What books have you hated?

[Ithrynluin]

Trust me, Goodkind's Sword of Truth series is so much more original, exciting and imaginative than any of Edding's works.

Do you find his works to be such in and of themselves or only in comparison with the above mentioned writer?

 

[Mormegil]

Definately in comparison to Eddings.

As for Goodkind's series on its own merits;
I have read the series and have generally enjoyed the books so far. Goodkind has some original ideas, and I enjoy his style of storytelling. I was actually suprised by some of the plot twists in the series.
The characters seem to have a depth to them which I like. And the Races of Goodkind's world are not fantasy stereotypes such as Elves and Dwarves.
The series does however suffer from the same sort of problem as Jordan's Wheel of Time. The story hasn't really developed in the last few books. Richard's adventures in the Old World seem to be taking forever!!

 

[HLGStrider]

I recently read the first Earthsea and found it largely boring and the ending was so very predictable.

I read "Wizard of Earthsea" and liked it and then picked up "Tales of Earthsea" which is three (I think) Novellas and found it un-extraordinary and fairly boring. One of the short stories was all right. The other two were blah.

Wizard of Earthsea is, I think, the first, and I liked the plot but it did happen too much too fast. However, I didn't want a lot more detail on the world. I thought the universe was well wrought, so to speak.

 

[Aiwendil2]

There are two books I was forced to read for school that I really intensely hated. They are The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. I know people who like these books, but if you ask me, when faced with the prospect of reading them, suicide becomes a very attractive option.

 

[e.Blackstar]

I don't hate it, but right now I'm quite disliking The Da Vinci Code.

 

[Starbrow]

I didn't like The DaVinci Code at first either. But it got better as I read more of it. IMO, it doesn't live up to all the hype, though.

 

[e.Blackstar]

Yeah...I just read it yesterday, and the thing that pissed me off the most was that the touted super-geniuses were so incredibly stupid! I figured things out pages before them; even chapters, occasionally. Made me pretty mad.

Not to mention that since everything was so 'shrouded in legend', 2/3 of the book was exposition.

 

[Lindir]

I don't hate it, but right now I'm quite disliking The Da Vinci Code.

I didn't hate it either but it wasn't very good. The hero was extremely dull, the language was nothing special and the author had some strange ideas about Europe as a whole (e.g. French police operating in the U.K. without permission).
I also knew all about the mystery beforehand (Discovery Channel, years ago) which certainly didn't help, as it was the only really interesting thing about the book.

 

[Violanthe]

What specific criticisms do you folks have of the DaVinci Code?

 

[e.Blackstar]

Like I said, it was just poorly written. The characters, who were supposed to be super-geniuses, were light-years dumber than me, which made it frustrating when they couldn't figure out the obvious clues. Also, the whole book was a big myth based in reality, so everything had to be explained and re-explained, which comprised 75% of the book.

 

[Celebthôl]

Wizard of Earthsea is, I think, the first, and I liked the plot but it did happen too much too fast. However, I didn't want a lot more detail on the world. I thought the universe was well wrought, so to speak.

Agreed, however it seemed much to clichéd, although this might be because i've read lots of other fantasy books (or seen films) and know what to expect:
- Meet hero
- Hero comes of age
- Hero encounters worst being imaginable that has no weakness and is "impossible" to destroy
- Hero finds a way to destroy evil being
- The End

It was that exactly, even in that it was that basic to the letter.
If i had read it when it first came out, i'd probably have loved it, but alas it's been surpassed in detail and ideas in other newer books.
I LOVED the idea of its universe though, where if a spell is done then there is a reaction or something must change in the universe usually for the worse, e.g. if they change the weather to rainy where they are by magic then a place elsewhere in the world is effected by a drought. Or that food counjoured up in the middle of the sea won't effect you other than giving you taste (it won't fill you up) because it isn't made from anything tangable.

 

[Rhiannon]

Blech. Goodkind. Blch. I read the first five or six and then got tired of a series that was essentially all about him finding new ways to make his characters suffer.

Dickins. I've never finished a Charles Dickins. He bores me.

I didn't hate Wizard of Earthsea. I thought it was very dense writing and had a hard time getting through it, but I didn't hate it. It's on the reading list of the Modern Fantasy class, which I think (hope) is offered next year. It'd be interesting to discuss.

 

[Violanthe]

I read the first four of Goodkind and got sick of him. He just tried to do the same thing over and over again, rather than doing something new.

 

[Varokhâr]

I haven't read all that many books which really let me down, butThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made me want to stab my eyes out...

 

[Ithrynluin]

I haven't read all that many books which really let me down, butThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy made me want to stab my eyes out...

That's interesting. I don't think I've ever met someone who did not like this book, the majority of readers give it high praise. I myself have not read it. I tried getting into it a couple of times, but the first dozen or so pages did not manage to keep me interested.

 

[Varokhâr]

That's interesting. I don't think I've ever met someone who did not like this book, the majority of readers give it high praise. I myself have not read it. I tried getting into it a couple of times, but the first dozen or so pages did not manage to keep me interested.

That's pretty much exactly how it went for me. I tried a few chapters over a good three or four days, maybe a week, but just couldn't make myself like it. I've resolved never to touch the dreadful thing again

Also, I love the points Nietzsche made, but for some reason, trying to read anything he wrote is a very slow, ponderous task. Beyond Good and Evil is very interesting, but really like going to New York by way of China, if you follow me. He takes absolutely forever to make a single point about anything.

 

[Persephone]

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. But Rowling promised retribution for Umbridge, so I eagerly await that.

 

[Erurainon]

I have always hated factually inaccurate books, and this one (the most discrete way of mentioning it, Mr. Admin)

VIEW ON YOUR RESPONSIBILITY:
http://uncyclopedia.org/images/8/8e/BibleWarningLabel.jpg

And, yea, it does express a point of view. Warned you.

 

[Turgon]

What specific criticisms do you folks have of the DaVinci Code?

Hmm... The Da Vinci Code? I don't know why, but every page I read set me thinking what a fantastic book Eco's Foucault's Pendulum was. I think I managed to read around half of the Code and then decided to go back and read Eco again. Now that was a real consipracy!! It was like eating chocolate after a meal of burnt twigs...

 

[Barliman Butterbur]

Ever read a book that you absolutely hated? Or even one that you rather disliked? Which book was it? And why didn't you like it?[/

I hate anything in print or otherwise that promulgates hate.

EDIT 8-20-06: Come to think of it, I came pretty close to "hating" that pathetic book that Sean Astin wrote about LOTR, which was in actuality a paranoid monument to his ego and his disgusting obsession with himself and what people might think of him. I actually threw it away. I rarely throw books out.

Barley