Are there any 1001 authors you just don't like?!

[Nicola]

Agent wrote: "stephen king, his storylines are just so ridiculous sometimes

the longiliers, a plane full of people fly through a wormhole but only the sleeping people survive
they land in a copy of their worl..."

Well there is only only of his books on the list and The Shining is great so it shouldn't be too painful :-)

[Kirsten]

Not all Stephen King books are terrible. It's not on the LIST but Joyland was very, very good.

One of my favorites is The Stand. Is that on the LIST?

[Nicola]

Kirsten wrote: "Not all Stephen King books are terrible. It's not on the LIST but Joyland was very, very good.

One of my favorites is The Stand. Is that on the LIST?"

No, only The Shining. I haven't read The Stand, always meant to at some point.

[[deleted user]]

Except for The Catcher in the Rye, Infinite Jest has got to be the most over-rated book on planet Earth. Talk about self-indulgent! Almost wish I had died before I read it, instead of reading it before I had died. I'd rather read Finnegans Wake again than plow through "Infinite" again. No jesting.

(In a failed attempt at a humble opinion)

[Cataluna6]

Jasper wrote: "Except for The Catcher in the Rye, Infinite Jest has got to be the most over-rated book on planet Earth. Talk about self-indulgent! Almost wish I had died before I read it, ..."

Finally! Someone else who agrees with me on Catcher in the Rye. I think that is on the top of my most disliked books. I haven't read Infinite Jest yet.

[Nicola]

Cataluna6 wrote: "Jasper wrote: "Except for The Catcher in the Rye, Infinite Jest has got to be the most over-rated book on planet Earth. Talk about self-indulgent! Almost wish I had died bef..."

I don't like Catcher in the Rye however after studying it exhaustively (school text) I was able to appreciate that it is well written on a literary level. That still didn't mean I liked it. I detested it - the only english school and university assigned reading that I have ever disliked. Holden, you need a great big SLAP!

[[deleted user]]

Cataluna6 wrote: "Jasper wrote: "Except for The Catcher in the Rye, Infinite Jest has got to be the most over-rated book on planet Earth. Talk about self-indulgent! Almost wish I had died bef..."

It seems very nice to know that I'm not the only one who couldn't catch on to Catcher in the Rye. And I read this when I was a teen - when I SHOULD have been able to identify with Holden Caulfield more than any other time in life.

Still - I can definitely relate to Nicola's appreciation for Salinger ... even after all this time, I still think about Salinger's ability to control the narrative arc and character's voice, and in this respect, Catching Rye is a masterpiece. It's one masterpiece, though, I hate more than any other. Relieved I'm not the only one who wanted to give Holden community service.

[Kirsten]

Jasper wrote: "Except for The Catcher in the Rye, Infinite Jest has got to be the most over-rated book on planet Earth. Talk about self-indulgent! Almost wish I had died before I read it, ..."

Franzen always seems over-hyped. I remember when The Corrections came out. It seemed like it was nominated for awards before it was even for sale!

Of course, I shouldn't judge. I haven't read ANY of his books.

[Beth]

Kat wrote: "Philip Roth has 8 books on the complete list? I wonder how that happened :/. I would've thought there'd be a limit for each author!

I've just checked and there are 3 in the new edition list I'm ..."

I hate some of his books, but also REALLY love others. Give him a chance.

[Kaycie]

Beth wrote: "Kat wrote: "Philip Roth has 8 books on the complete list? I wonder how that happened :/. I would've thought there'd be a limit for each author!

I've just checked and there are 3 in the new editi..."

Out of curiosity, which books did you love versus hate?

[Maryann]

I have read three books by Rushdie so far and it's a struggle every time. He's just too WORDY. Philip Roth is also hit or miss for me. I really liked The Plot Against America, but Operation Shylock put me to sleep multiple times. I also have mixed feelings about Thomas Pynchon. He's intriguing but sometimes I feel he's deliberately annoying.

