Really Rubbish Books

When The Clan of the cave bear came out I devoured every book until the last one. Some years ago I thought I would read them again.
I just couldn’t get into them, strange isn’t it with some books.

Maeve Binchy's books were great once I really loved her early ones, I can't remember the names but I'd Google them in the order they were published.

Joanna Trollope's too were really good, she wrote very well about families. I thought Other People's Children was one of her very best. Then they both seemed to go right off and turned in a right load of old rubbish imo. I read Mum and Dad it was ok, thought I would give her another go after she reached an all time low in the abysmal Friday Nights, definitely one for the bin!

GillT57

Alima

Raven Black by Anne Cleeves. I plodded on and finished it, never again. So many people on GN rate A C, I will never again be able to read any by her.

well that's strange, because I loved the Shetland series, have really liked many of her books but really couldn't get started on Raven Black. I gave it a couple of attempts, convinced it must be me, but finally admitted defeat after just a couple of chapters. Life is too short to read awful books.

Interesting! I too could not get on with Raven Black and it put me off reading more, even though I had bought the whole Shetland series when they were on offer on Amazon. I seem to recall that I did plough on to the bitter end - heaven knows why because I usually ditch any book that I can't get into.

However, now you've said, GillT57, that the others in the series were good, perhaps I'll try them after all.

Some years ago I read The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect and enjoyed them both. After a hiatus of about 10 years Graham Simsion wrote the 3rd book The Rosie Result.I gave up about a third of the way through. All the humour seemed to have been sucked out.

Jane43

I am a big fan of Kate Atkinson’s books and I recently bought Transcription on Kindle and really struggled to finish it. DH kept saying don’t bother with it but I felt I had to persevere. The only book I’ve given up on was Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

Agree, I didn’t even finish it.
Also thought Big Sky was disappointing

MerylStreep

Up until a few weeks ago I’d never read a book recommended by someone I didn’t know, but a poster recommended
Where The Crawdads Sing. I absolutely loved it: one of those books I never wanted to end.

I have a friend who up until a few years ago read the most awful rubbish ( I make no apologies for that statement)
One day I gave her The Far Pavillions: she absolutely loved it. It changed her reading choices.

Oh my goodness “the far pavilions “. I loved that ! Read it about 40 years ago (0h how old I am?)

Blind Assassin I just loved that book, definitely right up there in my top ten.

The Essex Serpent, was ok, nothing special, massively over hyped, however it's being filmed at the moment, so maybe like Normal People another pretty mediocre book imo, it might turn out to be a very good drama, the recent NP television series was so much better than the book. Usually it's the other way round. I also thought that about Elizabeth is Missing, book nothing special, but thanks to Glenda Jackson's sublime performance the programme was very memorable.

Sarnia

Ilovecheese

I have another confession about not liking a classic, I don't like Trollope, Anthony I mean, quite like Joanna.

If you haven't already read it, her book 'Mum & Dad' is very good.

Oh...I thought it was very poor. I’m sure I used to like her books a long time ago.

Up until a few weeks ago I’d never read a book recommended by someone I didn’t know, but a poster recommended
Where The Crawdads Sing. I absolutely loved it: one of those books I never wanted to end.

I have a friend who up until a few years ago read the most awful rubbish ( I make no apologies for that statement)
One day I gave her The Far Pavillions: she absolutely loved it. It changed her reading choices.

Just thought of a repeat offender!
Maeve Bunchy
I've tried with several of her books, as has my Nan, and neither of us can get anything from her books
I'd love to hear from any fans of Maeve.
(I'm hoping that we really can accept others opinions on this thread, instead of getting into some never ending psychodrama.)

mamaa

Couldn’t stand any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or any Harry Potter. Enjoyed Girl on the Train but hated the film adaptation. Captain Corellis Mandolin is a ‘Marmite’ book apparently. I really enjoyed it but again disliked the film adaptation- they changed the ending to a Hollywood ‘happy ever after’ type- more box office appeal it would seem than the actual ending.

And how miscast was Nicholas cage!

