Really Rubbish Books

We did the Woodlanders for GCE when I was at school. I did like it and have also read Tess of the D'Ubervilles,. Hardy's books can be very gloomy at their worst, inspired I believe in him seeing an actual hanging as a young man. We visited his house he grew up in as a child (NT) down in Dorset a couple of years ago.

Moggycuddler
Oh goodness, Cloud Atlas was awful, a truly terrible book!
I only finished it because it was a present, and I thought I might get questioned on it!

But love all Thomas Hardy, my dad gave me Far from the Madding Crowd when I was about eleven, and I’ve loved them all, with the exception of A Pair of Blue Eyes.

Mamaa, I'm with you on Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I've tried to read it twice but couldn't get past the swearing chapter. I found the same thing with Wolf Hall. It's the laziest form of writing IMO. I loved Life after Life by Kate Atkinson but gave up on Transcription. I'm working my way through the Inspector Montalbano books at the moment which are great lockdown fare as they are clever and funny.

Ignore my last comment! Hilary Mantel - I really enjoyed "Beyond Black" but found "Wolf Hall" hard to read although I enjoyed the tv production recently very much. Has anyone read the "Starchester" series by Susan Howatch re a priest called "Jon Darrow" and the trouble he gets into when using his pyschic abilities?Lots of church history and theology thrown into what is quite a good story.

Another here who does not like to read Dickens, with the exception of Tale of Two Cities., because it's shorter than the others, he doesn't overdo the descriptions and it's truly exciting. Generally speaking, he needed a good editor.
I recently decided to read the first Bridgerton book to see what all the fuss was about. Utter trivial rubbish is my verdict I'm afraid. I cannot understand Netflix finding enough promise in it to make a series. Georgette Heyer is so much better if they want to televise a Regency Romance.
I struggled with Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and gave up on it at first. Then I tried it again and couldn't put it down. Brilliant isn't good enough. Bring Up the Bodies the same.
I put them both down thinking 'whatever am I going to read now that will be as good'.
Can't get on with Donna Tartt. Maybe I should try again.

That's what I like about my Kindle as I can download a sample, usually the first two or three chapters and, if I don't like it, I don't buy it. It's annoying to spend quite a lot of money on a book you don't like isn't it? I enjoy a wide range of books from psycological thrillers to some chick lit like Jo Jo Moyes. I don't like historical books very much though. I started a book club in our village a few years back but backed out after a couple of years as some people wanted to read very heavy stuff like Dostoevsky and I ended up feeling as if I was forcing myself to read them for an A level rather than for enjoyment.

Interested to see several have not enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club. Osman's style of writing is appalling in my opinion - felt as if I was 5 years old being told a story, and the story wasn't even interesting.
What really, really annoyed me was the hype it received and all the complimentary quotes on the cover from people like Kate Atkinson, Ian Rankin, Marian Keyes etc. I believed them and feel I was utterly misled!
On a sideways note, am I the only one who hates reading books on Kindle or similar. I need the real physical book!

I very rarely cast a book aside after a few chapters but Wolf Hall was one.

I really loved Wolf Hall, I really like her writing style, I’ve got her latest on my pile, so looking forward to that.

Rowyn
I’ve never used a kindle, I agree, it has to be a book

Oh good God Cloud Atlas reading that was a penance, my son thought it was amazing, but I found it really, really heavy going. Clever concept undoubtedly but that didn't make it an enjoyable read, I did like one brief interlude set in pre war Holland, but as it rolled on into a far future and then back tracked down to where it started I lost the will to live. Strangely, I quite enjoyed the film, it made far more sense.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, any Robert Galbraith. Any fantasy or science fiction. Now, if I don't like a book in first 60 pages I stop, whereas before I would persevere. Just gave up on Perfect Remains by Helen Fields, subject matter too disturbing in these times. Agree Transcription, I didn't enjoy it.

Babs758

Re "Far Pavilions", have you read "Shadow of the Moon" by the same author?

See Amberone’ post 3 above yours

I love reading and if the beginning of a book isn't too good I usually work on the theory that it might get better and have a good ending so I usually persevere until the end.

I really couldn't get on with The Detective's Daughter by Lesley Thomson, and gave up very early on. I find her style confusing and pedestrian, spending far too much time on trivial detail and getting nowhere with the actual story. And then I made the mistake of buying a second book by her - it was only after a couple of chapters that I began to recognise the style and the penny dropped. Now I know to avoid Lesley Thomson at all costs!

Sometimes I'm pleased I've persevered with a book that I struggled with. One of these was After The Fall by Charity Norman. Yes the first 200 odd pages should have been thinned down considerably, but it turned out to be absolutely breathtakingly brilliant. And I nearly gave up and missed it.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan and Daughters of the House by Michele Roberts.
Both books were Booker Prize nominees. I persevered hoping they would get more interesting, but it was a waste of time.
I am obviously not intellectual enough!

Well I can’t remember much about Cloud Atlas, just remember it was awful, I wonder if anyone is going to pop up and say they loved it!

Well my son won't cos he's not on GN My husband also really liked it, and at the time, several other people I know all thought it was truly amazing

Agree about Chesil Beech, but absolutely loved the film, I’m usually the other way around.

You can download quite a long free sample of Kindle books before you need to pay anything at all

Will read almost anything except romance novels, but Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie was the first book I was unable to finish. Didn't get past chapter 2! The story sounded so good/interesting but the writing was dire.

It just goes to show, doesn't it, that in fiction there is something for everyone to enjoy. I am so glad we have got so many different authors and so much access to reading in this country.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. I've heard about this book for years. I always wanted to read it. I couldn't understand a word of it.

I gave up on Ken Follett and even earlier than that on Barbara Cartland and a series by someone whose name I have forgotten who obviously was cashing in on Georgette Heyer's success.

Usually, if I start a book and find I don't care for it, I just stop.

I use my tablet as a kindle and download any free books I find online (I can't afford to pay for them). So many dire 'other world's books, vampires etc is beyond belief. As an ex English teacher the spelling, or lack of it, drives me potty; do books not go through an editorial system anymore? I had one book I gave up on at page 1...there were 23 spelling mistakes on page 1, I couldn't stand it...However, I read at least 500 books a year, real and kindle and over the years and have read both wonderful and woeful books in that time.