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Worst or most disappointing book?

Ell

Ell

Well-Known Member
We've all run into them - books recommended by friends and loved ones or books we've been really looking forward to reading. Somehow, they turn out to be major disappointments.

Two come to my mind: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and Zero Tollerance, an autobiography, by Toller Cranston. In the case of Parable of the Sower, so many different people had recommended Butler to me as a great sci-fi writer that my expectations were pretty high. I found the main character of Parable to be incredibly immature and annoying, the storyline unoriginal and remember throwing it down in disgust for having wasted my time. Maybe I was just in a bad mood! As for the autobiography; it was just TERRIBLE. Poorly written, whiny and bitchy.

What books would you classify as the worst or most disappointing?
 
As I posted elsewhere, it's got to be Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. I was expecting great things from this book but I was so bored by it that I never managed to get past the end of the second chapter.

Mike
 
Stephen King's IT was one. 3/4 of the book starts out slow (and it's a big book to be so slow for so long). i've heard from others that if you can get past that slow, it's a great book... but i just can't get past it

Tony Morrison's Song of Solomon.. i'd heard she was such a great author so i picked that one up. what i didnt know, is that she believes you need to read a book more than 3 times in order to "get" the full effect.
i have no interested in reading a book 3 times just to "get" it
i feel i did "get" that book, but i still am not impressed with her writting style
 
Really?

Originally posted by TownBear
Stephen King's IT was one.
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That's... unusual. I don't think I've ever met someone who had something bad to say about that book (except for the bit with The Turtle, which was pushing it a bit) - even people who don't generally shop at the King mall. Have you read (and liked) anything else by him?
Tony Morrison's Song of Solomon.. she believes you need to read a book more than 3 times in order to "get" the full effect. i have no interested in reading a book 3 times just to "get" it i feel i did "get" that book, but i still am not impressed with her writting style
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This rings a familiar tone; didn't another user explain the "three times rule" as Morrison the Lit. Prof, rather than Morrison the Artist, talking?

Tobytook
 
Originally posted by Tobytook

Have you read (and liked) anything else by him?
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well, there are others who felt as i did about the book IT. Cuz when i've mentioned that around i got a ton of people saying Oh Yeah, i had that trouble too.... i know quite a few who never finished it.

yes i have read other books by him. probably about 3/4 of his books i've read ... and really liked! Misery was great:D lol

Originally posted by Tobytook This rings a familiar tone; didn't another user explain the "three times rule" as Morrison the Lit. Prof, rather than Morrison the Artist, talking?
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hummmm, that might have been me that mentioned this before, in another thread
 
King of the Forum

Hmm, interesting.

I think, though, that we're in danger of repeating a dialogue that's already happened elsewhere (in the Authors section). Nothing wrong with taking it a bit further, of course, but of you want to carry on with this then I'd suggest we reanimate that thread and take it over there.

As for Morrison, yes, I do believe you're right - it was you.

Tobytook
 
Most overhyped disappointing books?

So often recently I've read several glowing reviews of a book, gone out and bought it, only to discover it's a complete waste of time.

As a result, I've become extremely picky about which reviews I will trust and rely on friends' recs more than professional reviews.

Seems to happen to everyone.

Two that come to mind that are not very recent but were very very disappointing:

A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe. Wow, did that stink! And I loved Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Radical Chic, and a bunch of other books he wrote. This one was even worse than Bonfire of the Vanities, which to me marks the beginning of his slippery slide into pastiche.

Snow Falling on Cedars. From the reviews, you'd think this was some masterpiece, not the limp cliche-filled drama that it is. I found the stereotypical characters very annoying. Its the kind of book where the author is compelled to tell you what everyone is wearing, for chrissakes.

Anyone else have these experiences? Book reviewers should be held accountable for this kind of thing!