[[deleted user]]

Maryann wrote: "I have read three books by Rushdie so far and it's a struggle every time.... I also have mixed feelings about Thomas Pynchon. He's intriguing but sometimes I feel he's deliberately annoying."

I have a difficult time with Pynchon, too. Pynchon's first book that I read was "Vineland," and after that, hearing that "V" and "Gravity's Rainbow" were even more obtuse, I never bothered. Still - I've got 'em piled up for Next Year's reading list. Maybe 3rd time's a charm - either that, or a strikeout. Hmmmm

[Kirsten]

I liked Inherent Vice, but I haven't tried any of his others. I liked The Plot Against America too, @Maryann.

[Maryann]

Jasper wrote: "Maryann wrote: "I have read three books by Rushdie so far and it's a struggle every time.... I also have mixed feelings about Thomas Pynchon. He's intriguing but sometimes I feel he's deliberately..."

The Crying of Lot 49 is short, so if you pick up that one, it's over quickly. I've read Vineland and have Against the Day, which is a chunkster and I haven't worked up the nerve to dive in yet.

[Kristen]

So interesting seeing authors I love mentioned here. I love Austen, Hemingway and Rushdie.

I can't speak for Salinger. I've read Catcher in the Rye, hated it, and haven't tried anything else by him. It's nice to find folks that feel the same.

And then there's the author I really hate (and appear to be alone in hating). Cormic McCarthy. Blegh. So much gratuitous violence. I was so disappointed to see multiple books of his on the list.

[Judith]

Lisa wrote: "Rushdie, emphatically. Burroughs, also emphatically. Naked Lunch nearly made me LOSE my lunch.

Hemingway is one of those authors you either love, or love to hate :) I happen to adore him :)"

I actually have learned to appreciate Hemingway in my old age though I still hate his portrayal of women!

I liked Midnight's Children pretty well but otherwise have not appreciated Rushdie at all.

Burroughs is unique and will never be a favorite, but I do find him amusing at times....

[Judith]

Ellinor wrote: "Mariana wrote: "Paulo Coelho! I find him so deeply patronising... ugh!"

I don't like him either. But I've read both his list books and so I don't think of him any longer :)"

Me, too!

[Judith]

Kirsten wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Oh, forgot about weighing in on Updike. Haven't read anything of his outside the Rabbit series. Wasn't all that impressed. Rabbit's really NOT a likable guy, but he is also LOADED w..."

I agree! Rabbit is NOT a likable guy, and I really have a hard time caring about what he does...four books worth!(I think only three of them are on the list though...)

[Judith]

Ed wrote: "Hemingway...ugh! and not a fan of Henry James either."

I've enjoyed a good number of Henry James' novels, but I just can't seem to get into The Ambassadors...and it is one of his long ones! The Turn of the Screw and What Maisie Knew were quite entertaining I thought.

[Feliks]

Yes. For me, the following authors are unpalatable. I'll explain why, if anyone asks me.

Miguel Cervantes
Louis Ferdinand Celine
Aldous Huxley
Arthur Rimbaud
V.S. Naipaul
Jane Austen
The Brontes
Harriet Arnow
C.S. Lewis
Andre Gide
Andre Malraux
Antonin Artaud
(most works by) E.M. Forester
Ayn Rand
Kate Chopin
Richard Wright
Malcolm X


p.s. is there a convenient link to the list somewhere in the group?

[Feliks]

JudithKirsten/Lisa wrote: "...weighing in on Updike. Haven't read anything of his outside the Rabbit series. Wasn't all that impressed. Rabbit's really NOT a likable guy, but he ..."

I'm with you on this. Updike sure chose some miserable, doleful characters and themes to explore. The Rabbit series was tedious in the extreme.

But he has at least two fairly lively, decent, & readable books which I've encountered:
The Witches of Eastwick
Roger's Version
and one superb, outstanding, astonishing one:
The Coup

To see him at his best--if you would just read one title of his--make it this last-mentioned.

