Go Fug Yourself Book Club discussion
Past Threads
>
Books You DIDN'T Like
Joanie wrote: "Ever read a book that made you feel stabby? I have! Let's share are least favorites1) Holy Land by Robert Zubrin - where to start? I had to force myself to keep reading. Each page, each paragraph..."
Completely agree about Julie and Julia! I couldn't really pinpoint what I didn't like about it but yes, it was just that the main character was just unlikeable. I also didn't like 'Eat Pray Love' for the same reason (like - really? you're unhappy with your life but you have enough money to spend a year travelling around the world? poor you! ugh!).
This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complicating a lot of the characters' motivations near the end of the novel to the point that the things they did (and the reasons why they did them) became less and less believable--and it was their believability that kept me so interested in the first part--right up until the ending that was (SPOILER, perhaps?) a stalemate of the worst possible kind.Amy also felt like a misogynist's dream character; it felt like she was written by an MRA who had decided to lump everything awful that women as a gender are accused of, like seriously, the worst things that could be attributed to women. Nick isn't great, but she is...something else. I *love* a complex female character, and I'm super fine with a female antihero, but this felt...not exploitative but weirdly safe. She is dangerous in the most expected ways and I just hated spending time with her, especially towards the end, for reasons I don't want to spoil further. I've said enough.
I also wasn't crazy about Anthony Marra's A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA, despite its lovely title. If felt like it was exploiting and generalizing a very particular event for novelty's sake. I'm also kind of over books that can't have even the tiniest bit of a sense of humor, or even balance, when dealing with heavy subject matter. But I know I"m in the minority about this one; it seems to be pretty universally adored and has been nominated/short listed for a ton of important awards...
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Also, I need to add one more. The Humbling by Philip Roth, and he is one of my favorite authors. Again, my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I think the WORST book I ever read is House of Sand and Fog. My friend made me read it just so that we could both be miserable. I know it got a lot of acclaim and was turned into a movie, but I hated it.I disliked all but one of the characters and was unable to feel ANY sympathy or empathy. I wanted them all to die.
Of books I actually finished - The Colour of Tea - I literally (not figuratively) threw this across the room screaming.
Megan wrote: "This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complicating a lot of the characte..."I agree about Gone Girl. It was really well-written, I think, a true pageturner, but I totally agree with what you said about Amy being a 'misogynist's dream character', and it really annoyed me. Actually both her and Nick are absolutely unlikeable but I enjoyed the book until the plot twist and afterwards it just kept getting weirder and weirder.
The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen. To this day, I can't speak about Franzen without feeling ragey. It was just breathtakingly condescending. I have been a voracious reader all my life and I didn't even know I could hate a book that much.(On the other hand, I truly madly deeply and unreservedly loved Gone Girl!)
Everything by Jodi Picoult. I loathe her. I've read most of her output because I'm bizarrely fascinated by how sleazily manipulative I find her, but I loathe her. The Twilight stuff. I read about a third of the first one and could not make myself read more. I adore vampire stuff, too, but that book was simply awful.
I just reread Gone Girl yesterday. I didn't care for it the first time around, but thought perhaps I missed something because I really enjoyed Flynn's other 2 books. I liked it much better this time. I'm still pondering my change of heart.
I had to read 'NW' by Zadie Smith for a post-colonial lit class last semester. It was very painful. So all over the place and very post-modern - it gave me a headache! I accidentally read a book by Stephanie Evanovich thinking she was Janet writing something other than Stephanie Plum, but I was wrong and the book was dreadful. The heroine struggles with her weight, and the guy she ends up with, supposedly her one true love, only loves her after she starts losing weight. It was awful. And there've been a few misses in the Plum department as well, but the newest one is much better.
And I haven't found anything by Jack Whyte that I like (other than his poetry), which is a shame because I've met him and he's lovely as a person, but I just can't get into his books.
As for Julie and Julia, I wasn't impressed with the movie, so I didn't even bother with the book, because I heard Julie was even less likeable in the book. :)
Okay, adding these books to my "read only if forced by crazed librarian" list.
A recent novel I absolutely HATED was Daniel Levine's Hyde. What's worse is that it was a case where I was actually looking forward to the book! It's a retelling where Hyde (of Jekyll & Hyde fame) is the hero...or anti-hero, if you prefer.Unfortunately, it was terrible. Absolutely awful, to the point where I started skimming around page 100. Somehow - I have NO idea how Levine managed this - Hyde (the character) was boring. Not interesting in the slightest. I actually cared far more about the minor characters, plot lines were introduced that went nowhere/were abandoned, and the book was strangely obsessed with, um..fecal matter.
