A "really good book" you did NOT enjoy.

[jasc15]

Saw this thread topic on another forum, and thought it would be a good companion to the "Currently Reading" thread.  Lots of mentions of books like "Moby Dick" and "Ulysses".

My recent entry is for "Zen, and the art of motorcycle maintenance", which I mentioned in the "Currently Reading" thread.  I'm reading it now, and am about 3/4 of the way through. I enjoyed the first few chapters, but once he goes off the deep end about "quality", it has seemed repetitive for the last 100 pages. I guess referring to your past self in the third person allows you to be immodest, like mentioning your 170 IQ, and some other things. At this point it is mostly over my head, but I will try to finish it.

Coincidentally, I have Immanuel Kant's "Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals" (which is referenced by Pirsig in "Zen") that I stole from my sister after a philosophy class. I picked it up while reading "Zen" to try to get some insight into what he was talking about, but it was many levels above what Pirsig was saying, and I could understand even less of that. 

[rumborak]

I'm on vacation right now, and I took Günther Grass' "The Tin Drum" with me, which is an internationally acclaimed book, and considered in the top 5 of modern German books.
The book has 500-odd pages, and I'm about 100 pages in. Thing is, it has an incredible whimsical and peculiar narrative style. In the beginning it is a fresh breeze compared to the usual narrative style of books, but at this point that coolness factor has worn off and I find myself noticing more and more that 100 pages in, the book has not developed a single piece of plot.

[El Barto]

Tried twice to read 1984 and put it down both times. One of them was on a long flight, and I opted to sit quietly in the middle seat and do nothing.

[Tanatra]

"A Farewell to Arms"

I just can't get into Ernest Hemingway's writing style.

[hefdaddy42]

Anything by anyone named Bronte.

[Chino]

The Bible. Not trying to be a dick. That's an honest answer.

[Cool Chris]

Should probably rename subject to "Books considered classics..."

Anything by anyone named Bronte.

No shit. Though these (along with 1984 and many others) I read in school, which changes my view as I was not reading for pure pleasure.

I did read Moby Dick on my own, not realizing it is a glorified whaling manual.

[Sacul]

1984. I know all the message the it expresses, but damn it the story itself it dreadful and boring. It's like a message with a story, and not backwards. I hate when books do that. If the author tried to give me some lesson, he could have written something better.

And 2001: A Space Odyssey, was worse. It had some good moments, but the thing doesn't go anywhere and the end it's stupid, at least, and makes no sense. And lest's not talk about the movie .

[jasc15]

I just started 1984, and I'm catching that vibe already.  Seems like a great message inside a terribly boring story.  I'm hoping that the metaphor of the story elegantly shows the point Orwell is trying to make, rather than explicitly stating his point in between mediocre story elements, which seems to be the case so far.

[Chino]

Instead of reading 1984, just watch V For Vendetta.

[Dark Castle]

I loooove 1984

[rumborak]

The Bible. Not trying to be a dick. That's an honest answer.

I remember P/R had a "The Bible in a year" thread, and even the more dedicated people bailed in the end. There are interesting parts, but there are also just parts that have no relevance to the modern reader, i.e. if you're not Jewish, quite a few chapters of the Old Testament are just not "meant for you".

[Zantera]

The ones I can think of are the Lord of the Rings books. I love the movies (they are in my top10), I love the world, the characters and basically everything Tolkien has created, but his style of writing is just so all-over-the-place and boring to my taste. I tried getting through both Fellowship of the Ring AND The Two Towers on book, but fell asleep somewhere around 35-40 pages in. I love everything he created, but his style of writing is not my cup of tea.

[Chino]

Harry Potter. I bought into that craze like everyone else in my 5th grade class. By the time I got halfway through the 4th book, I just stopped. I was beyond bored by it and was only reading it because everyone else was.

[gmillerdrake]

The Bible. Not trying to be a dick. That's an honest answer.

I remember P/R had a "The Bible in a year" thread, and even the more dedicated people bailed in the end. There are interesting parts, but there are also just parts that have no relevance to the modern reader, i.e. if you're not Jewish, quite a few chapters of the Old Testament are just not "meant for you".

I read the Bible through every year according to a schedule and I'd rather have my nuts snapped in a mouse trap than read 'Leviticus' one more time.....it's pretty tough.

[gmillerdrake]

I never read 'A Catcher in the Rye' when I was younger (high school) and decided to read it when I was 23 (ish) and I thought it was horrible. There had been so much made of that book and I thought it was boring as all get out...

[Nekov]

Harry Potter. I bought into that craze like everyone else in my 5th grade class. By the time I got halfway through the 4th book, I just stopped. I was beyond bored by it and was only reading it because everyone else was.

Same thing. I managed to finish the 4th book but that was it for me.

[ozzy554]

Great Expectations By Charles Dickens
Anything By Shakesphere
The Call Of The wild By Jack London
The Great Gatsby By F Scott Fitzgerald

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

The ones I can think of are the Lord of the Rings books. I love the movies (they are in my top10), I love the world, the characters and basically everything Tolkien has created, but his style of writing is just so all-over-the-place and boring to my taste. I tried getting through both Fellowship of the Ring AND The Two Towers on book, but fell asleep somewhere around 35-40 pages in. I love everything he created, but his style of writing is not my cup of tea.

Ditto.

