Ever regret reading a book?

[superluser]

I asked this question on a different forum and got some interesting responses.  I'm curious as to how this forum will respond.

It's one of the foundations of Western Literature, and the author is right up there with Shakespeare. In fact, there are rumors that Shakespeare was really just this guy's alias. So you read it and say to yourself, why did I bother reading that?

Ever happen to you? It just happened to me. I just finished both the A-text and the B-text of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. What a waste!

Faustus sells his soul to Mephistopheles, and gets unlimited power for 24 years. How does he celebrate? He goes to Rome, steals the Pope's dinner and hits him on the head. Then he gets out-of-season grapes and resurrects Alexander the Great and Helen of Troy. And then he repents but is still taken down to Hell.

The B-text was a lot better, but it's still too short.  There's no real insight into the character or drives of Faustus.  I've read that Goethe's is better, and after having read the prologues of Goethe's version, I'm convinced that what I read was right.  In any case, I think I'm going to take a little break from Faust, which means that I'm going to take a break from Pratchett, too, since FaustEric is the next book in the series (sigh).

As to the theory that Marlowe was Shakespeare, I think I only need to point out that Marlowe had to have someone else write the comic scenes for him, while Shakespeare wrote The Comedy of Errors two years after Marlowe wrote Dr. Faustus.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

... FWIW, Eric is worth reading. The references to Faust are merely a sideline.

[Aisha deCabre]

There are rare times I ever regret reading something...

...Well, once.  In Literature class in High School we once had to read Tess of the D'urburvilles (I think it's spelled right...)  But I think you can look up the plot synopsis.

Don't read it.  Too tragic even for me.   

[Cogidubnus]

Wuthering Heights.

Hated the book. I'm sure if I'd given it more of a chance, it might have revealed itself to be the timeless classic it was supposed to be, but what I read was so largely pointless, rife with social norms that I did not understand, and with language that was so archaic as to nearly remove all feeling, that what I did read was very painful.

[Mao]

Ivanhoe.  I was given it to read as a punishment by my English teacher back in 12th grade for constantly voicing my opinions in contrast to hers. (My dad was an english teacher at my highschool and I had already read most of what was on the curriculum by that point and discussed it at length with him and his fellow teachers.. she was a temp for the year and didn't like my input)  So I was off to a bad start as it was meant as a punishment.  Beyond that, it was one of the driest reads I have ever in my life encountered.  It just about soaked up any and every ounce of my soul in the week it took me to read it.

Never again will I read Sir Walter Scott.  Never.

[VSMIT]

Wuthering Heights.

Hated the book. I'm sure if I'd given it more of a chance, it might have revealed itself to be the timeless classic it was supposed to be, but what I read was so largely pointless, rife with social norms that I did not understand, and with language that was so archaic as to nearly remove all feeling, that what I did read was very painful.

^That one.
The whole time I was reading it I was attempting to find a reason behind something.  But I couldn't.  And that was just painful.  That and I don't think anyone in my class actually understood it either.  So discussions about it were very one sided.  And the whole story was so convoluted that half the time it was difficult figuring out simply why something happened.

[Ryudo Lee]

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Probably the worst (yet well written) book I've ever had to read.  It's about a man living in New Orleans in the 60's, who's lazy, still living with his mother at age 30, and really never worked a day in his life.  But then he has to get a job.  Alleged hijinx ensue.  It had to be the most boring piece of literature I've ever read.  Dictionaries are more entertaining.  I had to read this back when I was in high school.  My english teacher at the time gave great praise to the book (she was a bit of a loon anyway, I should have seen it coming) and wanted to use it as a teaching tool.  Very few people passed that particular test.  She wondered why.  She later changed the required reading for the class to The Dead Zone, by Stephen King.

Later when I was in college, an english prof wanted us to read A Confederacy of Dunces and write an essay on it.  She was using it as an example of how a book could be very well written, yet be completely uninteresting and unlikable.  I liked that prof.

[Jack McSlay]

I'm not a real book reader, therefore I hadn't read enough books to be regretful about one. But back in high school, it was utterly painful when I was forced to read David Copperfield. Just horrible.
It was so boring I just had to go to wikipedia to remember what the book is even about. Nearly everything about it is just unmemorable.

