Best/Worst books you ever read

Doublin · 24-04-2011 08:28PM

20th Century Authors/Books:

Best by author - Graham Greene (all)
John Le Carre (most books)
Just finished PG Wodehouse, brilliant stuff

Worst - I'd finish most anything I start reading, but I was very unimpressed with the Larsson trilogy.

orourkeda · 24-04-2011 08:32PM

Anne and Barry are the best books I've ever read.

The cat sat on the mat. Awesome

Rds1989 · 24-04-2011 08:36PM

Best i've read so far are 1984, Fear and loathing in Las Vegas and On the Road. Worst is definitely any of the Dan Brown books also Catch 22 wasn't as good as i expected. Currently reading for whom the bell tolls which seems a classic also.

krudler · 24-04-2011 08:36PM

orourkeda wrote: »

Anne and Barry are the best books I've ever read.

The cat sat on the mat. Awesome

They should adapt them for modern times.

"the cat sat on the mat. like a boss."

"Ann fraped Barry"

"Ann, y u no play nice with Barry?"

Waste0fSpace · 24-04-2011 08:37PM

Best: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams; The Stand by Stephen King; The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova; The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre; Dancing Naked in the Mindfield - Kary Mullis

Worst: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - had to read it for school, it took me months to finish, read about a dozen good books at the same time

Posy · 24-04-2011 08:37PM

'Slaughterhouse Five' by Kurt Vonnegut.
A book that I could just read over and over. I think it's amazing, like most of Vonnegut's work.

Any collection of short stories by Roald Dahl (like 'Switch Bitch' or 'Kiss Kiss') is always a fantastic read for me too.

peasant · 24-04-2011 08:42PM

glasso wrote: »

best - "East of Eden" - John Steinbeck

worst - "The Last Symbol" - Dan Brown

+1 on both

also the other Steinbecks; Of mice and men, Cannery Row and Grapes of wrath
Recently got the complete Aubrey & Maturin novels, a great read once you zoom into them
Also liked From here to eternity (the book ...not the film(s))

Worst book:
The last of the Irish males by Joseph O'Connor ...utterly forgettable. Poor, lazy effort. Particularly bad in light of the fact that some of his other stuff is just brilliant. Reads like he just needed the money and didn't care less.

cassiedoll · 24-04-2011 08:42PM

Best - To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

and by far the worst was Cecilia Ahern The Book of Tomorrow...pure and utter sh*te...never finished it, id have rather had my teeth taken out without anesthetic then continue to read it

leahyl · 24-04-2011 08:43PM

This thread is giving me great suggestions for future books to read:pac:

Chuchoter · 24-04-2011 08:48PM

Best was Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Worst was a book that started out reasonable, Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland. What utter ****e that was.
Then there was The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis. How that even got published and made into a movie is beyond me.

leahyl · 24-04-2011 08:50PM

crayolastereo wrote: »

Best was Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Worst was a book that started out reasonable, Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland. What utter ****e that was.
Then there was The Informers by Bret Easton Ellis. How that even got published and made into a movie is beyond me.

Never let me go is f**ked up!! But in a good way:D as is the film!!

Dravokivich · 24-04-2011 08:52PM

TFM

Yell0 Man · 24-04-2011 08:55PM

Best - The Dice Man (Luke Rheinhart), The Life of Pi (Yann Martel), LOTR, Capote: A Biography (Gerald Clarke) and The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

Can't think what was the worst but I was really disappointed with The Handmaids Tale (Margaret Atwood) the poor man's 1984.

aligator_am · 24-04-2011 08:55PM

Love Steven King's short story books, really enjoyed them.

Lies, and the lying liars that tell them by Al Franken was another good one, was an eye opener into the world of American politics.

One of my favourites has to be American Gods by Neil Gaiman, although The Great and Secret Show / Everville are books I couldn't recommend highly enough.

For those of you with smartphones, something I only twigged a while back is the built in app Aldiko eBook, you can download a rake of great books that are now in the public domain, including all the Sherlock Holmes books and all the H.P. Lovecraft stuff

dx22 · 24-04-2011 08:55PM

Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen is a great read, i agree with an earlier poster that Freedom is overrated, its quite boring actually

Worst book i can remember was The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, everyone seemed to be reading it a few years back, i gave it to a charity shop after suffering 50 pages

Mardy Bum · 24-04-2011 08:58PM

Raymond Carver's complete short story collection is phenomenal. If you are thinking of getting married don't read it because you won't afterwards!

