What's the WORST book you ever read?

[Stewart]

I do think it's great that more people are being exposed to the theories put forth in this and The Davinci Code(which I haven't read).

What's not great is that the prick is passing it off as fact (not theory) and there's so many people out there preaching pseudo history without actually knowing what they are talking about.

 

[sanyuja]

There's other, better books on these subjects that aren't strung together with horrible characters and simplistic narratives. Although, I do think it's great that more people are being exposed to the theories put forth in this and The Davinci Code(which I haven't read).

Well, maybe my definition of 'worst' book is totally different from your definition.

I recently finished reading 'Angels and Demons' (as I said in my earlier post) and thought it was okay. Didnt find anything about the book which made me put the book down.

For me, a book is bad if its not interesting (or entertaining) enough to tempt me to finish it.

This book was guessable -- one could guess what could happen next, the characters werent strongly etched, he probably did twist facts, but, hey, it wasnt the worst book I have ever read. I have read worser books than that!

Anyway, opinions differ

 

[nicolediver]

love is a four letter word- clare coleman
flowers in the attic- virginia andrews

 

[Ronny]

Oh, there's so many, the last book I read Cavedweller was one of them. What I really hate is that no matter how bad a book is I can't seem to leave it unfinished, I keep plowing through hoping it will get better. Does anyone else have that problem? or am I just masochistic?

 

[Sell Sword]

What I really hate is that no matter how bad a book is I can't seem to leave it unfinished, I keep plowing through hoping it will get better. Does anyone else have that problem? or am I just masochistic?

I'm right there with ya'

 

[Halo]

The worst book I actually finished was The Taking by Dean Koontz. I read it to the end because I am a fan of his and thought it had to get better. It didn't.

 

[cabrasopa]

Just finished replying to another thread about 'Barry Trotter' brought back bad memories of 'Bored of the rings' - Harvard lampoon, truly awful.

Cabrasopa

 

[novella]

Just finished replying to another thread about 'Barry Trotter' brought back bad memories of 'Bored of the rings' - Harvard lampoon, truly awful.

Cabrasopa

There's an old truism about writing: if you write about something being boring or about a character being bored, it makes for very boring reading. Something to always avoid.

 

[Word_Addict]

I work in a bookstore, and usually, if I have quite a few customers asking me about a particular book or series of books, I make an effort to see what all the fuss is about. I learned a lot, mostly about how public taste has deteriorated over the years. Janet Evanovich, Stephen King, Dan Brown, Jane Greene...the list goes on.

 

[themaster]

Only one book comes to mind..
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

While most say this is great work of genius I just can't feel the same.. it's decrepit, depressing and even though I may have made it to the end of the book (maybe) I hated it all the time.. I only read this cause it was a high school class read and I wanted to know why? (I wasn't one of the unlucky ones who had to read it forcibly)

I can understand the great social issues or comparisons this book may have impaired in some story's but I still think it sux.. that goes for the TV movie too!

 

[maryburns]

Anything by L. Ron Hubbard. I apologize to anyone who is a Scientologist. I just did not enjoy his science fiction.

 

[jesschoub]

Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes. We had to read it in school and though I can see relevance to society and there seems like there are deeper meanings in there somewhere, that was the only book I can ever remember really having to force myself to read.

 

[Hyperstorm]

worst book!

For me that would be " the fountainhead" by Ayn Rand[what was she trying to tell ?????????? ]

and secondly "Decipher" by Stel Pavlov, this book is so bad, coz there is no connectivity between chapters & the storyline goes from weird to downright absurd

 

[jesschoub]

For me that would be " the fountainhead" by Ayn Rand[what was she trying to tell ?????????? ]

Was there something specific that was confusing? Just curious since I just had that book reccomended to me by a friend.

 

[Leto_Atreides]

Dear Stewart,

Would you mind telling me why the book The Da Vinci code is so awful according to your opinion?
I ask this because my sister is busy reading the book at the moment and she says it's great.
She promised me that when she is finished reading, she'll let me read it.
Before I am about to read a book which is poorly rated by others, I want to know if it's worth reading.

The Da Vinci Code, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime, anything by Stephen King since Insomnia, and anything by James Herbert since The Ghosts of Sleath.

 

[Stewart]

Do a search on Dan Brown or The Da Vinci Code - there's a couple of lengthy threads on these subjects.

 

[jenn]

i am mid da vinci right now. i wanted to see what all the fuss was about, but i am going to wait to check out the threads till i am finished. so far i am not really sure why this is such a hugely controversial book. it's poorly written, i keep slipping into a captain kirk voice for the dialogue. i feel like we have spurts of action and then an enormous amount of back "history" is purged onto the readers. if nothing else, when i am done, i want to look into the controversy about what db calls fact.

 

[tartan_skirt]

Oxygen by Andrew Miller. This is what I get when I pick a library book at random.

 

[Pearl]

Dead Until Dark by Charline Harris
The Secrets of Jin-Shei by Alma Alexander (not bad but just boring as hell)
Fat Girls in lawn chairs (Biggest waste of paper I've ever seen!)

 

[Rex]

The worst book I ever read was written by Dean Koontz. The name escapes me.