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Books to avoid like a bookworm on a diet

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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5 black #8


    I tried reading a james herbert book once, and i got half way through it, and then had to give up. i just couldn't stand his style - it seemed so stupidly childish, despite the fact that the character was a detective...

    can't remember the name though!

    also, i really liked the crow road by iain banks, but i just could not get into the wasp factory by him, despite it being a favourite book of a lot of people... maybe there's something wrong with me!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,252 ✭✭✭✭stovelid


    Karlusss wrote:
    I found Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to be astoundingly poor.

    ++

    Prozac nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel

    Still Life With Woodpecker - Tom Robbins

    Another bull**** night in suck city - Nick Flynn


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 79 ✭✭Extreme-LoopZ


    Wha?! you didn't like Nick Flynn's memoir? I thought Another Bull**** Night was great! why didn't you like it?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27,252 ✭✭✭✭stovelid


    Wha?! you didn't like Nick Flynn's memoir? I thought Another Bull**** Night was great! why didn't you like it?

    Sure. Each to their own.

    I guess I thought the writing was substandard and the whole thing meandered.

    Also: maybe I'm being harsh but I find those trite 'lowlife' by proxy stories (my father as alcoholic, absent and deviant backdrop to my life ) irritating and self-indulgent. I always end up wanting to hear from the object of the story (father) rather than a version of it refracted through Nick Flynn for his own purposes.

    Like Wurtzel, you just want to say; your story is in no way unique and only really appeals to people who cherish their own 'inner pain' as somehow different to that suffered by everybody else.

    That's just me, mind. :) The book was highly recommended by friends but I just didn't see it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 179 ✭✭nonamemark


    The Bible, passed through a few hundreds of years by a big game of Chinese whispers, makes you think, eh?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 26 lbourkey


    I really like Lolita and Dickens but worst book ever...... The 5 people you meet in Heaven. Fookin shocking.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 79 ✭✭Extreme-LoopZ


    lbourkey wrote:
    I really like Lolita and Dickens but worst book ever...... The 5 people you meet in Heaven. Fookin shocking.

    True. I also thought Tuesdays With Morrie was a let down. Maybe I just had unreal expectations coz I'd heard it was brilliant from quite a few people. It was a good book, but didn't deserve the credit it got.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,021 ✭✭✭Hivemind187


    Anything by any of the following;

    Tom Clancy
    John Grisham
    JK Rowling
    Dan Brown
    Whoever wrote "Lodestone" EDIT: W.A. Harbinson
    Stephen King (post "The Stand" or "IT")
    David Badiel
    Frank Skinner

    There are many, MANY, more affronts to good writing.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    I'm sure this has been posted already...but it's a long thread

    The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

    Without a doubt the worst book I have ever read (seriously, if you haven't read it, don't)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,078 ✭✭✭theCzar


    Anything by any of the following;

    Tom Clancy
    John Grisham
    JK Rowling
    Dan Brown
    Whoever wrote "Lodestone" EDIT: W.A. Harbinson
    Stephen King (post "The Stand" or "IT")
    David Badiel
    Frank Skinner

    There are many, MANY, more affronts to good writing.

    This list confuses me.

    Grisham/Clancy are fair enough, holiday-by-the-beach thrillers. Brown, enough said. King has written a lot of tosh but imo Rowling doesn't really belong with those, there are better books in the genre but I find it hard to believe anybody interested enough to read them at all would find them bad, let alone an "affront to writing". My first impression then was that you were a bitter purist, someone who takes it too personally when better writers enjoy less popular success/renown/acclaim than what are judged to be inferior writers.

    Then we have Badiel and Skinner, not exactly best sellers, upsetting the trend and I must wonder, what you thought you would get from such books before you started? Considering from the other authors listed, you (appear to) have an extreme dislike for -for want of a better word- lightweight writing? Also, you listed them as separate authors, did you read a book by each of them? That would be stranger still, but I presume it was co-authored!