[bill]

Wuthering Heights.

Hated the book. I'm sure if I'd given it more of a chance, it might have revealed itself to be the timeless classic it was supposed to be, but what I read was so largely pointless, rife with social norms that I did not understand, and with language that was so archaic as to nearly remove all feeling, that what I did read was very painful.

This, except with Jude the Obscure, which had the bonus of being incredibly depressing.


Also, Faust owns, bro.

[Tapewolf]

While nowhere near as erudite as yours, the one book next-but-one book I most regret reading has to be "The Swords of Night and Day" by David Gemmell.  This is the sequel to 'White Wolf', which was, IMHO, an awesome read.
I have to wonder what was going through his head when he wrote it.  It reads like he woke up one day and thought "Hmm, I've been a successful swords and sorcery writer for about 25 years now.  I know!  I'll try some science fiction instead!"
Basically he does pretty much everything that went wrong with the film Highlander 2.  Bringing a popular but dead character back to life on a flimsy pretext.  Retroactively trying to change the mechanics of the world and breaking continuity with everything he's written since 1986 (specifically, moving the setting from a fantasy world to a far-future Earth and then trying to explain magic as super-science driver by some kind of ancient power satellite).

It's been a while since I've read it, so these are just the things which stick in my mind most.

The was also a book I read last year on the way back from Anthrocon which was so horrifically bad I have mercifully forgotten the title and author.  But not the plot, unfortunately.  It was as though someone had adapted Tomb Raider or something into a novel, only even less plausible and with even less regard for what is physically possible in everyday life.  If anyone is morbidly curious I can probably dig up the details.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Heh. Does fanfiction count? Cause I once read a fanfiction account based on Resident Evil 4, I think.

It wasn't so much the vague lack of a plot, the complete lack of grammar or spelling or typing ability, the thinly veiled porn, or the horror segments in themselves... more the entire collection put together...

[Jack McSlay]

fanfiction account based on Resident Evil 4

I think you only needed that to describe how bad it was.

[Alondro]

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Probably the worst (yet well written) book I've ever had to read.  It's about a man living in New Orleans in the 60's, who's lazy, still living with his mother at age 30, and really never worked a day in his life.  But then he has to get a job.  

So it's about furries?  Was the guy a fatass too?  

My most hated book was "The Stranger", by Camus.  The character made absolutely no sense.  I understand he was a sociopathic retard with apparently a numerical IQ equal to my show size, but his actions constantly contradicted themselves.  Not to mention the whole trial scene was idiotic.  The prosecution made a point of mentioning he had milk in his coffee during his mother's funeral wake as evidence of his evil...

...

Ok, I know the French are stupid, but even I have a hard time with that one.

And then at the very end this guy who has shown absolutely no emotion throughout the entire story suddenly goes on a raging tirade and some sociological rant.  Which is completely inconsistent since he's been proven dumb as rocks and always speaks and narrates in short, simple sentences throughout.

The only thing I could think to rectify the inconsistency was that he was actually very clever and was trying to pass himself off as stupid in this recount of events for an insanity defense.  But that is never even hinted at in the book, and so it must be excluded as a reason.  Therefore, we're just left with that it makes no sense.

Meh, Camus was French too.  Stupid Frenchies.  

[superluser]

Wuthering Heights.

Hated the book. I'm sure if I'd given it more of a chance, it might have revealed itself to be the timeless classic it was supposed to be, but what I read was so largely pointless, rife with social norms that I did not understand, and with language that was so archaic as to nearly remove all feeling, that what I did read was very painful.

This, except with Jude the Obscure, which had the bonus of being incredibly depressing.

Well, Wuthering Heights was pretty depressing, too, if I recall correctly.  Maybe it was just so bad that it made me depressed.

Heh. Does fanfiction count?

I'm certainly not going to stop you from counting it.

Though it's probably more interesting if it's something that you expected to be good and you chose to read of your own volition.

[Sunblink]

The worst I've read was Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. I might be slightly insane and blasphemous for saying so, but goddamn it, I had never been so thoroughly and hatefully bored during any other reading assignment for school in my life. Granted, I was thirteen and very stressed out at the time I read it so that might explain my hatred of the novel.