[Tomislav95]

I heard Foundation series by Isaac Asimov are great but first was just ok and second was awful. Plot is in different year each 10 pages and there are new characters in every few chapters. I don't understand praise.

[Phantasmatron]

Catch-22.   It was just so all over the place and plotless and psychotic that I couldn't stomach more than fifty pages of it before I gave up.

But I have a friend who's a pretty big Joseph Heller fan and a couple of years ago I decided to read another Heller novel.  I just finished it this week.  It wasn't terrible but it was pretty dense and difficult to keep slogging through.

[Sacul]

Seems like a great message inside a terribly boring story.

Exactly, it happens with lots of books. If you get bored, just jum to the lst 2/3 chapter, where the message is fully unveiled and an interesting reflection is shown.

[sneakyblueberry]

Saw this thread topic on another forum, and thought it would be a good companion to the "Currently Reading" thread.  Lots of mentions of books like "Moby Dick" and "Ulysses".

Yeah Ulysses is a fucking demanding read.  Its kinda like the bible tho, you don't necessarily have to read it cover to cover.  The Nausicaa chapter has some great, abstract, modernist syntax towards the end which is quite fun.  Also the tone has an hilarious satirical edge to it, which is lost on a lot of people.

I'l add Conrad's Heart of Darkness to the list.  That thing was a goddamn snoozefest for me despite it being so short.  Also Atlas Shrugged was pretty fucking boring, couldn't get through that.  Plus Rand's philosophy is asinine. 

EDIT:

I loooove 1984

This. <3

[Ħ]

The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Easily the worst piece of literature ever written.

[Nel]

1984's third act. I get the message, but god damn i that is not one of the most depressing things I've ever read.

And A Tale Of Two Cities. When we read that in 9th grade, I honestly had no fucking clue what was going on in the story. Who was who or good or bad or important or anything.

[Phoenix87x]

Never liked Brave new world, which is a little funny since 1984 is my favorite book ever written.

[The King in Crimson]

I really liked both 1984 and Catcher in the Rye when I read them. In fact, I struggle to think of how anyone could think 1984 is boring. It's pretty short and there's very little filler in the book, but maybe that's just nostalgia talking. I haven't read it since High School but parts of the book still stick in my mind. I also enjoyed Heart of Darkness, enough that I read it twice, but it's not an easy book to read. The writing is just all over the place.

I'm reading (struggling to read actually) Crime and Punishment and whoo boy is it tough. The translation is pretty awful at times and that makes it difficult to enjoy but, honestly, I think Dostoevsky really just wasn't that great of a writer. It certainly doesn't help that the main character is an absolute asshat of epic proportions. I'm more than halfway through so I'm going to finish reading this eventually, but it's not going to be easy.

I made it halfway through Stephen King's The Stand before I gave up out of sheer boredom. It's too bad because the beginning is great but the middle portion drags on and on and on.

I didn't make it very far into Brave New World before I bailed. Something about the writing put me off of it.

I've been reading the Lovecraft Compilation The Necronomicon in bits and snippets, specifically "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" which is one of his longer stories and I almost, almost bailed on the story when the cats come and save the main character from the moon creatures. It's absolutely fucking ridiculous, even for Lovecraft.

Instead of reading 1984, just watch read V For Vendetta.

FIFY.

[Stadler]

Loved The Stand (read it twice).   Loved The Lord of the Rings (read it at least five times, maybe more).

Now, generally, I prefer books over movies (the only clear exception is "The Hunt For Red October") and one of my favorite movies is "Dr. Zhivago", based on the story by Boris Pasternak.   So the book must be great, no?  I had read Tolstoy ("Anna Karenina"), Dostoyevski, etc. but I was sorely disappointed in "Dr. Zhivago", the book.  And it wasn't only because I didn't get to see Julie Christie. 

[Jaffa]

Catcher in the Rye springs to mind.  There were parts of that book that actively annoyed me, and the rest of it just left me cold and apathetic. 

A Clockwork Orange is another one, but I never really gave it a fair chance.  I bailed on it very early.  Maybe I would have liked it if I read it all the way through.

I've enjoyed most of the 'classics; I've read, though.  Some of them didn't quite live up to my expectations, but I still liked them on some levels.

And I love 1984. 

[MetalJunkie]

The ones I can think of are the Lord of the Rings books. I love the movies (they are in my top10), I love the world, the characters and basically everything Tolkien has created, but his style of writing is just so all-over-the-place and boring to my taste. I tried getting through both Fellowship of the Ring AND The Two Towers on book, but fell asleep somewhere around 35-40 pages in. I love everything he created, but his style of writing is not my cup of tea.

This.

[masterthes]

Heart of Darkness, Moby Dick, Crime and Punishment, Journey to the Center of the Earth

[Sacul]

Journey to the Center of the Earth

This. I've heard it recommended for kids, but damn it is boring, even for me . There are good things that weren't used deeper.

[masterthes]

Yeah, I was disappointed. I loved Twenty Thousand Leagues and then after Journey, I ended up reading 80 Days and I loved that as well. Ah well

[Silver Tears]

I expected a lot more from The Great Gatsby, it was fairly average for me. I also have a love-hate relationship with Ulysses (still not finished after over a year...) it seems to depend what mood I'm in when I pick it up whether I have the patience for it.

[puppyonacid]

Another one here for Lord of the Rings

I've read the Hobbit twice and really enjoyed it. So I thought I'd give LotR a go. Tried to read it 3 times and could not get into it.