S/O book thread: What book did you hate that most others loved?

[Firefly]

I really despised Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I never even read the last book, though I'd read all the ones before it. I usually commit to finish a series once I start, but I just couldn't do it.

[Mama_Rana]

I can't believe I forgot "The Devil Wears Prada". Everytime I picked it up, I would just end up so ANGRY! and tense. I finally decided I just couldn't read it. I'm still interested in seeing the movie, mostly for the actresses, but I suspect it'll still make me mad.

[Melinda in VT]

I can't believe I forgot "The Devil Wears Prada". Everytime I picked it up, I would just end up so ANGRY! and tense. I finally decided I just couldn't read it. I'm still interested in seeing the movie, mostly for the actresses, but I suspect it'll still make me mad.

 

This is one of those rare cases where the movie is much better than the book. Meryl Streep turns a caricature into a three-dimensional character.

[Punchie]

Into the Wild - this is the only book I can say that I HATE WITH A PASSION!!!! It was required reading in one of my college lit classes. The professor had such a shocked expression on her face when I ripped the book to shreds. The kid is a self-serving, egocentric, holier-than-thou jerk who needs to have some commen decency and sense beat into him. I cannot stand that the book glorified the entitlement of this kid. And when I found out they made it into a movie, I about snorted fire.

[Barry Goldwater]

Well, I wasn't forced to read it. Maybe that makes a difference? ;)I understand what you're saying, I'm not a lover of Catcher in the Rye, I don't go around recommending it to people. In fact, I've been known to call people a phony when they tell me it's their favorite book, lol (sorry, I find that joke endlessly amusing). I just see the redeeming factor in it, where I *don't* see any redeeming value in other books. Does that make sense?

 

ROTFLOL!!! That's rich!!! I'm stealing that one, if it ever comes up again!!

[Cinder]

This is one of those rare cases where the movie is much better than the book. Meryl Streep turns a caricature into a three-dimensional character.

 

I didn't even know there was a book. Just wanted to add that I also enjoyed the movie.

 

Cinder

[TN Mama]

Can't remember that one, but when you mentioned children's books it reminded me of Love You Forever. The part where the mom climbs in his window to comfort the son gives me the heebie-jeebies. (I hope I'm remembering this correctly--it's been so long ago.)

 

Cinder

 

:iagree::iagree: Oh.My.Word. That book creeps me out!

[Chris in VA]

Hate books that glorify or justify adultery, so that knocks out a good deal.

 

Won't touch Twilight.

 

Couldn't get thru LotR, but that was just me. I think. I still appreciate them. Sort of.

 

Most Jodi P books are way too overdone for me--I have been known to pick one up in the library and spend 20 minutes flipping thru, getting the gist, and then 5 minutes reading the ending. That's plenty.

 

I found Poisonwood Bible compelling, but completely overwhelming-- I hated it, but it gave me something to think about.

 

Loved Grapes of Wrath, Lord of The Flies, etc. (I say etc. because you know what I mean--the rest of the books mentioned in this thread).

 

I think I'm pretty stupid in some ways--I can't really tell good writing from poor writing, so poor writing doesn't really hold me back. My df says she loved books about characters, and I love books with setting and plot. I like to plunge into the world of the book, and she wants to meet the folks that live there. So, she loves Middlemarch, but I...don't.

[WTMCassandra]

Haven't had time to read the replies, but Toni Morrison's Beloved. Everybody raves about it, but I just found it disjointed and confusing. I did read about the plot online ahead of time or I would never have figured it out. I don't know why sordid modern content + disjointed = genius. And I teach literature!

[Surfside Academy]

It's not intended to be great literature, but as a pseudo parrot-head, I really don't like Jimmy Buffet's books...yawnfest! Head back to Margaritaville Jimmy and just make music!

[Gooblink]

Thought of another one - The God of Small Things was another book I read through, but never liked. I found the characters to be so bland, I couldn't have cared less about them.

[Mama_Rana]

I always nickname that one "The Socialist Fish." There are other reasons to hate it too.

 

Jenny

I go back and forth on this one. I don't think it sends the message everyone thinks it does--friendship, acceptance of differences, whatever--but I can see other things in it: generosity, not thinking yourself above others because you're "special"... But those things are hard for children to understand, so in the end, I don't like it. :(

 

I have to admit I'm surprised there are so many who hate Austen!

Me too! I really enjoy Austen. Well, except that one, um, shoot, Northanger Abbey. That was stupid, but P&P, S&S, many of the others, love 'em!