[Mickey]

Laini wrote: "I'm going to make a controversial post here and say that I find it really hard to read Jane Austen, I just can't bring myself to like any of her characters enough to care about what does or doesn't..."

I don't like Jane Austen either for all the reasons you listed. I've read Pride and Prejudice and Emma and was not impressed.

[Teresa Dicentra]

yes!

Ayn Rand
Charles Dickens
Vonnegut
James Joyce

Surprisingly I found that I like Hemmingway.

[Lasse]

I am definitely not a fan of Stephen King, but The Shining was not awful.

[Emy]

I don't like J.M. Coetzee. I've read two of his books (Disgrace and Waiting for the Barbarians and didn't like either.

[Mimi]

I'll probably get a lot of flack for this, but I don't like Agatha Christie.

I love her stories (and whenever there's something on tv based on her work, I'll definately watch it), but her writing just doesn't agree with me.
I've never managed to finish a book by her. (And I've been trying since I was 10 years old. I pick one up about every 5 years to try again... sigh).
Oh yes, I did manage to finish 'Black Coffee', but technically the book wasn't written by her.

[Nicola]

Paul Auster. I hadn't come across him before and now I've read 3. Timbuktu wasn't bad but I wasn't enthralled by The New York Trilogy and I disliked a lot of Moon Palace.

Unfortunately there are a lot more of his books on the combined list. For my fellow completionists who dislike Agatha Christie and Stephen King at least you only had the single one to read... :-)

[Laura]

Nicola wrote: "Paul Auster. I hadn't come across him before and now I've read 3. Timbuktu wasn't bad but I wasn't enthralled by The New York Trilogy and I disliked a lot of [book:Moon Pal..."

I could not agree more. That's pretty much all I have to say. ;)

[George P.]

My least favorite list-book author is Henry James. Those long, long sentences with 8 commas, 2 semicolons and three sets of parentheses drove me crazy. I admit I've only read one of his books (The Turn of the Screw) but that was one too many for me. Ironically, I think his brother William was a great pioneering theorist of psychology.

[Ella]

OK, I'll admit it. I don't really like Dickens.

It's not the stories themselves. It's not the length. I can't figure it out, but I've still got a couple more to try, so either I'll change my mind or I'll figure it out, I hope.

[Hannah]

Virginia Woolf. I've only read Jacob's Room but it was enough to put me off reading anything else by her since. One book probably isn't enough to go on though so at some point I will give one of her others a try...

[J_BlueFlower]

Ella wrote: "OK, I'll admit it. I don't really like Dickens.

It's not the stories themselves. It's not the length. I can't figure it out, but I've still got a couple more to try, so either I'll change my mind ..."

You are not alone.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

I've yet to find anything by Coetzee or Pynchon that has done much for me, though with Coetzee it still a rather small sampling. J.G. Ballard is another one that isn't for me, but I don't take exception to any of them being on the list. Henning Mankell is popular, but I think his books are poorly written. Rohinton Mistry seems merely average to me, as is everything by Saramago except Blindness. I've only read one book each by Orhan Pamuk and Paul Auster, but neither one has made me rush out to read more.

(Those are highly subjective opinions. I know a lot of people like those books, and I'm not saying they're wrong to do so. I just didn't find a lot of satisfaction with them. I think part of the problem is the Must in the title--why must I read these particular books? Because they are popular and I must read them to stay literate in current literary culture? That seems to be the reasoning for some of these. Because when someone says I must do something, it suggests to me that doing so will fulfill some need I didn't know I had. Most of these books can't make that claim--they might be entertaining, but too many of them are simply diversionary. A few actually change the way I think about things though. Granted that not every book will affect each reader the same, I still think there might be only 200 or so books that really must be read, and that must should be followed by 'if you really want to have a better understanding of the world', or something like. Even if the phrase was, 'you must read them if you want to have read the best books of all time,' there's still a lot of stuff on here that could be cut.)

[Melanti]

Ella wrote: "OK, I'll admit it. I don't really like Dickens.

