The worst book you've ever read

Post Reply New Topic

those Gideons have got to stop leaving their cheap horror novels lying around hotels and hospitals!

Twilight is not that bad. It's not good, but it's not dire.

The worst book I've ever encountered is called "The Reading." The second worst is called "The Book" (although the ending of that one is kinda trippy and cool, in a twisted and evil way.) The third worst is called "My Struggle." You get the idea.

I don't remember what it was called. It was a semi-biographical novel that we had to read in an anthropology class because the professor's friend had written it. The assignment was to read the book and then write an essay about what we thought of it. I wrote that it was the worst book I'd ever read, and it was a miracle that I managed to get through it without vomiting. I got an A+.

The book had something to do with hallucinagenic drugs and some kind of freaky "portales" in Central America. It was creepy and poorly written, as if the author was on drugs. Big surprise there.

I enjoyed The Catcher in the Rye while I was reading, about 25 years ago. Unfortunately, I read it in an English class, and we had to sit around in groups and pick it apart, trying to ascribe obscure meanings to every sentence. That's a good way to ruin any book.

I never could understand the popularity of the book, but the worst book I ever read was Atlas Shrugged. I found the book to be written from a very pompous point of view, and the book basically went against many things I believe socially and politically.

I wouldn't call it the "worst" book I've ever read, but I was disappointed in The Last Detective by Robert Crais. I'm a big fan of his work, but I figured out who the bad guy was within the first 10 pages. It was painfully obvious. It was a decent read, but not as satisfying as trying to figure out the mystery along with the protagonist(s). Solving the mystery early is disappointing to me...it's not as much fun.

As far as nonfiction books go, the worst I've read (recently, at least) was Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner by Michael Baden. He's a famous medical examiner who has consulted on a number of high-profile cases and has provided commentary on a number of news shows. I couldn't get through the first chapter. Aside from jumping around chronologically without any real purpose, he really turned me off when he said his reason for becoming a medical examiner was because he liked being in the public eye and being the center of attention. Not because he was devoted to seeking the truth, not because he wanted to help bring closure to families, not because he wanted to bring criminals to justice, not because he liked the challenge of applying his medical knowledge and skills...he wanted to be famous. It just really bothered me. If this is why someone wants to become a medical examiner, how can their word be trusted?

Wow! That's actually my favourite book ever You should read past the opening chapter and through to the cases; there's some very interesting stuff in there.

Even if it was the publicity that initially sparked his interest, so what? You need to like the spotlight to be able to stand in court and withstand cross-examination.

Probably Mien Kampf...never did finish it. If that had been required reading for me, invading Poland would have seemed like a welcome diversion...

Lawsy, there's so much competition - Diuretics...er Dianetics, Dahlgren, anything by Lenin, the Silmarillion (at least I can say I've read it...once...and that was enough...

OK. You make some good points. I'll see if I can find it amongst my stacks and try again.

Edit: Off topic, but if you haven't read it already, you might want to check out Dissecting Death: Secrets of a Medical Examiner by Frederick Zugibe. I really liked it. It's 10 case studies plus a chapter at the end where he gives his opinion on a few high profile cases, including a forensic interpretation of the Crucifixion. Very interesting!

Cool If you still don't like it that's ok though; I just commented because you were the first person I've met whose heard of it!

edit; haven't heard of that one, but I'll definitely look out for it. I'm reading 'Dead Men Talk' at the moment by Sandra Mara; it's quite good.

That was required reading in one of my English classes. I remember liking it.

I'm really, really, really pissed off. Bought a copy of Hogg hoping it'd be like Dhalgren.

I'm going to physically destroy this book with f*****g flame. And I retract anything I've ever said about Delany being a good author, which is quite a lot, because until this evening he was one of my favourites.

I need brain bleach, and I only got as far as the friggin' synopsis. *looks for vomiting smiley*

Last edited by Ambivalence on 22 Jan 2010, 3:34 am, edited 2 times in total.

Twilight was vapid, not painful and though I put it down after about the first fifty pages (out of sheer boredom) I really don't see where all this hate comes from. Yes, in terms of in terms of action (none), plot (laughable) and character (flat as pancakes) there's not much there, but I still can't imagine it is any better or worse than the average Harlequin Romance. I'm guessing that a lot of the hostility directed its way is simply a reaction to how popular it was/is., and nothing else.

One book that has always left me scratching my head in terms of a best/worst categorization is American Psycho. Surprised no one's thrown its name out yet in this thread. I think Ellis nailed the alienated, consciousless killer almost as well as Camus did in The Stranger...but then you've also got the stomach turning mutilations, multi-page descriptions of the "genius" of Whitney Houston and Huey Lewis, and what must be a ten page monologue on the state of the art in stereo equipment, circa 1986. After all, all Camus' "Stranger" did was shoot an Arab for no real reason, none of this other crap.

Its almost like there's two novels inside American Psycho, one that is damn good and one that is seriously effed up. Part of me says it gets some sort of "worst novel of all time" award, part of me vehemently disagrees. And I don't see anyone could read the book and not think Patrick Bateman is one of the most memorable characters in fiction, whatever else you might think of the novel.

I own 57 Star Wars novels. The only one I couldn't finish was Planet of Twilight.

Amusing enough, seeing as Twilight is a book that I hate as well and a planet full of it would force me to hang myself.

I liked American Psycho and see the things you deride as awful as really adding to the book - it's really a way of confronting the reader, and putting him/her in Bateman's mind. I can see why someone wouldn't like it, though, if they find it too shallow or one-dimensional.

The only other book mentioned here that I read was The Catcher in the Rye. I read some of it when I was eleven and didn't like it, couldn't even finish the thing. I just hated Holden Caulfield and couldn't bear his narrative. I gave it another chance when I was nineteen and enjoyed it enough. If you're prepared for Holden Caulfield it's a very readable novel, with a strong narrative. Some would say I first tried to read it when I was too young and I then tried again when I was too old. Ultimately, though, I didn't see any big revelation or identify with Holden Caulfield as many others seemed to. I knew several people like him in secondary school and they were typically those that I didn't want to have anything to do with.

I'm not all that well-read for the worst book I ever read to really be any great distinction. However, in my mid-teens I read quite a bit of Iain Banks stuff and I don't care for him that much now besides the early non-Culture novels (The Wasp Factory, The Bridge). Not that most of it is bad of course, but fans of his should stay away from Canal Dreams. If it's not quite the worst adult novel I've read, it's up there.

I attempted to read one of my brothers fantasy novels he likes only once and couldn't finish it. In school I was forced to read All Quiet on the Western Front. normally i like films and novels that high light the ugliness of reality but i can only enjoy books that are written in such a way that doesn't seem typical or generic and sadly A.Q.O.T.W.F really kinda gave me that vibe.