The book took me a while to get into but then I was hooked.

I am a big fan of Kate Atkinson’s books and I recently bought Transcription on Kindle and really struggled to finish it. DH kept saying don’t bother with it but I felt I had to persevere. The only book I’ve given up on was Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.

The Goldfinch didn’t do anything for me, I knew from the first chapter that I wasn’t going to like it, but I plodded on in hope, but it was a waste of time, I just couldn’t get into it.
Another book I really didn’t like was The Essex Serpent, just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about

I couldn’t read The Hobbit either. A neighbour lent it to me - said “You’ll enjoy it!” I didn’t.
Margaret Attwood’s “The Blind Assassin”. Tried a few times to get into this and failed.
C. P. Snow’s “The New Men” which we were studying for English literature when I was on a college course in the early eighties. I thought I would die of boredom!

I remember The Slap, I didn't enjoy it that much, but it wasn't one of the worst. All the characters I recall were horrible people.

Loved The Goldfinch, thought Troubled Blood was the best of the Strike books, really enjoyed it far more than the others.

Like Sarah I found Possession a bit heavy going at first but glad I persevered, I remember I thought it was wonderful when I finished it, that was a long time ago now.

Even further back when I was about 18 or so I remember being quite enthralled by Lord of the Rings, I used to lug it up to town with me to read on my daily commute. I can't imagine wanting to read it now, no it definitely wouldn't appeal.

I will also add The Luminaries to my list of very, long and boring books.

Couldn’t stand any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or any Harry Potter. Enjoyed Girl on the Train but hated the film adaptation. Captain Corellis Mandolin is a ‘Marmite’ book apparently. I really enjoyed it but again disliked the film adaptation- they changed the ending to a Hollywood ‘happy ever after’ type- more box office appeal it would seem than the actual ending.

I have to confess that I have tried to read The Hobbit, both as a child and an adult, several times. I just can't get into it, and find it interminably dull.

I could never get on with Jane Austin don’t even like watching any dramatizations of hers on TV but loved Dickens,

Had to read The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare for my English Literature GCE and we read it in class as a play for preparation , I was surprised how much I enjoyed it
On a more modern note could never see what the hype was about Gone Girl also not keen on chick lit.

I’m afraid I tend to plough on to the end, it might turn out to be wonderful. I was so tempted to give up Possession by A S Byatt, but it’s absolutely one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I could have missed it!

I did give up on Catch 22, I really tried but I hated it.

I also really disliked The Lord of the Rings, everyone was swooning over it, and I thought it was awful.

More recently, was disappointed in The Testaments.

Ilovecheese

I have another confession about not liking a classic, I don't like Trollope, Anthony I mean, quite like Joanna.

If you haven't already read it, her book 'Mum & Dad' is very good.

I could never get past the interminable birthday party chapter in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings, though I absolutely adore Peter Jackson's LOTR and Hobbit movies.

Don't worry about the rubbish thing! Please!

vampirequeen

I hate Dickens. There I've said it and now I'm going to hide behind the sofa . It's not the stories but the way they're written. The only book of his that I finished was Hard Times. I had to read it as part of my degree. I called it Hard Going and forced myself to read a chapter each day until it was over.

I regard Dickens as a good journalist about social subjects but not really a great writer.

I have an even worse confession. I hate Jane Austen. I’ve never managed to finish one, and I don’t even like the television versions.

I hate The Lord of the Rings too. My English teacher had been taught by Tolkien and never stopped going on about it. I did read all of it for her sake (she was a brilliant teacher) but didn’t enjoy it at all.

I suppose I can’t describe these as ‘rubbish books’. They are just books I don’t like. I think I just don’t like novels. I much prefer poetry, including Shakespeare. I have a friend who has read War And Peace three times, but would never think of reading poetry for pleasure.

A book I read many years ago, and glad I stuck with it, was The Day Of The Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, but oh dear me, it was hard going at first, so glad I persevered.

Agree absolutely about The Slap, sleazy porn. Such a disappointment as it sounded such an interesting idea to explore.