It's not the stories themselves. It's not the length. I can't figure it out, but I've still got a couple more to try, so either I'll change my mind ..."

You're not alone! I don't like Dickens and I don't know why either.

I even enjoy some authors that have mimicked his style. But I just don't like him in particular.

Other list authors I don't care for:
Paul Auster, Charlotte Bronte, Dostoevsky, Hemingway, Murakami, and Woolf.

[Sean]

I also struggle with Dickens. I get bored and lose interest sometimes, but I can't say I hate him. The only specific author who I have tried on this list that even gets close to hate is Faulkner. But I have only read one book. And I was pretty young. Maybe I need to try him again. Especially since he hasn't even been mentioned in this discussion. I must be in the minority.

[George P.]

Bryan wrote: " I think part of the problem is the Must in the title--why must I read these particular books? Because they are popular and I must read them to stay literate in current literary culture? That seems to be the reasoning for some of these. Because when someone says I must do something, it suggests to me that doing so will fulfill some need I didn't know I had."

Perhaps it would be better if it were titled something like, " 1001 Books it would be really good to read before you die"? :) Of course that doesn't give us as much of push to do it, does it?

[Mia]

George wrote: "Bryan wrote: " I think part of the problem is the Must in the title--why must I read these particular books? Because they are popular and I must read them to stay literate in current literary cultu..."

If there would be a like button I would like this comment!

[Amanda]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one here who isn't into the Coetzee hype. He's the only author on the list I've given more than one 1-star review to.

Also Phillip Roth: I actually loved Nemesis and thought I would enjoy his other novels too but...no. Portnoy's Complaint and Human Stain really tried me.

And just to put 2 really polarizing ones out there that I haven't seen yet (who are beloved,it seems, by very different people for very different reasons): Yann Martel and Alan Moore. Find them both over-lauded beyond belief and just insufferably huffing their own fumes on opposite sides of the magical wonder/edgy nihilism spectrum. I can't.

[S.L.]

Laura wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Paul Auster. I hadn't come across him before and now I've read 3. Timbuktu wasn't bad but I wasn't enthralled by The New York Trilogy and I disliked a lot of..."

Agree along with Thomas Pynchon

[Laura Hailstone]

Totally agree with Auster- I’ve read the Alchemist and The New York Trilogy- dreading the rest
I tried Marquis de Sade (knowing what I would be in for) I lasted about three chapters, struggling and then literally threw it in my recycling bin, the first and hopefully last time I will do that to any book. I’m can usually read anything, I know people will be cross with me but I couldn’t give it to someone else even the charity shop

[Nina]

I disliked Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein a lot. I am glad he doesn't have any other books on the list.

[Diane]

I may have said this in an earlier post, and if so, I will say it again. I do NOT like Michel Houellebecq!!! I am happy to have finally finished all of his list books.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Diane wrote: "I may have said this in an earlier post, and if so, I will say it again. I do NOT like Michel Houellebecq!!! I am happy to have finally finished all of his list books."

That's funny...I'm in the middle of one of his non-list books, The Map and the Territory. It's my first attempt at him...I'd heard mixed opinions. I actually am enjoying this one, though there's plenty of time to change my mind.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Since that was my first Houellebecq, I didn't realize he has such a reputation for being very graphic. This book had almost nothing in it as far as that goes...at least nothing that would raise eyebrows for anyone who reads modern literature, I wouldn't think.

[Jamie]

I had a few authors I strongly disliked prior to focusing on the List, including Hemingway and James Joyce. Reading the list has added to my list of awful authors. At the top now of my 'worst authors ever' list is Alan Hollinghurst, I've read 2 of the 3 books of his on the List, and I'll be relieved when I have finished the 3rd and can forget he exists. Hollinghurst's books are just trashy and gross with almost no plot and poor character development. I also hated some of Ballard's books, but I have almost finished all his books now, and I like some of them. If I had only read Crash and the Atrocity Exhibition I'd have added him to my worst authors list too.