[Tutor]

Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice

[Giraffe]

I'm just so relieved that I'm not the only one who doesn't like Austen. Thank you!!

[Word Nerd]

 

Me too! I really enjoy Austen. Well, except that one, um, shoot, Northanger Abbey. That was stupid, but P&P, S&S, many of the others, love 'em!

 

I loved Northanger Abbey, too. I think Miss Jane's sense of humor was especially apparent in that one.

[Word Nerd]

Brave New World is a very good book. I hated the ending and found the story chilling, but I definitely didn't hate the book. I feel the same way about Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, whose ending I absolutely loathed. I still think highly of the book otherwise.

[LaissezFaire]

Into the Wild - this is the only book I can say that I HATE WITH A PASSION!!!! It was required reading in one of my college lit classes. The professor had such a shocked expression on her face when I ripped the book to shreds. The kid is a self-serving, egocentric, holier-than-thou jerk who needs to have some commen decency and sense beat into him. I cannot stand that the book glorified the entitlement of this kid. And when I found out they made it into a movie, I about snorted fire.

 

I loved it. LOL. Not because I respected him but because it was an engaging study into a person's mind whether it was an entitled mind or not didn't really matter.

[CAMom]

The Shack.:ack2: I read it after hearing everyone rave about it. I found it irreverent and so theologically messed up that it just made my skin crawl.

 

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore. Same as above.;)

 

My son and I just read Great Expectations. I didn't hate it but, really, it was just too long! I am proud of myself for plodding through.

 

I know lots of people don't like The Old Man and the Sea but I actually really enjoyed it!

 

I know lots of people hate Lord of the Flies but that's been one of my son's very favorite books to read in high school.

 

It takes all kinds I suppose.:)

[simka2]

The Shack.:ack2: I read it after hearing everyone rave about it. I found it irreverent and so theologically messed up that it just made my skin crawl.

 

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore. Same as above.;)

 

My son and I just read Great Expectations. I didn't hate it but, really, it was just too long! I am proud of myself for plodding through.

 

I know lots of people don't like The Old Man and the Sea but I actually really enjoyed it!

 

I know lots of people hate Lord of the Flies but that's been one of my son's very favorite books to read in high school.

 

It takes all kinds I suppose.:)

 

The 1st 2 are my all time favorites!!!! Along with "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse." I loved the Austen novels and so picked up a book that continues the Darcy story...Ummmm....it's the only book I stopped reading and returned to the bookstore for a refund :tongue_smilie:!!! I think it was missplaced and should have been in the adult entertainment section :D!!!

[Jean in Newcastle]

The Shack.:ack2: I read it after hearing everyone rave about it. I found it irreverent and so theologically messed up that it just made my skin crawl.

 

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore. Same as above.;)

 

 

 

I totally agree.

[Mrs Mungo]

I don't read books like The Shack or Jodi Picoult, they are not my thing.

 

Oh! I thought of another book I *haaaate*! Running With Scissors. It was disturbing, awful. He tries to be light-hearted and horrifying at the same time. It's contrived, and I hated it with the fire of a thousand suns. I think anyone who can't see through his little game shouldn't be reading. Ugh. Smug jerk.

[tenoraddict]

Can't remember that one, but when you mentioned children's books it reminded me of Love You Forever. The part where the mom climbs in his window to comfort the son gives me the heebie-jeebies. (I hope I'm remembering this correctly--it's been so long ago.)

 

Cinder

I loved that book right up until that page, and then thought, "Have some self-respect, woman! Cut the apron strings and let the boy grow up!" But I still love the sentiment behind it, so much so that I made the words into a song. My DS7 wants to hear it every night. :)

 

I think I forgot to mention Moby Dick and The Handmaid's Tale because I blocked them from my memory. I hated them THAT much. Oh, and I have tried to read Vanity Fair and Portrait of a Lady several times, and I just can't do it.

Edited September 13, 2010 by tenoraddict

[Miss Sherry]

I don't get why people on this board detest this book. Every single time I read it I have to cry. I just so get it (and I wasn't even loved that way, but that is exactly how I love my kids). My oldest is 19 and while I am not hovering over her, then the urge to keep her all hugged up is there.....

Regarding the book Love You Forever - There does seem to be people who absolutely love that book and those who strongly dislike it.

I found it to be creepy, especially where the elderly woman climbs a ladder to sneak into her sons room.(am I remembering that part of the story correctly ?) Ewwwwww. The grown man holding his elderly Mom as if she is an infant is also weird to me.