I haven't read the Twilight series, but good heavens, it sounds like all my worst fears personified from what people are saying.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

I've read stuff that I thought wasn't worth my time, which I regret wasting. But to me, at least, even poor literature provides some use, and it really makes the good stuff stand out for me, so I don't think I really regret reading anything.


That being said, there was one book I simply could not finish, a novelization of Baldur's Gate (same title) by Philip Athans. It was just irreedemably awful. It wasn't even in the "so bad it's funny" category. It was just lame.


And *I* liked Wuthering Heights. Although Jane Eyre (or however it was spelled) was pretty bad.

[Ryudo Lee]

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Probably the worst (yet well written) book I've ever had to read.  It's about a man living in New Orleans in the 60's, who's lazy, still living with his mother at age 30, and really never worked a day in his life.  But then he has to get a job.

So it's about furries?  Was the guy a fatass too?  

Nah, just New Orleanians in the 60's.  But yes, he was depicted as being overweight.  I suppose if the furry community existed back then, he'd fit right in, huh?

[bill]

The worst I've read was Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

[Zina]

I hate everything Yukio Mishima wrote with such a burning passion.

Also, I hate Yukio Mishima.

God.

I hate Yukio Mishima.

[rt]

Add another 'that trash they through at us in school, and was a really famous book/story by some famous author' to the mix.

Top of the list (or bottom), i think it was pride and prejudice (for the same reasons people gave as Wuthering Heights). One of the shakespeare plays, and some regional 'famous' mystery author who I can't remeber .. but I do remember we had to write them a letter saying how good their terrible book was.

[bill]

Rename thread to "Classic Authors That Suck"

Willa Cather sucks. O Pioneers! is the most boring book jesus christ. I heard Death Comes... is better, but O Pioneers! left such a bad taste in my mouth, that I'll probably hate it before I even get past the title page.

post

It is illegal to not like Shakespeare. Sorry.

[Darkmoon]

Stephen King, The Dark Tower Saga, Book VII, The Dark Tower.

The whole last half of the book was trash. Utter trash. And god dammit that ending was such a cheat. The concept of why he did that ending doesn't bother me nearly as much as the WAY he did that ending.

But I'll avoid spoilers just in case someone out there is reading it now and, for some masochistic reason, doesn't want that shitty book ruined.

[VSMIT]

The worst I've read was Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens. ... I had never been so thoroughly and hatefully bored during any other reading assignment for school in my life. ...

I agree with that.  Even though I wanted to read it just because.  And I couldn't stop because I kept holding on to the hope that it would get better.  Oh, God, but it didn't!  I believe that Great Expectations turned me off of Dickens forever.  Proof positive is that I didn't particularly like Hard Times, either.

[bill]

Everyone here needs to stop hating on Dickens now. 

[VSMIT]

I'm not hating on Dickens.  I'm just stating my opinion.  Since your experience with Dickens was obviously different from mine, you can refute what I've said and provide your own opinion on the classic author.

By no means am I saying that he's a terrible author.  I enjoyed A Christmas Carol.

[bill]

I love Tale of Two Cities. One of the few High School Shitty Reading Assignments that I loved, cover-to-cover. It helps if you think the French Revolution is interesting, of course.

[Cogidubnus]

I love Tale of Two Cities. One of the few High School Shitty Reading Assignments that I loved, cover-to-cover. It helps if you think the French Revolution is interesting, of course.

A Tale of Two Cities was pretty good. I've heard good things about Bleak House also.

Dammit Bill, stop ninja-ing my posts.

I liked the ending better. Dickens wrote in serial, and I think it kinda shows in the beginning.

[superluser]

It is illegal to not like Shakespeare. Sorry.

Unless it's Titus Andronicus.

A Tale of Two Cities wasn't very good, in my opinion, but I would by no means say I regretted reading it.

[rabid_fox]

The worst I've read was Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

Yeah, it wasn't everything I'd hoped for.

"Eragon" and "Eldest" were hilariously god-awful, but  I don't regret reading them, for I got many laughs out of them. I think I'd have to say "Amara" by Richard Laymon, because I loved that guy's writing. "Amara" was published after he died and it was a real kick in the teeth for fans, a shoddy mess of three unfinished stories all lumped together.

[Zina]

Sometimes I wonder why I read as much of the DaVinci Code as I did.