Highly regarded books 📚 you hate

[Cerro de Casa]

I know it’s not the in thing to be negative but humour me. Let’s remember here that we have grown up in a heteronormative patriarchy where certain books, authors, writers, thinkers, philosophers, poets and others have been systematically rammed down our throats. Our thoughts and feelings have been shaped and morphed based on a non inclusive culture promoting certain ideals and diminishing others.

However, let me step off the soap box and the cross because we all need the wood. Ha. What.

Let me start us all up here by saying that Ernest Hemingway is the most overrated writer of all time. The Old Man and the Sea is garbage and so are A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls.

 

[straightorbroken]

The Dice Man.

 

[Suomi]

Catcher in the Rye is unreadable to me, just an endless stream of consciousness and I’m sorry but unless you’re name is Suedey and the topic is Madonna I’m just not interested.

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf I thought was remarkably a hard stream of consciousness but in a different way from Catcher. I recognise it’s good writing but it actually exhausts me to even read a page, and I am determined to finish it and stop feeling THICK but my goodness. I’ve still not even come home from the market.

 

[Saltwater]

It's not for patriarchal reasons but still

Paulo Coelho - By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
Leo Buscaglia - Living Loving & Learning
Jostein Gaarder - Sophie's World
Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha

 

[Suomi]

Of course saying all that, one of my most treasured memories is when @HerSereneHighnessAnniFrid and I took part in a musical production of The Hours at The Fountain Lakes Players

 

[Vicky the Vole]

Lord of the rings

 

[Lucille]

The Great Gatsby

 

[Lucille]

The Bible.

 

[Apoca]

+1 re: Catcher In The Rye, absolute dirge.

I also don't care much for Lord Of The Flies or Moon Palace.

 

[GNL]

Lord of the rings

Yeah, this.

Bitch needed an editor. We don't want to know the genealogy of Frodo's third cousin Dildo, cut to the plot and/or Tom Bombadil please.

 

[HerSereneHighnessAnniFrid]

The Great Gatsby

Literally the most putdownable book I have ever read. UGH.

 

[HerSereneHighnessAnniFrid]

But I do disagree with Catcher In The Rye. I remember being totally involved in it when I thought I was starring in my own version of The Rules Of Attraction at Sussex University 2001-2004.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

I do love both Catcher and Gatsby; although I can see the issues around both. The former is actually one of my faves evahhh.

I’ve actually never read The Lord of the Rings. It sits with many others in a (metaphorical) DNF pile.

 

[GinAg (39)]

I'm a self confessed lousy reader and my current book pile is mostly historical non fiction.

But yes I couldn't stand Catcher In The Rye

 

[GNL]

I liked both Catcher and Gatsby. You're all PHONIES! BEAUTIFUL LITTLE PHONIES!

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

The Catcher in the Rye was boring as fuck but I did love the ending. His other books/short stories were mostly unbearable.

I loved reading Mrs Dalloway, but I read after reading The Hours which is one of my favourite books. Her other works were extremely difficult to get through, with some flashes of genius, but makes reading a hateful experience. I hate stream of conciousness writing.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

I loved The Old Man and the Sea, and want to read more of Hemingway, but I’m afraid the rest isn’t as enjoyable.

 

[lvtz]

But I do disagree with Catcher In The Rye. I remember being totally involved in it when I thought I was starring in my own version of The Rules Of Attraction at Sussex University 2001-2004.

I read The Rules of Attraction every two or three years and always love it just like the first time .. read it for the first time while living in London and studying at St Martins and that particular time always comes back to as if it was yesterday

 

[Kate]

I didn't HATE it but Catch 22 left me cold. The nonchalant narration style makes you feel like absolutely nothing has happened, even though it's a fucking WAR

 

[ZenGiraffe]

To Kill a Mockingbird was DIRE

 

[Apoca]

Also, not a fan of Fahrenheit 451 aka surely the WORST of the standard dystopian trio (the other 2 being 1984 and Brave New World)

 

[jivafox]

Little Women was gash.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Little Women was gash.

Oh yes, I’ve never read anything as basic and stupid, worse than Austin. I don’t know if it’s well regarded though?

 

[Cerro de Casa]

Also, not a fan of Fahrenheit 451 aka surely the WORST of the standard dystopian trio (the other 2 being 1984 and Brave New World)

Another DNF on my list.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

If we're going for the 'U OK Hun' / Costa Book Club crowd etc. etc. then might I also add that Life After Life was terrible.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

Little Women was gash.

I loved it at the time but I was 15 and haven't read it since..

 

[ButterTart]

Lord of the rings

Yeah, over-descriptive to the point of tedious. I don't need 300 pages describing a fucking tree, thanks.

For the same reason I totally gave up on A Prayer For Owen Meany. Such pointless detail I barely made it past the (obscenely long) prologue.

 

[ButterTart]

I know everyone hated this but still, the Da Vinci Code was the most smug, pseudo-intellectual but actually just trash thing I've ever read. It was Ricky Gervais in the shape of a book.

 

[vespertine]

Good God do I agree with Siddhartha - for such a short book it's a SLOG to get through.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

I read Siddhartha recently and it was fine but it was basically a shorter version of Hesse’s other book Narcissius and Goldmund.

 

[Diddy]

I can’t remember how many Haruki Murakami books I’ve read but I’m yet to really enjoy one

 

[lvtz]

Harry Potter