It's a book I don't like but every time I say I dislike it several people speak up to say how much they love it. :tongue_smilie::lol:

Edited September 13, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[sparrow]

 

Oh! I thought of another book I *haaaate*! Running With Scissors.

 

Which made me think of another writer that everyone loves (at least an awful of lot of my friends) that I really, really don't like. David Sedaris. I couldn't make it through Me Talk Pretty One Day.

[Sahamamama]

Climbing Parnassus!

 

I jumped through so many hoops to get that book and waited so long--thankfully it was just an interlibrary loan and I didn't have to pay for it.

 

I had to search for my review of the book and I found this sample quote:

 

"If I have brought anything original to the task -- a tricky when not ridiculous word -- other than my own limited experience, it's probably just a bit of retrograde thinking feared and eschewed by others saddled with that side-glancing reticence often awarded with academic tenure."

 

Ugh!!!

 

:iagree:I agree, I wanted to shout "ESCHEW OBFUSCATION" from the rooftops with this snotty book. :tongue_smilie:He is so full of his own bad self.

[Mrs Mungo]

Which made me think of another writer that everyone loves (at least an awful of lot of my friends) that I really, really don't like. David Sedaris. I couldn't make it through Me Talk Pretty One Day.

 

I haven't read any of his books, but I have listened to the audio books of a couple. I liked them, but I'm not sure I would have liked *reading* them. I wonder how big of a difference that makes with most people?

[Punchie]

I loved it. LOL. Not because I respected him but because it was an engaging study into a person's mind whether it was an entitled mind or not didn't really matter.

 

That's a good take on it. Maybe I should reread it as an adult and not an 18 yr old fresh out of military school. ;) It is well-written. If it wasn't, it would not have evoked such a response from me.

[arwen]

I forgot how much I hate The Rainbow Fish! It's lousy writing. One of Leo Leonnis' Frederick's Fables is about a bird that wishes for golden wings, then his friends think he wanted to be special, so he starts giving away his golden feathers. MUCH better writing. And not so. . . contrived.

[MyThreeSons]

I've tried a few times -- just couldn't get into it.

 

And I'm really not a Dickens fan, either.

[Heather in WI]

The Red Tent

 

Madame Bovary

 

The Latin-Centered Curriculum {ducking and hiding on this one}

 

DON QUIXOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[*Inna*]

Everything is Illuminated. I hated it so much, I threw it in the trash.

 

The Time Traveler's Wife. The Notebook. These would be the last books I'd read based on a friend's recommendation.

Of Mice and Men and Catcher in the Rye. Ugh.

[idnib]

I really despise Alice in Wonderland. It gives me weird slightly nauseous out-of-control feeling. And I dislike all the characters and the way the story unfolds and doesn't make sense. It's like a bad dream, and why would I volunteer for that? :001_huh:

[Penny_P]

I really despise Alice in Wonderland. It gives me weird slightly nauseous out-of-control feeling. And I dislike all the characters and the way the story unfolds and doesn't make sense. It's like a bad dream, and why would I volunteer for that? :001_huh:

 

:iagree: Never liked any of the movies for the same reason.

[Slartibartfast]

I like David Sederis, he cracks me up.

 

 

I am not fond of Stranger in a Strange Land. Bleh.

[Slartibartfast]

The Red Tent

 

Madame Bovary

 

 

 

The Red Tent made me cry my eyes out, I found it really horrific and depressing.

 

I loath Madame Bovary, I have a hard time with books when the main character is like someone I might be familiar with IRL and called CPS on or called them bad names because they broke my male friend's heart.

 

Edited to remove a tangent :blush:

 

 

DON QUIXOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

*gasp!*

Edited September 14, 2010 by Sis

[Belacqua]

I forgot how much I hate The Rainbow Fish! It's lousy writing. One of Leo Leonnis' Frederick's Fables is about a bird that wishes for golden wings, then his friends think he wanted to be special, so he starts giving away his golden feathers. MUCH better writing. And not so. . . contrived.

 

I love Leo Leonni's work. Are you familiar with his Parallel Botany? It's a beautifully illustrated botany text, but entirely from his imagination.

[Mrs Mungo]

I love Leo Leonni's work.

 

I also love Leo Leonni, just for the record. :)

[runmiarun]

I really hated "The Poisonwood Bible". Someone loaned me a copy when it came out and just raved about it. I maybe got through half of it and gave it back.

 

I also really couldn't stand "Dutch", which surprised me. I LOVE presidential biographies, have since I was a kid. I even have read many of the author's other books but that one just drove me batty. I actually took it back to the store and demanded my money back (all $6 since it was on clearance).