    I AM intrigued.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 30 loumac


    So awful, the title escapes me. I was backpacking when I was unfortunate enough come by it. You would think it would be funny. Trying to travel light and was weighed down for two attempts of the first two chapters. Gave up and left in a Hostel! Awful, egomaniacal stuff.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 30 loumac


    Must agree with the post re Rowling not belonging on the trash list. Her books have dual appeal for both the adult and younger reader. She creates a wonderful escapist world in tandem with moral themes relevant to real life.

    She does not shy from exploring the natural things in life such as mortality. I wish she was around when I was a kid! I was mid-twenties when I read the Philosopher's stone. Some titles are better than others, as is usually the case with a 7 part story. The first film is good, but steer well clear of the rest of the movies!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,149 ✭✭✭ZorbaTehZ


    I remember reading a good point by some professor at some New York University who proposed the following; consider your child reading any of the Rowling books - do you really think that it will instill in them a respect for literature, that say for example reading a children's novel from Kipling or Dumas would? People always seem to talk about how it's good for children (and adults alike) in that it encourages them to read, but imo it has a detrimental effect in that the simplistic nature of the HP books is what children come to expect from a book, or that it is the only type of writing that they find interesting.

    I would agree that they are to be avoided, but maybe not "like a bookworm on a diet".

    O and don't get me started on Dan Brown. All of his books should be incinerated.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,656 ✭✭✭norrie rugger


    ZorbaTehZ wrote: »
    I remember reading a good point by some professor at some New York University who proposed the following; consider your child reading any of the Rowling books - do you really think that it will instill in them a respect for literature, that say for example reading a children's novel from Kipling or Dumas would? People always seem to talk about how it's good for children (and adults alike) in that it encourages them to read, but imo it has a detrimental effect in that the simplistic nature of the HP books is what children come to expect from a book, or that it is the only type of writing that they find interesting.

    I would agree that they are to be avoided, but maybe not "like a bookworm on a diet".

    O and don't get me started on Dan Brown. All of his books should be incinerated.



    When I was younger (pre-teens) I read my fair share of Dickens, Dumas, Verne, Kipling and Tolkein. All of the above I really enjoyed, yet my favourite author by far was Dahl. Scores of children have read his books, would you consider them to have lost out for doing so?

    J.K.R. is to this generation what Dahl was to mine (and previous).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,042 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    Insomnia - Stephen King
    Seriously what was this book about? Possibly one of the most ridiculous and unrewarding books I have ever read.

    The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum
    Thought I would give this a go after enjoying the film so much. Terrible prose and a storyline that only a 5 year old would find plausible. I think he actually gets shot about 20 times throughout the book and there is still not a bother on him :confused:

    Also stay away from anything by Clive Cussler


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 62 ✭✭Mr. Bones


    anyhow....back to the subject of the thread. Avoid like the plague the following:
    - Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes - a reviewer on Amazon said that after reading this bulls**t he felt like suing Barnes for wasting his time, i know how he feels (loved History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters though).
    - Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum, like youcancallme, i read it having watched & enjoyed the films based on the Bourne books, but this was sooo bad, ridiculous plot, dodgy writing
    - Gangs of New York by Herbert Asbury. Again read it cos of the film, to which it bears little resemblance. there's a quote from Scorsese on the cover saying he read it in one go, i'll bet he did ("mmm, Gangs of New York, that'd make a f**ckin great title for a film, whaddya think Leo??")


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1 sugapot


    BopNiblets wrote: »
    Doris Lessing - The Grass is Singing.

    Depressing bore fest.

    This is brilliant! Such great characterization!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,556 ✭✭✭MizzLolly


    Pamela - Samuel Richardson

    Seriously, avoid like the plague! In fact avoid all 18th Century Literature for that matter, full of moaning idiots!!

    (Except maybe Burney's Evelina)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 328 ✭✭Fletch123


    On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I just don't get her books. I know she's trying to be witty and clever, but it just doesn't work for me. And for anyone else I know who has read On Beauty or White Teeth...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 222 ✭✭Kaiser_Sma


    buck65 wrote: »
    The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl

    seconded

    it was excrutiating, great tracts could have been cut out, the end result would be an intriguing short story/novella

    also
    Lunar Park - Bret Easton Ellis. After reading American Psycho, this was a complete anticlimax.

