worst book ever! Showing 801-850 of 1,030

[[deleted user]]

Well as a Dane I didn't get this forced down my throat in school, but I read it at home, I truly liked it a lot! So I really have to disagree.

[Doris]

I tried to read this, as it has always been touted as a shining example of literature. It was ineffably boring, but I did finish it. Perhaps one day I will try again, but there are so many other books that call to me.

[Angela]

Geoffrey wrote: "Yes, Holly, exactly. I couldn´t agree with you more on the point about "this is the worst book ever comments with no explanation or constructive criticism". It cuts both ways when I read those who ..."

Robert Redford was amazing as Gatsby. It will be interesting to see Leo Dicaprio's portrayal.

[Geoffrey]

Angela

You quoted from my posting but then left it dangling in the air. Can you bring it back to earth?

[Janelle]

Not the best book I've read, but not the worst. I had a hard time understanding the characters and the story and had to reread it. It is shallow for me as well; the story was not very remarkable. (But hey, every book just wants to tell a story. It just so happened that it is a story I did not particularly like.) But the way it was told was good -- it kept me flipping through the end.

On a side note, I am eager to watch the latest movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Might be good for some light watching.

[Jennifer]

I love this book. I had to read it in high school and have read it a few times since for enjoyment. It seems like most people who didn't like it say it was because they hated the characters or they thought the problems in the book were superficial. That's the point of the book. You aren't supposed to like the characters. Fitzgerald was pointing out the problems he saw with these types of people. If you need to like the characters to like the book The Great Gatsby isn't for you. I tend to love books full of broken, horrible people. I like seeing tragedy brought on by a person's flaws.

[Jason]

I actually started watching the movie on Netflix streaming. It looks pretty good.

[Nicholas]

A silly and juvenile topic. There is no such thing as a worst book, and if there was, it certainly wouldn't be the great gatsby. see ya.

[Stephen]

Laura-lou wrote: "does anyone agree with me that this is the worst and most boring book of all time?"

I love this book so much, it's one of my favourites, I am really surprised that anybody can consider it the worst and most boring book of all time! Its funny what differrences of opinion people can have and I'm baffled with your opinion on it.

[J. Dallas]

I read it to see what all the hype was about. I found it two dimensional and boring. So then I read Tender is the Night and found that just as bad. So I gave Fitzgerald up as a lost cause. All smoke and no fire in the plots or characters. Gatsby is just as bad as Catcher in the Rye for "Classic" letdown.

[Makayla]

Laura-lou wrote: "does anyone agree with me that this is the worst and most boring book of all time?"

Yes, it's a horrible book. Worst book of all time...sorry, but Speak has you beat...

[Feliks]

Its really extraordinary. Somewhere between a dozen and twenty classic titles are always being visited. Time and again.

[Gavin]

Great Gatsby haters? I think I finally understand why brain addled Americans are crawling out of the woodwork to go on shooting sprees with assault rifles.

[Amy]

♥ Sarah ♥ wrote: "I don't get you people. This is one of the greatest books ever. F. Scott Fitzgerald got so much money and fame from this novel. It was one of the greatest books I've ever read. And I've read it whe..."

Can you tell me why it's great? I read it a month ago and found the plot a bit plain, though the language is very delicate. I'm thinking it could be because I'm not from US, I inevitably missed some context when reading. I could buy the theory that it's not a bad novel, just overrated.

[Mr Muesli]

Amy C.C. wrote: "♥ Sarah ♥ wrote: "I don't get you people. This is one of the greatest books ever. F. Scott Fitzgerald got so much money and fame from this novel. It was one of the greatest books I've ever read. A..."

I'm not from the US, but I enjoyed this book nonetheless. I think it actually stood out from other classics as having a simple, yet compelling tragedy.

[Claire]

I thought that The Age of Innocence topped by the English Patient were the two worst books ever.

[Jason]

Really? Someone told me that the English Patient was a good book!

[Claire]

I have read over 1200 books and have finished all but 2. The English Patient was one that I could not finish.

[☯Emily]

Moby Dick is undoubtedly the worst book ever classified as a classic! Reading GG is like a walk in the park on a lovely spring day. Reading Moby Dick and staying sane is like trying to stay upright in a hurricane, it is possible but extremely difficult.

[Jason]

I like Melville. I have to admit I couldn't finish MD.

[Paul]

To quote Capt Ahab, "Call me fishmeal".

