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

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  • Raquelos.Raquelos. Posts: 7,734
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    Captain Correlli's Mandolin. I finished it because it was the only book I had left on holiday, but found the main protagonist quite irritating, and was thoroughly annoyed by the ending. Only a man could write that ending and think it was a romance:mad:
  • georgeshairgeorgeshair Posts: 1,443
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    I tried reading the first Lord of the Rings book and just couldn't get into it.

    Also couldn't finish The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. The protagonist was so whiny and self-obsessed, I wanted to slap her.
  • 21stCenturyBoy21stCenturyBoy Posts: 44,493
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    The Kite Runner.

    I tried so hard to find it moving and profound, but ended up feeling irritated and bored by it all.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,017
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    colin23 wrote: »
    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.

    I was much the same! I asked for this for Christmas along with Bring Up The Bodies. I just couldn't finish WH. I hated her use of the present tense; hated her strange punctuation style whereby you could never be sure who was speaking; just couldn't cope with it at all. Imo not a patch on the CJ Sansom 'Shardlake' books, which I adore.

    I am slowly plodding through BUTB!
  • LaVieEnRoseLaVieEnRose Posts: 12,836
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    Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or whatever it is. Dreadfully padded out and sooo dull. The actual story bit buried deep in the dross was better, but rather nasty and not very believable. Didn't like any of the characters, which never helps.
  • MiddleotroadMiddleotroad Posts: 1,283
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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.

    Often the most highly rated Bronte novel. I didn't get it either. Cathy and Heathcliff are brought up together, so their relationship is incestuous and yuck. There's also an obsession with dates in the book which spoiled it.

    I was also disappointed with Heart of Darkness and found Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland highly overrated.
  • clm2071clm2071 Posts: 6,637
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    Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or whatever it is. Dreadfully padded out and sooo dull. The actual story bit buried deep in the dross was better, but rather nasty and not very believable. Didn't like any of the characters, which never helps.

    This pretty much sums up my feelings about it as well
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 46
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    SheShe wrote: »
    I was much the same! I asked for this for Christmas along with Bring Up The Bodies. I just couldn't finish WH. I hated her use of the present tense; hated her strange punctuation style whereby you could never be sure who was speaking; just couldn't cope with it at all. Imo not a patch on the CJ Sansom 'Shardlake' books, which I adore.

    I am slowly plodding through BUTB!

    Spot on SheShe
  • MurraymarMurraymar Posts: 4,992
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    colin23 wrote: »
    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.

    Your not alone. I love all things Tudor and could not wait to read this. I have attempted on at least three occasions to read it but never got half way through it.
  • mocha-lattemocha-latte Posts: 2,472
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    Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or whatever it is. Dreadfully padded out and sooo dull. The actual story bit buried deep in the dross was better, but rather nasty and not very believable. Didn't like any of the characters, which never helps.

    Me too, :confused:
    I just could not get into it ..
  • Reggie RebelReggie Rebel Posts: 636
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    SheShe wrote: »
    I was much the same! I asked for this for Christmas along with Bring Up The Bodies. I just couldn't finish WH. I hated her use of the present tense; hated her strange punctuation style whereby you could never be sure who was speaking; just couldn't cope with it at all. Imo not a patch on the CJ Sansom 'Shardlake' books, which I adore.

    I am slowly plodding through BUTB!

    Same here. I did eventually finish Wolf Hall but won't be bothering with BUTB.

    Others that I've tried and failed include Tolkein, can't remember which but more than one, Brick Lane and Absolute Beginners, which I must have started about half a dozen times
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 46
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    Yes Tolkien's The Hobbit was another one I couldn't get into. I couldn't get over Bilbo Baggins' "eleventy first" birthday.. Twee nonsense i reckon. But perhaps I have been spoilt by reading the Stephen Donaldson Thomas Covenant books..
  • LaVieEnRoseLaVieEnRose Posts: 12,836
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    colin23 wrote: »
    Yes Tolkien's The Hobbit was another one I couldn't get into. I couldn't get over Bilbo Baggins' "eleventy first" birthday.. Twee nonsense i reckon. But perhaps I have been spoilt by reading the Stephen Donaldson Thomas Covenant books..

    Well, that's not in The Hobbit, it's at the start of Lord Of The Rings. The whole of LOTR isn't like that, though. You have to remember that TH was written as a children's story, and as LOTR is a continuation of that story, some of that tone and style is kept at the beginning. It's like a transition stage, and it soon develops into a more serious style.

