Your Most Hated Books

Parent Cafe
1

An offshoot of the other book threads…
What books have you read or tried to read but hated? A few of mine…

The Day I became an Autodidact
Autobiographical book by a girl who spent a year reading and learning on her own instead of going straight to college. Interesting idea, but the author was so smug and blithely unaware of her privilege I just wanted to shake her.

The Bridges of Madison County
Robert Kinkaid and his leonine mane made me want to gag.

The English Patient
Well-read friends loved it but I found it florid and overwritten.

What are your most hated books? Any everyone else seemed to love?

2

Ulysses.

3

Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton – the one that inspired the musical. I can’t even get through the first 50 pages.

4

The Catcher in the Rye

5

Apologies to those who love it (and I have dear friends who do) but I don’t like The Alchemist. Read it twice, tried to like it, did not succeed.

6

50 Shades of Grey, really? Does this woman have any self-esteem at all?

7

50 Shades of Grey. Worst mistake ever.

8

I hated “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. The first part was boring, the plot was gruesome, and the characters had no appeal to me.

9

I’ve hated all of these so far. Add to this list The Hobbit and the entire trilogy

10

The Poisonwood Bible.

11

I dislike The Hobbit. And Watershop Down. And any of the Lord of the Rings. I just don’t like the alternate-reality genre for the most part.

And as heretical as this is, I read the first Harry Potter book, found it ok and never really bothered with the rest.

As for classics read in school, I really didn’t like A Separate Peace or Lord of the Flies or Catcher in the Rye all that much. Sorry.

12

Oh, yes. I hated it so much that I think I blanked it out of my memory until you mentioned it.

13

@zoosermom – oh no! i actually really liked the poisonwood bible!

recently i read gone girl; and i didnt like that too much. it seems there’s several books i’ve read that i just havent liked lately. waiting for a good one.

14

“And as heretical as this is, I read the first Harry Potter book, found it ok and never really bothered with the rest.”

Pizzagirl, I agree, the books were OK. Not the blow your socks off kind.

15

from the classic past: Ethan Frome

from the present: Da Vinci Code

I know there’s something I’m missing, something obvious in the so-angry-I-threw-it-across-the-room category, but can’t think of it.

Ulysses is wonderful.

16

I am a huge Henry James fan, but I hate the Ambassadors. And An Awkward Age. And the worst Henry James novel ever, the Sacred Font.

Love pretty much all of his other books!

17

I was thinking I don’t really “hate” any books, but have to agree with 3bm103 about Hobbit, etc. I detest them. And since he’s dead, I can’t hurt his feelings.

and yet, I read the whole thing to my kids before they could read themselves, (if you knew my kids, you’d appreciate anything that kept them still and quiet on the coach at that age for an hour or so was absolutely worth almost any sacrifice) and watched every movie… so my feelings remain a bit mixed

ditto to Joyce and I never even finished Finnegans Wake. It’s not so much I hate him as I find him vulgar. And yet some parts of Ulysses are just stuck in my brain forever. So even though I don’t care for him, I acknowledge he’s a great artist.

I guess I’m okay with saying I hated “The Help” (even though she might be reading) and was pretty keyed up about it usurping voice for a very long time.

and that voice issue is why I don’t care for Jonathan Franzen

18

“Anna Karenina.” But not just because it’s long; I loved “War and Peace” and didn’t want it to end.

19

Hated Heart of Darkness. Considered reading it again later to see if that changed, but I can’t even bring myself to do that.

20

Eat, Pray, Love - whiny and self-indulgent.
Julie & Julia - ditto.

worst book I never read: 50 Shades of Grey. Just wasn’t going to go there as I don’t get sadomasochism and the perpetuation of violence against women.