My own rather stabby review is here
I hated Rules of Civility so much I could barely finish it. I think this is partly because so many people recommended it. I found the writing insipid, and the characters were pointlessly unappealing. I'm not a person who has to love characters in a book. In fact I love Clare Messud's books and am impressed with her for reminding us that great literature is not about wanting to be friends with the characters. But unlikeable characters need to exist for a reason, and these didn't. And there were MULTIPLE typos in my paperback copy. Come on, editors!(I'm GFY Petrova Fossil)
Linda_AZ wrote: "Everything by Jodi Picoult. I loathe her. I've read most of her output because I'm bizarrely fascinated by how sleazily manipulative I find her, but I loathe her. "
I know what you mean. I read one of hers, thought "this is good" then the next... and realised that it is creepily prurient and manipulative and not the sort of stuff I want to give brain space to.
Alicia wrote: "Linda_AZ wrote: "Everything by Jodi Picoult. I loathe her. I've read most of her output because I'm bizarrely fascinated by how sleazily manipulative I find her, but I loathe her. "
I know what y..."
"Creepily prurient" is perfect!
Stavra wrote: "The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen. To this day, I can't speak about Franzen without feeling ragey. It was just breathtakingly condescending. I have been a voracious reader all my life and I didn'..."Right there with you on this. There were times when I could admire his writing skill, like, as a cold, clinical, Iowa Writers Workshop sort of power; while nevertheless loathing all of his characters and the general tone of self-important, pseudo-enlightened snarkery that pervaded it. Yick.
Stavra wrote: "The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen. To this day, I can't speak about Franzen without feeling ragey. It was just breathtakingly condescending."I absolutely agree with this. I hated hated hated it! I dislike satire in general because I feel like it's a pretty lazy, uninteresting way to get your point across. And people had acted like he was the second coming or something! I finished it to be sure I knew what I was talking about, but I'll never bother trying it again, which I sometimes do with books I don't like.
Mod
My mom read it after me (she's also in book club) and she called me as she was nearing the end. They were in the car on the way to the beach. She said, "If she doesn't __________, I'm going to throw this book out the window."
I said, "Wellllll, tell Dad to keep the window locks on!!"
Mod
Everything Dan Brown wrote after "The DaVinci Code." They are all basically the same story - Not sure why I keep reading!
Andrea wrote: "Everything Dan Brown wrote after "The DaVinci Code." They are all basically the same story - Not sure why I keep reading!"To me, his books are total brain fluff. They're quick and entertaining and, best of all, they don't require much thinking. I think they're a great palate cleanser after a hefty novel on more serious subjects.
Mod
I hate to even admit I read this book, but the first Twilight novel. Some of my friends with teenage daughters were reading it and talked it up. People, I was an English lit major and hold books sacred; I believe libraries are the temples of civilization. I threw this book into the trash. IN MY BATHROOM. No more vivid expression of disdain could I find.I've never looked at those women the same way since.
Mod
LOL! Good for you! My English lit degree wouldn't let me go near the 50 Shades books!!
Well that's a shame. Admittedly I'm not an English major (Military History with a focus on the Civil War, here), but I'm a bookseller, blogger, and have been an avid reader since childhood. Basically, my world revolves around books.I learned long ago not to look down upon readers for not reading what I deemed Proper Literature. No, 50 Shades & Twilight aren't stunning works, but they introduced entire genres to people who otherwise wouldn't have picked up a book. There was an article recently about how Adults should be ashamed of reading YA and I find that incredibly sad.
Personally, I cannot stand Austen or the Brontes, but I'd never think I'm better than readers who do enjoy their works.
Mod
I also loathe Jodi Picoult, so that brings me a sense of community. And I agree that "creepily prurient" is a perfect description of her work.
Mod
I don't judge people for reading "those books" - reading is reading, which engages the brain and activates the imagination. Good things!
When I kept hearing how poorly written 50 Shades was, and the subject matter was not terribly interesting to me, I knew it was unlikely I would ever pick it up. I think those of us who have degrees in English have worked really hard to understand nuance and symbolism and context, and it's hard for us to read things that don't contain any or all of those things!
Yeah, sometimes it's awesome just to let your brain run out of your head with a trashy novel. And to be clear, I didn't dislike the subject matter of The DaVinci Code - in fact, I thought it was super interesting. But it was NOT a book that made you work, even a little bit, to read it.