[Dorothy]

I read The Great Gatsby in high school, again when my children were in high school, and again recently for a book club. Every time it has blown me away. It is a book in which every word counts, and every time I see something different in it. The Buchanans--aren't they like this country sometimes--create a mess and then walk away from it--and the ending, how the first Dutch settlers saw Long Island as a green paradise, is incredibly moving.

[Paul]

Saw the trailer for the new Gatsby movie. Looks interesting but Mia Farrow, and certainly Mira Sorvino, are far more believable as obsessions. Carey Mulligan if anything looks underage. Leo looks believable but Redford still the gold standard for the role.

[Rebecca K-G]

Laura-lou wrote: "does anyone agree with me that this is the worst and most boring book of all time?"

I agree completely. BORING.

[[deleted user]]

If you want to read a really awful book by Fitzgerald, try "Tender is the Night."

[Kat]

My faith in the goodreads community has seriously plummeted after reading this thread.

[Ashley]

I agree. I cannot get good reviews from this site.

[Dorothy]

Gavin wrote: "Great Gatsby haters? I think I finally understand why brain addled Americans are crawling out of the woodwork to go on shooting sprees with assault rifles."

I am new to this site and mostly find it a comlete waste of time, though it is interesting to see what other people read. Black Swan Green. Oh, next to the Great Gatsby one of my favorite books. i am so glad someone else thinks that it a great book.

[Geoffrey]

Actually FSF did not do well by the book at all. There were 75,000 printed up, only 20,000 sold. nor did he achieve much recogniticn from the book. it was largely panned in his lifetime.

[Mamma23]

This is one of my favorite books, and contains one of my most hated characters, Daisy. I haaaatttteeeee her and have not one molecule of sympathy for her. She's an idiot. I love Gatsby, and yes, it may have something to do with Robert Redford. Er, it definitely does.

[Geoffrey]

And I hate Buchanan even more. His was even a more conscious decision.

[Amy]

Paul wrote: "Saw the trailer for the new Gatsby movie. Looks interesting but Mia Farrow, and certainly Mira Sorvino, are far more believable as obsessions. Carey Mulligan if anything looks underage. Leo looks..."

Carey looks too young, I agree.

[Amy]

George wrote: "Not only is it not boring or over rated or "worst book ever" but it is the perfect American novel. You either "get it" or you do not. I have read it about once every ten years or so and it feel fre..."

Please just enlighten me the greatness about it. I'm quite eager to learn. It's a well written novel but I don't know why people keep claiming it's one of the best ever in existence.

[Geoffrey]

Actually despite its so called well written status it is studded with errors and misapprehensions.

[Cindy]

I loved the English Patient! Not sure if it's the best Ondaatje, but it's still great.

[Marissa]

I just don't understand the greatness of it. There is no semi interesting plot point throughout the entire book.

[Marie]

I don't think so, the book is quite good. There are much worse books, like Twilight haha. But not his best novel, I like The Diamond as big as the Ritz more:)

[Diane]

I think I would have appreciated it more if,

1. Not a school required reading, and I didn't have to write a paper on it.

2. I was older when I read it, 16 is too young to appreciate the depth.

In general, I think school reading list be books that makes students WANT to read more. But required reading list with books like the Scarlet Letter, Robinson Crusoe, Beowulf really turn me away from Classics for a long time. Mention reading list, and my brain cells goes to sleep immediately. It wasn't until I reached senior year and we had Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice, animal farm that reading classic became fun again. Would not pick up Great Gatsby again though, once was enough.

[Mamma23]

Hmm, they really should poll former students to see what book read in class inspired them to read More. For me, it was Harrold Robbins, but you can't read that in a 10th grade English class.... Lol!

[Maud]

I see a lot of persons complaining about reading lists at school..how boring they are, how they turned them away from classics or literature...I'm wondering something though, how many of you could make a reading list that would satisfy all the students and fit into the government's requirements to give students a view on classic literature.
Reading lists are made to give all students the same literary background, so that more cultural references would be understand.. The Great Gatsby, doesnt matter if you like it or not, is part of a cultural heritage, and you cannot understood part of the popular culture references if you havent read it. As for people who qualify those books as the "most boring ever", i would just say, try to get some perspective and maturity.

[Diane]

Lorelei wrote: "I see a lot of persons complaining about reading lists at school..how boring they are, how they turned them away from classics or literature...I'm wondering something though, how many of you could ..."

But cultures norms shifts and evolves, the current reading list is sadly outdated. Come on, Scarlet Letter, after the 60's, school boys would probably want a scarlet letter on their chest to declare their lost of virginity.

