"Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead", Steinbeck's "In Dubious Battle", and "The Old Man and the Sea".
Four-way tie. I would rather eat all four books, page by page, than have to read any of them ever again.
Worst book you ever finished
Started by
eldorado
, Oct 23 2012 01:38 PM
35 replies to this topic
#21
My PorcelainLife
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Posted 18 November 2012 - 10:44 PM
"Am I the infidel? I thought it was supposed to be someone else, but now I see it's me. I am my own worst enemy."
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"Fee-fi-fo-fum. Now I'm borrowed. Now I'm numb."
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-Rasputina "Retinue of Moons/I am the Infidel"
"Fee-fi-fo-fum. Now I'm borrowed. Now I'm numb."
- Anne Sexton
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#22
Kodos
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Knowledge is power.
#23
crtclms
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Posted 24 November 2012 - 03:26 PM
I can't remember what the Sirens of Titan was about, but that meant it wasn't one I particularly loved. We read Slaughterhouse 5, and Cat's Cradle for English in high school, then I read almost everything else of Vonnegut's (through Deadeye Dick). I think Slaughterhouse 5 is his best "literary" work.
You guys keep throwing out more and more books that I think, "Hmm, maybe *that* is the one." But I have to stick with Atlas Shrugged. Someone handed it to me freshman year of college, and it was, um, turgid. And badly written. GOD, how did that woman get so many books published?
I used to struggle through books I hated, and then in my mid-20s it occurred to me that there were *too many books* to spend my time on ones I didn't like.
Miron, I love Sophie's World, and read it as an adult. I have a high-order spatial learning disability ("high-order" means it doesn't show up until mid-way through calculus), and I literally am incapable of understanding most philosophy. That book really made philosophy graspable for me. Maybe it *is* for young people, and that is why I can understand it. But I love it anyway.
You guys keep throwing out more and more books that I think, "Hmm, maybe *that* is the one." But I have to stick with Atlas Shrugged. Someone handed it to me freshman year of college, and it was, um, turgid. And badly written. GOD, how did that woman get so many books published?
I used to struggle through books I hated, and then in my mid-20s it occurred to me that there were *too many books* to spend my time on ones I didn't like.
Miron, I love Sophie's World, and read it as an adult. I have a high-order spatial learning disability ("high-order" means it doesn't show up until mid-way through calculus), and I literally am incapable of understanding most philosophy. That book really made philosophy graspable for me. Maybe it *is* for young people, and that is why I can understand it. But I love it anyway.
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#24
Mirazh
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Posted 24 November 2012 - 03:37 PM
They had us read it in Jr. High and I just loved it ever since. Only later did I learn that some folks first read it in an 'introduction to philosophy' University course or similar.
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#25
hagar running
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Posted 24 November 2012 - 04:18 PM
Fucking Ulysses. What a pain in my ass.
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#26
Gearhead
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The Iguana In a Room Full of Rabbits
Posted 24 November 2012 - 06:46 PM
An irredeemable self-published piece of crap that a friend of my husband's wrote. So ghastly I have repressed the title.
But I also loathe Anna Karenina, and had to read it for two different classes while in college.
But I also loathe Anna Karenina, and had to read it for two different classes while in college.
Edited by Gearhead, 24 November 2012 - 06:46 PM.
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#27
crtclms
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Queen of Ergots
Posted 24 November 2012 - 07:29 PM
Gearhead, do you like Dostoevsky? One of my friends has a theory that you like either Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky, but not both. I haaaaate Dostoevsky, but I really like Tolstoy. Anna Karenina is actually my favorite of his! I've read it more than twice. 
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#28
Wonderful.Cheese
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Posted 24 November 2012 - 11:02 PM
Uh-oh! I just downloaded, after a long wait, the first 50 shades book. I guess we will see what happens! My SIL loves them, but I guess we will see!
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#29
Gearhead
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The Iguana In a Room Full of Rabbits
Posted 24 November 2012 - 11:06 PM
I'm neutral on Dostoevsky-my husband loves Crime and Punishment, but I'm lukewarm about it. I find his life story more interesting than his books! I like Pushkin's short stories, but the Russian writer I love most is Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Excuse me. I need to go read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich again.
Come to think of it, Solzhenitsyn had a might interesting life, too.
Come to think of it, Solzhenitsyn had a might interesting life, too.
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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead
#30
stormy13
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Posted 28 January 2013 - 12:54 PM
Catcher in the Rye. Angsty teenager. Big whooping deal.They are a dime a dozen.
#31
stormy13
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Posted 28 January 2013 - 01:20 PM
I agree with you about The Fountain Head. What makes the book kind of bad for me, other than that I don't personally object to collectivism, is that the writing style is not particularly good or interesting. It makes it hard to get through such a longwinded book.
Yeah, I remember thinking that in addition to what I thought was poor writing and clearly Mary Sue characters, just how far her notion of individual Objectivism would take her if she was dropped off by herself in the middle of the forest in the Yukon. All of a sudden Collectivism doesn't sound like such repulsive notion.
I'm not going to say that Ayn Rand was a great writer, but how exactly would Collectivism help anyone who was dropped off "by herself" in the middle of the forest in the Yukon? Sounds like Individualism or self-sufficiency would come in more handy there. Just sayin.
Edited by stormy13, 28 January 2013 - 01:21 PM.
#32
WinglessFaery
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Posted 28 January 2013 - 11:39 PM
I guess im the only one here that likes ayn rand haha. Must be the libertarian in me.
If I had a problem with the fountianhead it would be that the main female character got raped by the main male character than just fell in love with him like "its all cool"
I find the bible a bit of a snooze fest does that count?
Im not intellectual enough for this conversation.
If I had a problem with the fountianhead it would be that the main female character got raped by the main male character than just fell in love with him like "its all cool"
I find the bible a bit of a snooze fest does that count?
Im not intellectual enough for this conversation.
Edited by WinglessFaery, 28 January 2013 - 11:39 PM.
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#33
Likeabowlof0ranges
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Posted 29 January 2013 - 02:35 AM
The entire twilight series, yeah all of them. I have no excuse. My ex was mad into it.
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#34
stormy13
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Posted 29 January 2013 - 11:14 AM
The entire twilight series, yeah all of them. I have no excuse. My ex was mad into it.
Oh yeah, I guess I blocked out that first twilight book. I did read the whole thing. AND saw the movie. Ugh. I blame my daughter.
#35
LordoftheMonkeys
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Worship me.
Posted 29 January 2013 - 06:56 PM
The worst book I've finished would probably be Monkey Bridge. I had to read it in my senior year of high school. It was the more boring, pointless load of drivel I have ever read. All it was was a 300-page long ramble about how the backwards farming culture of early 20th century Vietnam was vastly preferable to that of the Western world, not-so-cleverly disguised as a story.
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#36
sizzlestatic
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Posted 28 February 2013 - 02:31 PM
It tickles me how many people have said Atlas Shrugged or other Rand books. It was terrible, but I was determined to finish it.
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