Bonnie wrote: "Lord I loved The Corrections. I feel so alone! :)I also really enjoyed The Corrections. It's been awhile, so I don't remember why, but it doesn't make me punchy to think about it, so that's almost a glowing review, no?
Megan wrote: "This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complicating a lot of the characte..."I read Gone Girl because Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are doing the soundtrack for the movie and so I know I'll see it. I felt compelled to finish the book not because the writing was good - it wasn't - but because as I worked through it, I found it disappointingly predictable and the only joy I got out of the book was discovering whether or not my feelings about the plot twists were correct.
I was really put off by both characters. I just couldn't. I really think that the movie could be a lot better than the book though, which gives me hope and that's a feeling I pretty much never have. At the very least, I think the score will darken the script in a good way just like the scores for The Social Network and the American version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Mod
I also really enjoyed The Corrections. It's been awhile, so I don't remember why, but it doesn't make me punchy to t..."
LOL, I am willing to consider that a rave :)
Hated, hated, hated Julie and Julia. Reading that literally ruined a day or so of vacation a few years ago.
Linda_AZ wrote: "I just reread Gone Girl yesterday. I didn't care for it the first time around, but thought perhaps I missed something because I really enjoyed Flynn's other 2 books. I liked it much better this tim..."I really liked Gone Girl, so was looking forward to her previous books, as it's always fun to find an author with a back catalog. But I did not like either of them and would not recommend.
Bonnie wrote: "Meagann wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Lord I loved The Corrections. I feel so alone! :)I also really enjoyed The Corrections. It's been awhile, so I don't remember why, but it doesn't mak..."
I recall enjoying it as well, though I could not tell you a single character's name or a plot point. Maybe there was a lesbian?
Andrea wrote: "Everything Dan Brown wrote after "The DaVinci Code." They are all basically the same story - Not sure why I keep reading!"What frustrates me most about Dan Brown is that all of his characters are like, *impossibly* smart. Like, I understand extremely smart characters. I'm surrounded by people getting Ph.D.s in engineering. But no one is good at EVERYTHING, and all his characters magically are. That drives me bananas!
I also have never managed to make it through any of Jane Austen's books. I just get so bored. I couldn't even make it through the spin-off "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," because ZZZZZ.
Megan wrote: "This might not be a popular opinion, but I really, really did not like GONE GIRL. The first *twist* was interesting, and I think really well done, but it ended up complicating a lot of the characte..."Thank you for saying this! I hated this book. A co-worker just tried to recommend it to me because her sister loves it so and I yelled that it was one of the worst books ever and I hated everyone and NO!
My students all loved anything by Jodi Picoult. While I was thrilled they were reading, I just couldn't stomach reading an entire book that made me feel bad and manipulated. I just don't enjoy that hollow feeling I get from her novels. I also didn't like Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail or Eat, Pray, Love, which everyone in my book club loved, I couldn't even finish them.
I actually have a Least Favorites shelf here on Goodreads to keep track of the books I never, ever, ever want to read again.In addition to Gone Girl, I've read and hated Valeria's Last Stand, by Marc Fitten which was all antagonists; no one to root for.
The Broken Window which is a Lincoln Rhyme mystery by the author of The Bone Collector. I don't usually read these sorts of books and this book made me remember why.
City of Tiny Lights by Patrick Neate, John Dies at the End by David Wong and Filth by Irvine Welsh. They're making Filth into a movie, I believe and that baffles me. I didn't like it at all.
Gracey wrote: "I actually have a Least Favorites shelf here on Goodreads to keep track of the books I never, ever, ever want to read again.haha, I have Worst-of-the-Worst & Avoid-Like-the-Plague shelves!
Now that I've lured you all in with my hatred of GONE GIRL, this is when I admit that I both appreciated and HATED Erin Morgenstern's THE NIGHT CIRCUS. I'm actually afraid to admit this to some of my friends, such is their devotion to this particular novel. Epic battle my ass. LITERALLY NOTHING HAPPENS. The descriptions are lovely and very cinematic and creative, but none of the characters have any real depth or recognizable motivations and then NOTHING HAPPENS. I wanted so, so much more from this one, because I was initially very engaged.
I'm ready for the pitchforks (*hides in blanket fort with attack kittens*)
Megan wrote: "Now that I've lured you all in with my hatred of GONE GIRL, this is when I admit that I both appreciated and HATED Erin Morgenstern's THE NIGHT CIRCUS. I'm actually afraid to admit this to some of ..."No pitchforks here! I wasn't a fan either, and for many of the same reasons you didn't like the book. I felt like it was trying so hard to say something, but nothing was really said in the end.