Novella
 
Yeah, I have one! :)

Ian Pears - THe Dream Of Scipio. I never read a review of it, but on the back contained quotes from all the reviews praising it to high heven. Inside the book, there were about 2 pages, of praise. I found this book to be SO boring! It was written in such a dry style. I just hated it!
 
a few come to mind

the unbeareable lightness of being.- i remember there was a time everybody was talking about this ones, it has a cool title but thats all, i was really bored

rosemary baby.- even when i found the ending very funny, i was pretty dissapointed, cant believe a movie based in this book got an oscar and a nomination (screenplay)

sophies choice.- totally overrated

no one writes to the colonel.- it was very hyped when they make the movie so i pick up the book, i couldnt care less, at least its pretty short and i didnt waste time and money in the movie theater, on other thought they said salma looks pretty good in that movie, so maybe ill check it out

im betting on that "be more chill" book everybody its talking about :rolleyes: :D
 
its an interesting, polemical choice, the kind where a guest apearence of king solomon would be apreciated, but the rest of the book its really boring.

on second tought maybe its was a phase in my life were i wasnt being so receptive, since i read sophies choice right after the unbeareable lightness of being

thanks for your commentary about my sig
next scheduled sig: the joker of seville :D
 
SillyWabbit said:
Ian Pears - THe Dream Of Scipio.
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His magnum opus appears to be An Instance of the Fingerpost which is currently assuming space in on of my bookcases.

What's that one about?
 
SillyWabbit said:
Dream of Scipio or the Fingerprint one?
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The former. I have Fingerprint...; I know what it's about.

Have you read any of his work?
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I set of in the good intentions. I have a two hour journey to work in the morning - which is when I read - and I started it but my concentration isn't too good then so I switched it for something non-fiction. What I read seemed okay - there's not a great deal of good historical fiction out there. Most of it is pulp bestseller stuff - thin plots and sparse details which hardly evoke an era.

I intend to return to it: right now, though, I'm enjoying Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition too much to think about a novel. (Just tossed The Rule of Four)

It's quite strange how I'm finding it harder to concentrate on novels lately compared to musty old academia. :eek:
 
Well, I am not surprised you did not enjoy Fingerprint if it is anything like Scipio. It's another historical novel, so maybe you want to give it a try?

I'll type out the back cover blurb for you here :)

Set in P
Provence at three different critical moments of Western Civilsalation - the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Black Death in the fourteenth, and the Second World War in the twentieth. The dream of Scipio follows the fortunes of three men, Manlius Hippomanes, a Gallic aristocrat obsessed with the preservation of Roman civilastion, Olivier de Noyen, a poet, and Julien Barneuve, an intellectual who joins the Vichy govement.

The story of each man is woven though the narrative, linked by the classical text that gives the book its title., and by each mands love for an extraordinary woman.

Dense, dark, erudite and yet, like an instance of the fingerpost, utterly compelling. The dream of Scipio confirms Iain Pears as one of Britains most imaginative novelists. ( yeah right :rolleyes: )

I saw this book, read that blurb and thought WOW. It sounded so good, snapped it up. MY GOD, is this dull!!!! It's just the writing is so damn dull. Reading this was like sucking lemons! :eek:
 
My overhyped book is a fantasy series by a guy called Ricardo Pinto. The first book is called 'The Chosen' and it was the biggest pile of rubbish I've read! And this book got five stars all over the place...
 
magemanda said:
My overhyped book is a fantasy series by a guy called Ricardo Pinto. The first book is called 'The Chosen' and it was the biggest pile of rubbish I've read! And this book got five stars all over the place...
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I didn't realise that one had been hyped at all. I'd never heard of it when I bought it, and you're the first person I know of that's read it. I wouldn't give it 5 stars, but I did enjoy it, and the 2nd book in the series too. It was quirky.

My hyped but hated books might start some fights, but here goes.

Lord of the Rings. Most boring thing I have ever tried to read. I'll probably try again at some point. I'll probably regret it.

The Da Vinci Code. :D Sorry, but it really was dreadful.

Anything I've tried by Terry Pratchett. I don't understand the obsession people have with this man. I find his style juvenile, his jokes non-existent, and on a personal level I did have a minor dealing with him and he was incredibly rude and in need of a good, solid thump.
 
Lord of the Rings

I think Lord of the Rings is a guy thing. Sure, some girls/women like it okay, but don't go crazy over it like guys do.

Anyone else see that phenomenon?
 
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