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Worst or most disappointing book?

The Lovely Bones. I thought the first third of the book was great, but then it simply ran out of steam. To me it was a good concept that really had nowhere to go. The ending was trite, soppy and completely at odds with the tone that the novel started out with.

Also - already mentioned - Snows Falling on Cedars. Hugely dull and saccharine.
 
ConstantReader said:
The Lovely Bones. I thought the first third of the book was great, but then it simply ran out of steam. To me it was a good concept that really had nowhere to go. The ending was trite, soppy and completely at odds with the tone that the novel started out with.
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I actually enjoyed The Lovely Bones, but I agree that the ending was a bit of a let down. I just try to forget that part when I think about the book, though, because the rest was great ;)
 
This book is totally overratted. I see it causing all kinds of problems!

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Mine would be:
Dissolution by C.J Samson, very dull, didn't manage to plough my way to the end.
Rule Of Four; I decided to read it after all the praise I heard from people and read in reviews. I finished it, but thought it was a bit of a let down considering all the good words I heard. They avoided going into any detail about the main focus of the story and I felt a little cheated, never getting to see any of the puzzles they solved. Poor, in my opinion.
And I'd also agree with Terry Pratchett. I love his Rincewind books, and think I'll love the others since they are so much fun and since he always gets rave reviews. Every year or so I'll pick up a book by him with good intentions but always put it down again after a day or two of trying to get into it. Don't know why, it seems like my kind of book, but I just can't get into any of his characters other than Rincewind.
 
books that were overhyped yet sucked:

all books by terry pratchet
catcher in the rye
to kill a mockingbird
of mice and men
everything by shakesphere
everything by john grisham (except the firm, the testament and the partner)
and the bible
 
dragonhex said:
books that were overhyped yet sucked:

all books by terry pratchet
catcher in the rye
to kill a mockingbird
of mice and men
everything by shakesphere
everything by john grisham (except the firm, the testament and the partner)
and the bible
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Hmm,

all books by terry pratchet
catcher in the rye
everything by john grisham (except the firm, the testament and the partner)
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I can agree with you on these, although I wouldn't say anything by John Grisham was good. I certainly wouldn't exclude The Testament from suckiness since it's the book that was so shit it told me never to read Grisham again.

As for the rest, I can't help but label you a phillistine.
 
Why do people like THAT book?

Some books are universally beloved, and deservingly so. But have you every read a book based on tons of glowing recommendations and ended up hating it?
 
I loathe this type of thread. It provides an opportunity to dump on a book with no accountability. If you're going to dump on some of the best books ever written back it up. Simply listing is not very insightful.

And, for the little bit it's worth, this poorly put together thread kind of asks a question - 'Why do people like that book?' In fact this thread really is asking a yes or no question. So perhaps Violanthe can clarify for us the purpose of this thread? Are we to speculate why others like books we don't like? Are we to give reasons for not liking these books or you just want a banal list?

It was the listing of David Copperfield that ticked me off in particular. So Hermoine, let's hear it. Why do you hate Daisy?
 
I started Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, based on the fact that not only had it won the Booker prize, but the Booker of Booker prizes.

I gave up on it but am sorely tempted to start again and persevere. I found it just so stodgy, like the literary equivalent of christmas cake. It was very well written and he had some wonderful turns of phrase but as a read it was just too heavy. It reminded me a little of Ben Okri's 'The Famished Road', which again, I couldn't finish.

Authors like these lend the question Are they actually good writers if they are that unreadable? Obviously I am making the wild assumtion that the majority would agree with me, but you get my drift.
 
ions I couldn't agree with you more.

But
having that said I would like to take this opportunity to trash (with no accountability whatsoever)

Moby Dick
Moby Dick
Moby Dick and
Moby Dick...
 
The Virgin Suicides. I heard so much hype about it but i really hated it. I read Middlesex first and I did like that. So I'm not sure if it's the writing style of Eugenides or the story itself. I just didn't like it at all. I thought it was boring.
 
mama-sama said:
The Virgin Suicides. I heard so much hype about it but i really hated it. I read Middlesex first and I did like that. So I'm not sure if it's the writing style of Eugenides or the story itself. I just didn't like it at all. I thought it was boring.
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Did you see the movie? I was good and weird. That book is on my TBR pile...
 
Lily said:
The Five People You meet in Heaven
Vinegar Hill
Drama City
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ok. I'll elaborate.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven - I just must not have been in the mood for uplifting things, perhaps I was looking for something more bittersweet..It just made me roll my eyes way too many times to say I really enjoyed it. It wasn't terrible... but it wasn't a life changing event like I was led to believe.. It was nice and that's about it.
Vinegar Hill - Ok. If I wanted extreme abusive family dysfunction I would call my mother and ask how all the relatives are doing. It was nothing more than a story about women choosing to remain victimized for way too long
Drama City. - I couldn't get into the story. When I finally did find some sort of rhythm and started caring, Pelecanos would throw in something repetitive and irritating.. for example, after an NA meeting, everyone goes out and wait for their rides. we have to endure the description of this routine THREE times. I 'got it' after the second. ugh. And the icing on the cake: this is a gritty book about real people with real issues. However. both the beginning and ending of the book consisted of a polite descriptive scene of the main characters dog taking a crap. symbolism? perhaps. But for me it made the whole thing ridiculous.
 
mama-sama said:
The Virgin Suicides. I heard so much hype about it but i really hated it. I read Middlesex first and I did like that. So I'm not sure if it's the writing style of Eugenides or the story itself. I just didn't like it at all. I thought it was boring.
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Ah, see, I loved the Virgin Suicides and Middlesex too. I like Eugenides writing style, I think he is an excellent story teller. The Virgin Suicides had the perfect note of nostalgia that kids have when looking at important events from their past.
 
And, for the little bit it's worth, this poorly put together thread kind of asks a question - 'Why do people like that book?' In fact this thread really is asking a yes or no question. So perhaps Violanthe can clarify for us the purpose of this thread? Are we to speculate why others like books we don't like? Are we to give reasons for not liking these books or you just want a banal list?
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I think all of those issues are interesting, relevant and implied in the thread. I'm not looking for a "banal list". I usually tack a "why?" onto my questions, but I look back now after your comments and see that I didn't. It doesn't seem that I can edit my posting, otherwise I'd add a "why?" to the end of my post.

So, in essence, yes, I want to know why. I'm not interested in lists of books. I'm interested in why personal tastes differ from what many readers and critics call spectacular. What can ruin a book for one reader, while it passes notice of a thousand others? I'm interested in why people may have disliked books that I liked. Finally, I am also interested in what earns a book acclaim, and how that translates to affecting individuals.

Sorry I wasn't clearer earlier on.
 
There isn't anything wrong with the questions you are asking. Sometimes you ask them in a sparse way that leads to one liners that don't amount to much discussion. You can't imply. History here has shown that poor short answers are the majority and even with explicit focused questions they are not avoidable. The question is not always responsible for the answer. You can not fool-proof a question I suppose. Starting detailed discussion here can be like searching for a small piece of metal in lots and lots of dried grass.
 
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