I absolutely hated The Sea by John Banville. Not only was the main character unlikeable and the actual plot left to the last few pages, but the writing itself was pretentious. Sorry for the image, but it was like Banville was jerking off to a thesaurus. I swear he chose the most obscure, obsolete words for things on purpose.I was annoyed with both An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns by John Green. The former suffers from what I call "Great Expectations syndrome" because the main character is also the most boring one. Hassan, the "fat best friend," should get his own story. Paper Towns seemed like just a re-hash of Looking for Alaska.
My most hated book of all time is Heart of Darkness, but that may be because I hated my teacher at the time. :)I also really could not get into 100 Years of Solitude. My husband loved it and I thought I would, but ugh, was that a slog. I did finish it, though. I never finished On the Road or Clockwork Orange. Oh, and Atonement. I really thought I would like that one, but just got so depressed.
Megan wrote: "Now that I've lured you all in with my hatred of GONE GIRL, this is when I admit that I both appreciated and HATED Erin Morgenstern's THE NIGHT CIRCUS[...] Epic battle my ass. LITERALLY NOTHING HAPPENS[....]" I didn't hate The Night Circus, but I was disappointed by the ending. I loved the idea and some of magic was very original, but in the end... nothing happened.
Mod
I really liked the "Eat" section of Eat Pray Love and found the remainder of the book insufferable. Have not read Wild. People keep telling me I should but I think I am likely to feel the same way you did. If you haven't given in a try I recommend Elizabeth Gilbert's most recent book, The Signature of All Things. I went back and forth on reading it, but when I saw the many Goodreads comments saying things like "I loved EPL and was so disappointed in this" I had a feeling I would like it, and I did!
Mod
I did not hate it, but I also did not really like Night Circus. I read it just after the super fun Swamplandia, and the magical realism in Night Circus was so comparatively ham-handed. Also, Night Circus stole a lot of the atmospheric elements from Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Mod
haha, I have Worst-of-the-Worst & Avoid-Like-the-Plague ..."
My shelf is titled "Worst of the Worst."
Amanda wrote: "My most hated book of all time is Heart of Darkness, but that may be because I hated my teacher at the time. :)It's nice to find someone else who doesn't like this book. I have been assigned to read it no less than 3 times (high school, undergrad, and grad school), and I think I disliked it a little more on each pass! Of course it's also my best friend's favorite book, so I've been subjected to many debates on the subject.
I went on a great big superlong road trip and brought a bunch of audiobooks, one of which was Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (who I'd never read before) and it was PAINFULLY boring. I felt like I was listening for hours but actually it had only been like, 15 minutes, which is not good for long driving. I couldn't follow the characters or the actions or anything. Back into the CD player goes David Sedaris.
Hannah wrote: "I went on a great big superlong road trip and brought a bunch of audiobooks, one of which was Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (who I'd never read before) and it was PAINFULLY boring. I felt like..."I haven't read that one (& haven't heard many great things said about it), but I absolutely loved The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. I'm sure it certainly helped that I'm from Pittsburgh, so any suburb, street, restaurant mentioned was one familiar to me and made me feel like I was right there with the characters.
Go Fug Yourself Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
It Was Me All Along (other topics)Consequences (other topics)
The Girl on the Train (other topics)
The Girl on the Train (other topics)
The Girl on the Train (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Ian McEwan (other topics)Fyodor Dostoevsky (other topics)
1) Holy Land by Robert Zubrin - where to start? I had to force myself to keep reading. Each page, each paragraph gave me a headache - a brain freeze kind of headache! In an attempt to put all the world's political and social problems into an inter-stellar thriller, the author missed by a wide margin and simply left me wishing I could take back all those wasted hours of my life. I even thought of demanding some sort of restitution, but how do you put a dollar amount on that sort of torture?
2) Julie and Julia by Julie Powell - It's not that the story was bad (it wasn't), it was more the author's disdain for her job, the people she had to deal with while at work, her husband, and even the reader. There was something in the tone in which she wrote that vexed me, leaving me fractious and feeling somewhat contentious the entire time I read the book. While I really admired her for taking on a year-long challenge of tackling Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", I was left feeling as though the real people in her world were in the way and unworthy of her time and attention.
So, there you have it: my first two least favorite books. Did you have a different experience? I'd love to have my heart and mind changed!