A Popular Or Well-Respected Book You Just Didn't Catch On To...

StratusSphereStratusSphere Posts: 2,813
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Has there been one for you?

Mine would definitely be the Catcher in the Rye - I could NOT get into it because the narrator-protagonist was such a whiny thing, really destroyed any connection I could have to the book.

I'm a pretty avid reader but I found it really, really hard to get into at all and I gave up about halfway through. Tried it several times too. In fact, when we were studying it in school I wrote about a book we hadnt covered in the exam because I couldnt stand it that much!

Another one of my pet hates is Heart of Darkness by Conrad.

What would yours be?
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 735
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    I've tried to read both Charles Dickens and Jane Austen several times and been unable to get into them :eek:

    I generally don't like period dramas but I do like some Dickens / Austen film / TV adaptations so it's not that I dislike the stories... My aim is to try again one day but so far my attempts have all been unsuccessful!
  • clm2071clm2071 Posts: 6,638
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    Catch-22 remains impenetrable to me despite numerous attempts over the years and repeatedly being lectured on how great it is.

    For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway were both a huge struggle, I just can't get along with his writing style.

    Honourable mentions to John Le Carre's Smiley novels which are stunnigly dull IMO and Moby Dick which made for very, very slow reading.
  • Granny McSmithGranny McSmith Posts: 19,622
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    At the moment I am reading Three Men in a Boat, which for some reason I have never got round to reading before.

    I started it because i felt like reading something funny.

    I am not finding it remotely funny or interesting.

    I keep hoping it will perk up. Still, I don't actually hate it, so I'll probably finish it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,466
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    Eat Pray Love. A popular book which I absolutely hated. So self-indulgent. The film was possibly even worse.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 46
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    Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. I only lasted around 20 pages, and thats saying something as I love the Tudor period. I thought it was absolutely awful unreadable rubbish. God knows why people rave about her.
  • Egg MonsterEgg Monster Posts: 102
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    Wuthering Heights. I've read it twice, and both times just didn't get into it. The first time I was 14, and thought maybe I wasn't mature enough to understand it. The second time I was 22/23 and thought I might be in a better position to "get" it. But I didn't.

    Also never been able to catch on to Lord of the Rings. I start it, get to Tom Bamburdil's house and then get incredibly bored and just can't move on.
  • clm2071clm2071 Posts: 6,638
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    Also never been able to catch on to Lord of the Rings. I start it, get to Tom Bamburdil's house and then get incredibly bored and just can't move on.

    Even LOTR addicts sometimes skip Tom, worst part of the books by a mile
  • maltshovelmaltshovel Posts: 9,911
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    I've tried several times to get into 'The Kite Runner' but to no avail
  • SHAFTSHAFT Posts: 4,369
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    Both the Harry Potter and the Hunger Games series. I think I'm just too old and crusty.

    Never really understood the appeal of Dickens either.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 368
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    wombat18 wrote: »
    I've tried to read both Charles Dickens and Jane Austen several times and been unable to get into them :eek:

    I generally don't like period dramas but I do like some Dickens / Austen film / TV adaptations so it's not that I dislike the stories... My aim is to try again one day but so far my attempts have all been unsuccessful!

    I've had an unsuccessful go at Jane Austen aswell, the really embarrassing bit is I only got one page in and couldn't follow some of the language.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 735
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    I've had an unsuccessful go at Jane Austen aswell, the really embarrassing bit is I only got one page in and couldn't follow some of the language.

    I just find it boring, to be honest :confused:
  • Mr TeacakeMr Teacake Posts: 6,593
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    Moby Dick started well but after a while it got way too philisophical for my liking. I commend anyone who stuck with it til the end.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 368
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    In the popular but not well respected category I won't ever read 50 Shades Of Grey.
  • the_lostprophetthe_lostprophet Posts: 4,173
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    colin23 wrote: »
    God knows why people rave about her.