Hemingway's short stories are undeniably brilliant.

Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke is a work of genius.

Edna O Brien's County Girls is an outstanding depiction of a girl's childhood in Ireland in the sixtys.

Brian Friel's play The Freedom of the City is an excellent portrayal of the North's problems.

J.M Synge's The Playboy of the Western World despite being written a hundred years ago still depicts Irish people today.

I couldn't pick a best book ever its like trying to pick your best/favourite song ever, impossible.

aligator_am · 24-04-2011 08:59PM

Anyone read Slaughterhouse Five? I hear it's brilliant, keep meaning to see if I can pickup a 2nd hand copy but keep forgetting.

blaze1 · 24-04-2011 09:08PM

1. Got fight by Forest Griffin
2. The Hunt for Red October
3. The God Father

Dont really think I've read any bad books cover to cover... If they dont grab my interest after the first couple of chapters they're gone.

cocalolaman · 24-04-2011 09:08PM

Lies of Silence. Very boring IMO. Moira can féck of tbh.

Posy · 24-04-2011 09:14PM

aligator_am wrote: »

Anyone read Slaughterhouse Five? I hear it's brilliant, keep meaning to see if I can pickup a 2nd hand copy but keep forgetting.

I did, that's why I just listed it as my favourite book a few posts ago.

Posy wrote: »

'Slaughterhouse Five' by Kurt Vonnegut.
A book that I could just read over and over. I think it's amazing, like most of Vonnegut's work.

punchdrunk · 24-04-2011 09:14PM

currently reading The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer
amazing book,seriously messed up!

beano345 · 24-04-2011 09:14PM

no irish,no blacks,no dogs by john lydon(johnny rotten's autobiography) the man is an absolute headcase.some laugh out loud moments in it.

acfan · 24-04-2011 09:21PM

Best: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Green Mile by Stephen King
The Millennium Trilogy
The Help
Life of Pi (slow starter but definitely word the read
To Kill a Mockingbird

Worst: Watership Down......HATED IT!

mikemac · 24-04-2011 09:23PM

punchdrunk wrote: »

currently reading The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer
amazing book,seriously messed up!

There is a full documentary about him up on youtube. Good viewing if you've an hour to spare

PomBear · 24-04-2011 09:29PM

Best book-Stolen Time by Sunny Jacobs

aligator_am · 24-04-2011 09:35PM

Posy wrote: »

I did, that's why I just listed it as my favourite book a few posts ago.

Aye sorry, I'd posted then went back through and saw your message, will have to pick up a copy soon, have heard it's a tremendous book.

punchdrunk · 24-04-2011 09:36PM

feelingstressed wrote: »

There is a full documentary about him up on youtube. Good viewing if you've an hour to spare

excellent thanks,I see Mickey Rourke is going to play him in a film,could be interesting!

Lawrence1895 · 24-04-2011 09:37PM

I just don't like 'The little prince' (Saint Exupery), had in in school in French and German :eek:

On top of the list I have 'Animal Farm' (Orwell) and 'Post Office' (Bukowski)

KnifeWRENCH · 24-04-2011 09:42PM

Best - Probably The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. I didn't particularly like it at first, and it does take quite a while to get going. But after a while, I was hooked. All the different story-arcs are mindblowing.

A Clockwork Orange, The Bell Jar and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would also be contenders.

Worst - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Thank you, Ms. Rowling, for ruining an otherwise magnificent series of books with that shíte ending. :mad:

Also don't like Tolkien's style of writing; tedious description, awkward dialogue and pointless characters that are there just to annoy you (*cough* Tom Bombadil *cough*)
Why read LOTR when the films are far superior?

I also think that To Kill a Mockingbird, while by no means a bad novel, is massively overrated. It's certainly not the worst book I ever read but it was probably the most disappointing/biggest letdown (other than Deathly Hallows)

themandan6611 · 24-04-2011 09:46PM

1. Lord of the Rings

2. Birdsong

3. Chickenhawk

4. Autobiography of a Murderer

Best/Worst books you ever read

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