felt very bad for French students.
I've managed to avoid the ones you mentioned. So many books on this list to steer clear of.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin. If feminism means it's OK to hurt people because you're feeling selfish and can't be bothered about their feelings, then I guess it's a good book. And I don't get the love for The Little Prince either. I've tried it a couple of times and then decided to not bother again. :)
(Having said that, I love that not everyone likes the same books, don't you? It means there's so much more variety for us to choose from.)
Teri-k wrote: "(Having said that, I love that not everyone likes the same books, don't you? It means there's so much more variety for us to choose from.) "Very true. I liked The Awakening :-)
Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "Teri-k wrote: "(Having said that, I love that not everyone likes the same books, don't you? It means there's so much more variety for us to choose from.) "Very true. I liked The Awakening :-)"
LOL
Outlander The beginning of the TV series looked good so I wanted to get a bit of the background and I also happened to have the book lying around (had found it for free) and the first half was pretty good. Then it went from historical fiction to a romance novel and I lost interest.
Gerd wrote: "One Day, mainly for having been mislead in believing it would be a love story and not just a tale about two selfish scumbags. :)"I didn't even know this was a book. I saw the movie and it was so horrible. The only justice I got from it was that I didn't pay for it, although I was uppset about using my free rental code on it.
To Kill a Mockingbird, had to read it in high school and could barely finish
Fifty Shades of Grey, I just don't get how other woman can find that guy so dreamy. Plus the writing was horrible imo, I DNFd it 3 chapters from the end.
I agree!!! Fifty Shades of Grey!!!! I tried to read it twice and couldn't get past the first 100 pages either time. I thought maybe if I listen to the audiobook.... NOPE!!!! horrible both ways!
Another thumbs down for "The Great Gatsby" One of the books that helped me stop finishing every book I started.
MJ wrote: "Stupidly, I bought World without End at the same time... and in another moment I'm not proud of - cause I already knew how much I hated the book - I bought the PotE DVD set too, thinking it must be..."I even watched the Reelz channel miniseries World Without End as I'm a Medieval history addict and what a disaster that was. If Follett wants to write historical fiction well and good but he needs to realize that medieval people didn't act like 20th century people and weren't liberal progressives quite yet - no matter how much he may wish they were.
Follett also seems to think all Catholic churchman of that era were EVIL personified just lurking in the background waiting to be able to torture heretics or something - so absurd. It's all black or white with Follett and no gray.
Krazykiwi wrote: "The Great Gatsby I suspect I'm not American enough for the great American novel. I'm not a big fan of To Kill a Mockingbird or On the Road either."
I read Gatsby and saw the 70's movie with Robert Redford and I seemed to be missing something as well - I'll have to read a few reviews to figure out what that might be.
Have you considered reading Gone with the Wind?
You might enjoy reading books by Edna Ferber.
Tytti wrote: "Outlander The beginning of the TV series looked good so I wanted to get a bit of the background and I also happened to have the book lying around (had found it for free) and the firs..."
Gosh, the heroine of Outlander had sex 10 times in the first 20 pages of that book and I couldn't continue reading.
I decided to watch the Outlander series as I subscribed to the Starz channel and everyone was telling me how great and wonderful Outlander was and I should give it a 2nd chance. So I did.
It was pure torture watching this idiotic woman. Here she is; suddenly transported to lesser civilized times and the most important thing to her rather than trying to stay alive is...women's lib?...trying to preach to the barbaric men that women are their equals or perhaps superior to them? What utter nonsense.
Laurie wrote: "Gosh, the heroine of Outlander had sex 10 times in the first 20 pages of that book and I couldn't continue reading."I don't really remember the beginning, I guess I just read it fast because I was more interested in politics and such. Also I didn't think they were (all) that barbaric but some were just too much. But yeah, I'm not used to having that much sex in my books, or "evil" violence.
Laurie wrote: "Have you considered reading Gone with the Wind?"Actually, I loved it, but I was about 16 when I read it last, so of course I adored all the melodrama. Not sure if I dare revisit it, that was a very long time ago!
1984 After the first chapter, I wanted to put the protagonist out of his misery. By the second, I was hoping someone would put me out of mine. It was a miserable, miserable book.
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Part of the problem with Fitzgerald for me is that I hate the Jazz Age. Can't stand the clothes, the flapper look, the words "Jazz Age," etc.
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Lobstergirl wrote: "The weird thing about The Great Gatsby, given that it's assigned so much to high school students, is that I think it's hard to like at that age. I only read it after I had a whole bunch of other li..."I found it difficult to relate to these spoiled people with too much money - I really couldn't care what happened to them. I should give it another chance though.
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The Secret HistoryAll the Light we cannot see
I didn't like either, and have no idea what all tge hype was about.
Tytti wrote: "Outlander The beginning of the TV series looked good so I wanted to get a bit of the background and I also happened to have the book lying around (had found it for free) and the firs..."
Just to let you know about Outlander, it goes back to less romance after the honeymoon stage :)
I didn't really like Jane Eyre or Withering Heights.
Tytti wrote: "Laurie wrote: "Gosh, the heroine of Outlander had sex 10 times in the first 20 pages of that book and I couldn't continue reading."I don't really remember the beginning, I guess I just read it fa..."
I was interested in learning about that era and was looking forward to reading Outlander. This was about 20 years ago when the book first came out so after reading the first few pages I thought this was just another bodice ripper and I don't read those. I find the heroine so unlikable I'm not sure I even want to give it another try either.
The whole TV series was too fantastic and unbelievable for me to enjoy.
(view spoiler)
I also had to read As I Lay Dying in high school and couldn't stand it. Read another Faulkner in college, Sanctuary, and couldn't stand it either.
Tytti wrote: "Outlander The beginning of the TV series looked good so I wanted to get a bit of the background and I also happened to have the book lying around (had found it for free) and the firs..."
I just can't get past the 'cheating'. I know the heroine did what a woman in her situation would do in both past and present time and even the why. I just kept feeling sorry for the present husband that it ruined any enjoyment I get from the book, not that I recall finishing it.
Life of Pi! Yuck. Also couldn't stand Following Atticus.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
Dark Carnival (other topics)One Hundred Years of Solitude (other topics)
The Great Gatsby (other topics)
To Kill a Mockingbird (other topics)
On the Road (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ray Bradbury (other topics)Thomas Hardy (other topics)
Josh Lanyon (other topics)
Gillian Flynn (other topics)
Gregory Maguire (other topics)
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What books have you read that everyone else (friends, critics, teachers) seem to love that you though were garbage?
For example, I used to have screaming fights with one of my high school English teachers about how much I hated (!) The Sound and the Fury. Seriously, I don't understand why this title is considered an example of good literature.