    Really? I think that although Mantel's style is somewhat poetic, it flows very naturally. We get a great insight into Cromwell's inner world due to her technique of saying 'he' instead of 'Cromwell'. It reduces the distance between the reader and character so we feel more sympathy for him. Wolf Hall is much more of a page-turner than I thought it would be but each to their own.
  • the_lostprophetthe_lostprophet Posts: 4,173
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    wombat18 wrote: »
    I just find it boring, to be honest :confused:

    Oh I think Austen is so witty. You have to understand that she's nearly always satirising social attitudes and snobbishness or foolishness e.g. Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice - or Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park. I have ended up chuckling before now at some of her characterisations - she's very perceptive given the fact that she was rather unworldly.

    I knew I shouldn't have come in this thread 'cause I can't help sticking up for my favourite authors! :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 735
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    Oh I think Austen is so witty. You have to understand that she's nearly always satirising social attitudes and snobbishness or foolishness e.g. Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice - or Mary Crawford from Mansfield Park. I have ended up chuckling before now at some of her characterisations - she's very perceptive given the fact she was rather unworldly.

    I knew I shouldn't have come in this thread 'cause I can't help sticking up for my favourite authors! :D

    To be honest, I probably haven't got far enough into any of her books to fully appreciate them. But that's kinda the problem - the beginnings always just put me to sleep and it becomes incredibly hard to keep going so I end up giving up every time.
  • pearlsandplumspearlsandplums Posts: 29,393
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    Cloud atlas: possibly the worst book ive ever stuck with to the end
    Moby dick: im not sure what part of an epic novel about hunting a whale i thought i would enjoy.
    Life of Pi: only the ending made it bearable
    LOTR: made it half way through the fifth book. Thoroughly bored, confused by who people were and just gave up
    Lord of the flies: Its possibly because i studied it for school, but found it a poorly written, uninteresting book. Would be slightly tempted to give it another go to see if it was just my surging hormones caused me to hate it so much. Also in literature in school that i hated: Macbeth, call my brother back, Juno and the paycock, war poems, tess of the d'urbeyvilles, the silver sword. Is it obvious i didnt like english literature in school?
  • Yog101Yog101 Posts: 532
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    The Adventures of Tow Sawyer - Mark Twain

    Really did not get on with it. I've been using the star rating on Goodreads for the last 2 years and it's the only book in that time I've given a 1 star.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,012
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    For me
    1984
    Brick Lane
    (Most Tom Clancy books)
  • TeddybleadsTeddybleads Posts: 6,814
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    White Teeth It was alright but i didn't get the fuss.
    The Lovely Bones
    The Kite Runner got very spurious and unbelievable by the end but i enjoyed reading most of it.
    Kenilworth - Walter Scott. Don't, just Don't.
  • grazmangrazman Posts: 607
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    Charles Dickens - Pickwick Papers.... urgh!!!

    Most Dickens stuff really and anything like Wuthering Heights, Tess of The Durbervilles, Jane Eyre just cant seem to get past the first couple of chapters.
  • pearlsandplumspearlsandplums Posts: 29,393
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    The lovely bones was terrible. Didnt get the fuss about it whatsoever. To me it was more like she was spying on her family, rather than watching.
  • The PrumeisterThe Prumeister Posts: 22,398
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    Anything by Zadie Smith - her popularity baffles me - she is an appalling writer.

    Cloud Atlas - although love Mitchell's other books.

    Catch 22 - complete drivel.

    Catcher in the Rye - made me want to saw my arm off.

    Time Traveller's Wife - just WTF? Heinously grim.

    Small Island - Andrea Levy - boring and overrated

    We need to talk about Kevin - the ending was just:rolleyes: although love Shriver's other novels.
  • David_QuintonDavid_Quinton Posts: 92
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    Catch-22 keep getting told it's brilliant and you should read it. Tried but just couldn't get into it. Found boring and very unfunny. Just no substance to the story at all.
  • ravensboroughravensborough Posts: 5,188
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    I also couldn't get to grips with Heart of Darkness. I read it for Uni and it took me three months to finish a relatively short novel.

    I also couldn't get into Possession by AS Byatt. Lots of people rave about it, but I just found the book to be tedious and pretentious.
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