    Noam Chomsky - Interventions. Series of essays, no foundations, few refernces, nothing new, repeatition. Only for Chomsky fan boys as a collectors item.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 83 ✭✭markyedison


    loumac wrote: »
    So awful, the title escapes me. I was backpacking when I was unfortunate enough come by it. You would think it would be funny. Trying to travel light and was weighed down for two attempts of the first two chapters. Gave up and left in a Hostel! Awful, egomaniacal stuff.

    seconded. worst book I ever had the misfortune to read.

    also there's a biography of the Pixies called Gigantic. I think it was by Mendelson. Absolute crap. It reminded me of Bart Simpson's biography in an old episode, Half the book was about someone else.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,129 ✭✭✭Nightwish


    Since its in the news at the moment, I should suggest High Society by Justine Wilson Delaney. Its crap and boring with the same stories repeated ad nauseum - "I'm middle class, I snorted coke..I got addicted...my life went tits up...went to rehab"


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,969 ✭✭✭buck65


    My life went to tits? that's a classic line love it ha ha ha


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,916 ✭✭✭RonMexico


    Possession - A.S. Byatt

    Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov

    Overindulgent tripe that made me want to kill the bastard that assigned them at college. A complete twat by the way.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,042 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    Cinderella Man, I got about a 100 pages in and gave up. It was like reading a book on statistics from boxing matches in the 1930's :confused:

    "He fought this guy and won in the 10th round by knock out and then he fought another guy and he won in the first round etc etc etc"


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 507 ✭✭✭portomar


    any book i have read thats a recent winner of the booker prize has been complete and absolute garbage. "life of pi" and "vernon god little" the most striking examples. by god how these people win awards for this crap. "memoirs of a geisha" was so bad i was more annoyed at myself for reading at than at the author for apply it to paper


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 46 flibbertyjibbet


    I remeber reading a synopsis of a book called 'Lolita' and it was about a man who became obsessed with a 12 -year-old girl and wants a sexual relationship with her..is this the same book as the one that was being discussed earlier? Why is this book defined as a classic?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,243 ✭✭✭✭Jesus Wept


    I remeber reading a synopsis of a book called 'Lolita' and it was about a man who became obsessed with a 12 -year-old girl and wants a sexual relationship with her..is this the same book as the one that was being discussed earlier? Why is this book defined as a classic?

    Are you suggesting that the subject matter means the book can't be well written enough to be considered a classic?

    Read the book, not a synopsis. Then decide what you think.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,142 ✭✭✭Karlusss


    He doesn't just want a sexual relationship with her, he has a sexual relationship with her.

    And it is a great book. Nabokov is a prose poet, that's enough before the subject matter even starts to come in. What was that quote about "the recalcitrant stuff of life"?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 46 flibbertyjibbet


    The-Rigger wrote: »
    Are you suggesting that the subject matter means the book can't be well written enough to be considered a classic?

    Read the book, not a synopsis. Then decide what you think.

    I described the synopsis I read to see if it was the same book that was being discussed before. I haven´t read the book, and I was merely asking why it was considered a classic. I am not ´suggesting´ anything.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,294 ✭✭✭Mrs. MacGyver


    The latst Alice Seabold Novel
    The Gathering
    Vernon God Little


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,042 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    John Grisham - The Broker
    Just read the reviews on amazon to get an idea of how dismal this book is. Its the first Grisham novel I have read and probably the last.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,078 ✭✭✭theCzar


    John Grisham - The Broker
    Just read the reviews on amazon to get an idea of how dismal this book is. Its the first Grisham novel I have read and probably the last.

    The broker is pretty crap, distressingly, I thought it better than many of the ones that preceded it.