    I read TH when i was about 9, and moved on to LOTR when I was 11, and it worked quite well for me as I didn't really notice the style getting more "grown-up". Mind you, quite a lot of it went over my head then and although I enjoyed it, i got much more out of it re-reading it later as an adult.
  • *Eileen**Eileen* Posts: 9,881
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    2 books that people rave about but every time I have tried them I have got bored very early on and given up are The Kite Runner and Atonement.
  • Simone17Simone17 Posts: 944
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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?

    Same here, I am never sure why I picked it up in the first place, needless to say I gave up after a short while.

    I also agree with you on Macbeth, I had to do it for my o'level, ugh!

    I loved Tess though, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens are my favourites.:D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 46
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    Another book I cannot read is Moby Dick. Talk about turgid prose....
  • jabegyjabegy Posts: 6,201
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    colin23 wrote: »
    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.

    I'm so glad it's not only me, I thought maybe I was missing something seeing as how it won the man booker prize, just goes to show it's another case of 'the kings new clothes', a bit like the rubbish they spew out for the turner prize.

    SheShe wrote: »
    I was much the same! I asked for this for Christmas along with Bring Up The Bodies. I just couldn't finish WH. I hated her use of the present tense; hated her strange punctuation style whereby you could never be sure who was speaking; just couldn't cope with it at all. Imo not a patch on the CJ Sansom 'Shardlake' books, which I adore.

    I am slowly plodding through BUTB!

    Yes, I quite agree, I hate that style of writing, I find it so confusing, and you're right, CJ Sansom is a far superior writer. The only reason I'm still struggling with it is because I bought it, I'll only give BUTB a go if it comes into my library, on second thoughts nah!!!! maybe not, life's too short.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 735
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    Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or whatever it is. Dreadfully padded out and sooo dull. The actual story bit buried deep in the dross was better, but rather nasty and not very believable. Didn't like any of the characters, which never helps.

    Oh yes. I managed to read Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and thought it was ok - but just that, just ok, nothing special and certainly not deserving of the hype.

    I really struggled with the second book. I thought it was rubbish. I started the third, hoping it would be better, but it just carried on from the moment the second finished and I had lost patience with those storylines so I stopped reading it.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 735
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    Well, that's not in The Hobbit, it's at the start of Lord Of The Rings. The whole of LOTR isn't like that, though. You have to remember that TH was written as a children's story, and as LOTR is a continuation of that story, some of that tone and style is kept at the beginning. It's like a transition stage, and it soon develops into a more serious style.

    I read TH when i was about 9, and moved on to LOTR when I was 11, and it worked quite well for me as I didn't really notice the style getting more "grown-up". Mind you, quite a lot of it went over my head then and although I enjoyed it, i got much more out of it re-reading it later as an adult.

    I enjoyed The Hobbit but have always struggled to get into LOTR any time that I have tried.

    Saying that, I haven't tried to read it in a number of years so maybe I'd have better luck if I tried again sometime.
  • moonlilymoonlily Posts: 7,874
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    Love in the time of cholera-

    I didn't understand it at all :o
  • SadeyedSadeyed Posts: 1,265
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    Trainspotting and anything else I have tried to read by Mr Welsh. Although I have to admit I enjoyed the film.
  • cold_as_stonecold_as_stone Posts: 172
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    Dracula by Bram Stoker. Very disappointing. Thought it would be great until I realised it was all in the form of written letters. I didn't finish it.
  • d0lphind0lphin Posts: 25,327
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    Harry Potter, The Hobbit/Lord of The Rings.
    Anything by Shakespeare:eek: :o

    The Labyrinth by Kate Mosse - one of only 3 books I haven't finished.
  • Susan_A1951Susan_A1951 Posts: 1,081
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    In the popular category - the Da Vinci Code. I saved it up to read on holiday and ended up skipping to the end and leaving it on a bench in Greece - hope someone else picked it up and enjoyed it more than I did.

    BTW - Wolf Hall - I struggled a little, but in the end enjoyed it very much. The sequel - Bring up the Bodies - is imho, even better and looking forward to the final in the trilogy.
  • Johnny ClayJohnny Clay Posts: 5,315
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    Popular (though not sure about well-respected): Hannibal by Thomas Harris.

    I did finish it though, if only to discover how bad it could get. The plot was silly enough - Lector almost a Bond-like figure clashing with grisly super-villian - but even that wasn't adequate preparation for the sheer absurdity of the finale. It was as if Harris was purposely trashing his own creation. Unique, to say the least.
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