Book dislikes

Like others, I struggle with Margaret Atwood’s books. Also C.P. Snow. I couldn’t get my head round Tolkien, much to the puzzlement of my friend who devoured all the Hobbit and LOTR books. I enjoyed Hilary Mantell’s two books and am looking forward to the next one. The absolute rock bottom for me is Stephen Fry. Tried two of his. Pretentious, self centred garbage.

Favourite hate here is Jane Eyre. Never liked Dickens. No longer have the patience to read Scott, once much loved. Don’t have modern fiction hates really as I don’t finish what I don’t like, but of other people’s hates agree re LOTR and Catch 22 and offer The Lord of the Flies and To kill a Mockingbird.

One of the great modern classics is said to be The Catcher in the Rye. I think I read it when I was in my teens and wasn't struck by it at all - though I did at least finish it. Perhaps I would enjoy it more now - who knows.

I loved the film of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, so I haven't tried the book. So far, I have disagreed with many of the contributions here -e.g. I was pleasantly surprised when I finally started to read Dickens and found that it was less 2-dimensional than I expected. Tolkien I read when much younger, but I'm not sure I would have the stamina these days.

There are other books (usually for less than 1€, downloaded onto my Kindle) which I have stopped reading because they were so bad, but I am afraid I quickly forgot them. They probably weren't great works of literature and "must-reads" anyway!

Margaret Atwood and Ursula le Guin are supposed to be must-reads, which I was thinking of venturing into - I'll see if I have the same reaction as some of you further up this thread.

You're not alone, JackieB, I like Dickens, too. I'm very fond of most 19th C authors but you do have to get used to a more expansive, 'wordy' style. And I like Atwood!

I've remembered that I didn't care much for Virginia Woolf, either...

Can't stand Wuthering Heights, but would put in a word for Anne Brontë's two novels.

I enjoyed reading Captain Corelli's mandolin but hated the film - it missed out far too many important parts of the story that it may as well have been taken from a different book, in my opinion.
l love The Hobbit and have read it several times yet, bizarrely just can't get going with The Lord of the rings - have tried several times yet only got half way. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the films ( just the opposite to Captain Corelli's mandolin)!

If there's an author whose books I know I will hate, Salman Rushdie is my man, and it's not for want of trying.

Any and all of Jane Austen. Just can't get past the first page.

Hated Birdsong by Sebastion Faulks and Catcher in the Rye which was required reading in my youth. There are many more but can't think of them right now.
These days I don't waste time on books I hate, if I'm not into it after about four chapters it's ditched.

Hated Lord of the Rings even when it was almost required reading in the 60s. Also really struggled with Wolf Hall. Thought it was brilliant but oh the relief when I finished it!

I felt embarassed when reading Harry Potter to my chidren it is is so turgid and a pastiche of other people's ideas.

Not keen on Maya Angelou either..........luckily there are millions of others to choose from, something for everyone.

Haven't often really disliked a book. If I can't get into a book within at least the first chapter, I don't bother - life's too short.
The only one I've ever really hated - or rather it roused me to such fury I wanted to throw it across the room - was one by Anita Shreve, though I forget the title. IIRC it turned out that entire story was what someone imagined her life would have been if she hadn't been killed in an accident - all flashed through her head in the seconds before she died! Cheat endings make me livid!
Though luckily it was from the library - I hadn't shelled out good money for it.
I do tend to know now from the blurb on the back, the first page or two, and often of course from the author, whether something's going to be my sort of read, or not.

Ah I read Elizabeth Gouge’s Green Dolphin Country, 30 odd years ago..loved it. I enjoyed a book written by Miep Geiss about Anne Frank. She worked in the spice store below the annexe where the Frank family were hiding. She got their food for them, such a different perspective on the Anne frank story.

love harry potter, love historical series too plus the bodice ripping jilly cooper. i also like the hobbit and lord of tbe rings.
just not that keen on much else especially stephen king and any books with convoluted threads.

There are quite a few. I agree about Martin Amis. I kept trying with London Fields as I kept hearing about how good it was. I wish I hadn't wasted the time.
I can't get on with Jane Austen which seems to verge on sacrilege.
The worst book I have read was by Jeffrey Deaver. It started out about a missing girl who a couple of pages later was 24. It had no logic and was full of ungrammatical sentences. I really can't see how it got published.

Everybody raves about 'a Man Called Ove' but although I stuck it out to the end I didn't enjoy it at all. I found Ove unpleasant and the story completely unbelievable.

I agree Maizie about the present historical tense. can't stand it, and it's one of the reasons I can't listen to Melvynn Braggs radio programme. I couldn't get on with Hilary Mantel but loved Captain Corelli ( had to persevere to begin with)

I am not keen on fantasy books at all so I have never been tempted to read Harry Potter.
I could never get into Mervyn Peake. I quite liked the Hobbit but Lord of the Rings seemed to drag on.
I always feeling that I am just reading someone's dreams and I don't particularly enjoy hearing someone recite the details of their dream.

Maeve Binchy, whenever I have read one of her books I feel as though I have wasted my time. Drab and boring. Can't wait for the new Hilary Mantel though.

50 shades - I read the first one just to find out what it was all about and then put it in the dustbin. I heard the author saying she was horrified when she thought her teenage son had read it and I thought what about everyone else's children? There was also an article in one of the papers which said that A and E's had been bombarded with sexual injuries. Dangerous stuff in my view but she made a great deal of money so that's ok then!

I threw Captain Corelli's Mandolin across the room when I'd finally plodded to the (non-existent) ending... I've started Vanity Fair three times - and never got past chapter four - and I really can't be doing with books that suddenly change story, like Cloud Atlas, which I also gave up.
On the other hand, I couldn't put any Hilary Mantel book down - I love them, especially Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies - can't wait for the last in the trilogy.
The most recent book that I really, REALLY disliked was The Bookseller of Kabul - I abandoned it after three chapters, as I'd reached the stage of thinking 'Bomb them..!!' in my head...

I tried 50 shades, gave up after the first chapter, such badly written tosh! When I worked in a charity shop the most donated book was 50 shades, all obviously beyond the first couple of pages! I think it did well because it was advertised as soft porn for yummy mummies.

50 Shades I read just to see what all the fuss was about. Cringeworthy and badly written. Awful book. Left it in the hotel in Eygpt and good luck to whoever picked it up.
Struggled with Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie but persevered to the end - very confusing.

"obviously unread beyond the first couple of pages" Sorry only had 1 cup of coffee this morning!!