If we were to make a list of the really relevant culture influencing or culture reflecting books for the current generation, I think it should include

1. books with Gay characters who are actually happy about life instead of going around falling into despair because of repressed sexuality. If Nick where alive in the 2000's he would be a much happier person.

2. books that features more diverse religious landscape. Different sects of Christianity doesn't count.

3. books featuring non-white protagonist, who's main problem is Not a circumstance of skin-color.

[Maud]

Diane wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "I see a lot of persons complaining about reading lists at school..how boring they are, how they turned them away from classics or literature...I'm wondering something though, how ma..."

Because the society evolved does it really mean we have to forget on what it has been based ?

[Holly]

Lorelei wrote: "Diane wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "I see a lot of persons complaining about reading lists at school..how boring they are, how they turned them away from classics or literature...I'm wondering something ..."

We do need a standard of classics for literature; I totally agree with you. I don't think Diane's suggestion is really practicable without a standard; it would leave too much to an individual teacher's interpretations. I, for one, would be very unhappy if I had a teacher who was a hippie leftover assigning all those "counterculture classics" that have lost their relevance and serve only as timepieces. Within the standard list of classics there are many parables of social change for comparison: read and compare "The Great Gatsby" with "Bonfire of the Vanities", read and compare "The Scarlet Letter" with "East of Eden". The same principle applies to books featuring different cultures: read and compare "The Grapes of Wrath" with "The Good Earth". A creative educator should have no problems combining great works of literature with examples of cultural diversity.

[Memo]

it's not the most exciting... but not the worst either. it's a sad love story overall... more focused on the culture & details of the time.

however it is terribly famous for a book that's not soooo... great.

[Margaret DC]

Paul wrote: "Saw the trailer for the new Gatsby movie. Looks interesting but Mia Farrow, and certainly Mira Sorvino, are far more believable as obsessions. Carey Mulligan if anything looks underage. Leo looks..."

I read somewhere that Fitzgerald was hoping for a movie version starring Clark Gable as Gatsby... That's how I envision him, a self made man who was trying so desperately to fit in with the very shallow socialite crowd that he can never see that he was so much more than them. Redford was good but didn't have the rawness in him of a man trying to claw his way to the top as Gable would have had.

I also got a whole new insight on this book after reading the chapter on Gatsby in Reading Lolita in Tehran... I think Gatsby dreamed of establishing himself in society but as a self made man, was destined never to achieve that dream. His "love" for Daisy was based on his dream of female perfection and not on who she really was, a woman interested on whatever man was highest on the social food chain (Mia Farrow portrayed this well in the movie from the 70s). Gatsby's obsession for Daisy was rooted in his obsession for a place in proper society. Gatsby's blindness and unwillingness to let go of his dream was his fatal flaw... Gatsby will always be one of my favorite books....

[Diane]

Margaret wrote: "Paul wrote: "Saw the trailer for the new Gatsby movie. Looks interesting but Mia Farrow, and certainly Mira Sorvino, are far more believable as obsessions. Carey Mulligan if anything looks underag..."

Oh no! This is exactly what I was fearing--that Carey Mulligan would look too young & unsophisticated & Leonardo DeCaprio might lack the loveable dreaminess & fierce underworld machinations that make up the complexity that is Jay Gatsby. It's a tough call to cast such a film, isn't it? And it's hard for Hollywood to make a buck on unknown actors who might be superior. I will hold off judgment until I see the movie for myself. But the book will ALWAYS be one of my favorite novels ever—so eloquent yet harshly truthful about our longing for love & the American Dream

[Edwardky]

one of the best i've read and in favorites

[Cynthia]

I've never really liked Classic American Literature for some odd reason but I can't say I hated this book. In my honest opinion, I think this book has taught me a few lessons in life. It is a difficult read to some extent but I strongly believe it was worth it.

[Diane]

Holly wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "Diane wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "I see a lot of persons complaining about reading lists at school..how boring they are, how they turned them away from classics or literature...I'm wond..."

All to true. Sadly with the standardized testing and things, there is increasingly less creativity in the school class.

Should I give Gatsby a second try? Would it be worth it??

[Amy]

Diane wrote: "Holly wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "Diane wrote: "Lorelei wrote: "I see a lot of persons complaining about reading lists at school..how boring they are, how they turned them away from classics or literat..."

Why not? It's a good book. The only problem lies in its reputation and how it impresses people differently. Since it's not too long, it really won't take too much of your time.