    Grisham used to be pretty good, his books like The Client, Runaway Jury, Rain Man and The Firm were all decent legal thrillers


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,273 ✭✭✭Morlar


    The da vinci code - total drivel. The Myths of Zionism - one sided anti jewish propaganda imo. That whole book felt like a leaving cert essay by someone who is not very bright.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 234 ✭✭DaveyGem


    Paradise City-Lorenzo Charcatera

    Its a far cry from Gangster and Street Boys which were both outstanding


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 481 ✭✭casey212


    The Wandering jew - Eugene Sue


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 260 ✭✭Goat Mouth


    Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

    Heard rave reviews about it... this happens too often.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 950 ✭✭✭EamonnKeane


    I remeber reading a synopsis of a book called 'Lolita' and it was about a man who became obsessed with a 12 -year-old girl and wants a sexual relationship with her..is this the same book as the one that was being discussed earlier? Why is this book defined as a classic?
    Because it's absolutely brilliant?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,969 ✭✭✭buck65


    - A confederacy of dunces is a masterpiece, and Life of Pi is a great read too.
    Don't be put off, readers!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 202 ✭✭markw999


    RonMexico wrote: »

    Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov

    Overindulgent tripe that made me want to kill the bastard that assigned them at college. A complete twat by the way.


    I really liked Pale Fire. Wonderfully pretentious.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 44 skybluejay


    Terrorist by John Updike. The man completely sacrifices characterisation at the altar of zeitgeisty social commentary. I thought it was quite poorly written too, but strangely enough there are quotes on the back praising the writing style in particular. Hmm.

    Also, State of the Union by Douglas Kennedy. Sorely in need of editing and the writing is bad enough to make you wince.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 93 ✭✭jcatony


    catch - 22 by joseph heller.
    found it tedious and over rated, donated it to oxfam after 100 pages.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,042 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    jcatony wrote: »
    catch - 22 by joseph heller.
    found it tedious and over rated, donated it to oxfam after 100 pages.

    I totally agree. I think the so called "Humor" was more suited to the era it was written in.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭Valmont


    markw999 wrote: »
    I really liked Pale Fire. Wonderfully pretentious.

    I'm nearing the end of it now, it is just like all Nabokov's work I've read, absolutely brilliant. He's in a fortunate position to completely overindulge, the man had a remarkable command of the English language and becoming immersed in all the layers of style he wraps his stories in is great.

    While I accept differences of opinion, I call for a vote of no confidence in this thread. First Lolita was mentioned and now this.

    Edit: I really liked John Shade's "Pale Fire":D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,857 ✭✭✭Valmont


    I've been reading it for months and I don't know why. Kind of like saying your prayers at bedtime long after you've stopped believing in God.

    haha, I've read a few books like that.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,969 ✭✭✭buck65


    Generation x - D Copland

    now that's pretentious ****e


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,693 ✭✭✭Jack Sheehan


    jcatony wrote: »
    catch - 22 by joseph heller.
    found it tedious and over rated, donated it to oxfam after 100 pages.

    I disagree, I think the rest of his books were utter **** but catch 22 was great. Then again I do have something of a weakness for war novels.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 553 ✭✭✭BurnsCarpenter


    The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.
    I'd recommend any of his other books but this is the literary equivalent of one of those annoying dreams where you can't seem to get to where you want to go.


  • Registered Users, Subscribers, Registered Users 2 Posts: 47,339 ✭✭✭✭Zaph


    buck65 wrote: »
    Generation x - D Copland

    now that's pretentious ****e

    I hate pretentiousness more than anything, but I love Coupland and certainly wouldn't use the word to describe his books. However I can see how they wouldn't appeal to everybody.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 27 Gowranistan


    Catch 22 is possibly the best book i have ever read. I thought Catcher in the Rye was very dissappointing considering all the hype,although reading it directly after guillivers travels did give me a cynical attitude to pretty much everything. I read all of the dark tower series and while I thought the story was fantastic, including himself as a character and the whole deus ex machina thing really annoyed me. The ending was a serious let down too.


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