[Mothersweets]

Well, I wasn't forced to read it. Maybe that makes a difference? ;)I understand what you're saying, I'm not a lover of Catcher in the Rye, I don't go around recommending it to people. In fact, I've been known to call people a phony when they tell me it's their favorite book, lol (sorry, I find that joke endlessly amusing). I just see the redeeming factor in it, where I *don't* see any redeeming value in other books. Does that make sense?

 

 

Hee Hee! You really crack me up, Mrs Mungo. :D

[runmiarun]

Ok, preparing for tomatoes!

 

The Narnia series (love the movies, but the books bore me to death!)

Lord of the Rings (ditto above)

 

Anything by Beverly Lewis, Terri Blackstock, Karen Kingsbury, or John Grisham. Ick.

 

:iagree: If you get tomatoes, I've got jalapenos and we can make salsa. And trade books we like. My MIL keeps sending me the Lewis, Blackstock, Kingsbury books and I keep taking them to the Habitat ReStore.

[LaissezFaire]

I don't read books like The Shack or Jodi Picoult, they are not my thing.

 

Oh! I thought of another book I *haaaate*! Running With Scissors. It was disturbing, awful. He tries to be light-hearted and horrifying at the same time. It's contrived, and I hated it with the fire of a thousand suns. I think anyone who can't see through his little game shouldn't be reading. Ugh. Smug jerk.

 

Thankfully when you read a lot of the reviews on amazon you see that not many were fooled. Many of the reviewers said they believe it's a work of fiction. I never read it but it sounds awful.

[hsmom3tn]

 

Oh! I thought of another book I *haaaate*! Running With Scissors. It was disturbing, awful. He tries to be light-hearted and horrifying at the same time. It's contrived, and I hated it with the fire of a thousand suns. I think anyone who can't see through his little game shouldn't be reading. Ugh. Smug jerk.

 

I can't believe I forgot about that one. It was horrible! And I still didn't have enough sense to not watch the movie... it was horrible as well. :glare:

 

 

That made me think of a few more that were really, really bad:

 

A Million Little Pieces (I think someone even wrote a parody of this one.)

The Greatest White Trash Love Story Ever Told

[ladydusk]

The Latin-Centered Curriculum {ducking and hiding on this one}

 

Is there room for me to hide with you?

[Stacia]

I feel the same way about Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, whose ending I absolutely loathed. I still think highly of the book otherwise.

 

I loved, loved that book & the ending. To me, the ending completely fit the story.

 

Oh! I thought of another book I *haaaate*! Running With Scissors.

 

I never read that one, but another of his books (Magical Thinking) made it on my severe dislike list. :tongue_smilie:

 

I haven't read any of his books, but I have listened to the audio books of a couple. I liked them, but I'm not sure I would have liked *reading* them. I wonder how big of a difference that makes with most people?

 

I did read one of his books (Me Talk Pretty One Day) & it was ok. Not great. I find his work much better to listen to (& I'm not an audio person at all). I think a lot of the humor must not translate into the writing, but it's funny to hear him tell the stories.

 

Another author that I've thought of that I dislike, generally speaking: Margaret Atwood.

[Rosie_0801]

I used to love Memoirs of a Geisha, then one day I woke up and hated it so much I gave it away.

 

Rosie

[LaissezFaire]

I used to love Memoirs of a Geisha, then one day I woke up and hated it so much I gave it away.

 

Rosie

 

 

LOl! Can you elaborate on that? I loved that book but I only read it once.

[dripdripsplat]

The Shack.

 

I truly, truly despised it.

 

Hahahahahaha, I'm not alone!!!

 

The only other book I can think of is Beowolf. Ick!

[Rosie_0801]

LOl! Can you elaborate on that? I loved that book but I only read it once.

 

The deception towards Mr Snowshowers (that was his name, yes?) bothered me. That kind of stuff always bothers me so I don't know why I didn't hate it the first time I read it. Perhaps the newness of the topic took a while to wear off. My dad bought my daughter The King and I and I'm really glad she doesn't like it because the infidelity stuff in there makes me all miserable and spoils what is otherwise a mighty fine movie.

 

Rosie

[tenoraddict]

The Kite Runner - I felt obligated to read it because everyone went on about it. I was nauseous while reading it and depressed for over a week afterwards. Too bad, too, because I thought his writing style was lovely.

[Word Nerd]

I loved, loved that book & the ending. To me, the ending completely fit the story.

 

 

I totally disagree! :) The ending was abrupt and came out of nowhere, and it made the seamstress seem quite shallow.

Edited September 16, 2010 by WordGirl