Why do you hate your least favorite book?

75 Comments

So for those of you who read books, and have an all time novel that you despise with all your passion- why do you hate the novel that you hate? Is it because the plot is atrocious? The characters are unlikable? The main message was garbage? Or maybe you were indifferent to it until its fanbase began to drive you insane?

This could also apply to a movie if you want to say you're least favorite movie instead.

The plot 4
The characters 3
The plot and the characters 9
The theme 6
The plot/characters and the theme 4
Its fanbase got on my nerves 8
All of these reasons 22
None of these reasons 6
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Comments ( 75 )
  • Avant-Garde
    11 years ago

    This is going to be hard, since I tried to erase most of the crap books I've read out of my mind permanently...

    A few of them have been in the fantasy genre.

    One of them was a "hailed series among young people" and it was about dragons. The beginning of the book had a long irritating biography from the author, in which she was going on about she came from "a long line of story tellers" and blah blah! After reading that, I had gotten my hopes up that it was going to be great. The minute it started, the book was confusing as fuck! It was about some female who somehow comes upon a dragon egg, raises it and becomes a warrior?! Ugh, it was horrible! She'd be in one place one minute, but in the next she is somewhere completely different!!! There was no connection between here and there! The part about her "finding a abandoned dragon egg" is a lie! She somehow goes into a cave to hide from some male creatures despite knowing about the dangers. They go on and on about this until she finds a dragon's nest inside the bloody cave and then she literally debates about whether or not to steal the eggs while aware that the mother could come back at any time. So, this twit steals the egg and if I'm remembering this correctly, the mother dragon comes and chases the girl in the cave. Then somehow, the girl has escaped and the dragon is stuck in the cave and she runs off with the stolen dragon egg. I don't know what else happened because that was about where I stopped and I vowed never to read any of bullshit again!

    The Inheritance Cycle, by Christopher Paolini

    I first heard about the series from my friends in summer of '06. It seemed so existing and mysterious that I bought the second book and ordered the first on the spot. When I read the first two books I felt like he was a genius, but it wasn't until the wretched 3rd book when I realized that the series was nothing but plagiarized bullshit!!!! That series copies off of The Lord of the Rings, with names, places and concepts. The 3rd book was particularly disturbing and reminded me strangely of bdsm in certain bits...
    What curious elements to put in a teen novel....

    Twilight. I never read the book, but I have read a scene from it and it was horrible. That woman couldn't write herself out of a paper bag. The plot was completely lacking. The scene that my friends had me read had Bella, the moody twit, and Edward, the sparkly perv, in a dark and isolated area. The two were rambling about "sex" and Edward starts to come on to Bella. She starts to reciprocate his "advances" and he flips out at her. He suddenly turns into a abusive "homosexual". Stupid Bella is confused and tries to gain his forgiveness, but he continues with his abuse.... I remember it ending around there and my friends looking at me with a strange excitement on their faces. They didn't want me to read more, because they wanted me to buy the books! They demanded to know how I felt, so I lied and they sat there reminiscing about the aforementioned scene in complete ecstasy. They actually thought that was sexy...

    Hoot.

    I don't think I read it past the first page. The plot was boring and I remembering it having a strange opening.

    Shiloh.
    I hate the plot.

    A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeleine L'Engle
    These are by far the worst books in The Time Quintet! The plots were interesting at first, but then they became boring and too complex. She strangely thought it wise to Introduce the "Echthroi" and bring them and their bullshit back in the 3rd book! Their trickery and dramatic behaviours, and obsession with Charles Wallace got on my nerves! The In AWitD, the obsession with Charles Wallace and his god damn Mitochondria & Farandolae. Then Meg and her future Husband, Calvin, go on some pointless journey to a "realm" in "outer space" with Fortinbras, a blunt cherubim, Proginoskes and Principal Jenkins!!! They meet a rude Mitochondria only to find out that they must now go INSIDE the dying Charles Wallace's Fucking Mitochondria!!!! They get teleported inside him and they can't move or speak psychically. They can ONLY use their minds! Principle Jenkins nearly has a breakdown, but forget him because the rest are using their minds to "see" the organisms around them. The detail of this location is wonderful. However, the fucking Echthroi get in there and try to kill Charles Wallace's old mitochondria "tree" that EVERYTHING is depending on. and a weird battle ensues. They somehow defeat the Ecthroi with "love" and everything is saved. The third novel is wrought with the some of the same problems. My biggest peeve about these books is that she didn't bring back Miss Who, Miss Which and Miss Was. What on earth was she thinking?!

    I'm sure there are some other books, but I can't remember them right now.

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  • NoraBaker
    11 years ago | pl

    The Bible. First, it's too long. Then, the plot and characters are too confusing. And lastly, its fanbase got on my nerves. I hate it.

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    • NeuroNeptunian
      11 years ago

      The second I clicked on this, I knew someone was going to say it.

      Actually, the bible isn't a book, it is a compilation of books, which is why it is "too long". Because it's not one book.

      That said I liked the Bible (Job and Proverbs were great), but Leviticus and Deuteronomy suck and they cause problems (most of the anti-gay sentiment comes from those books).

      They were both written by assholes. And Moses did not live up to his covenants to God. I understand that he freed the Israelites from Egypt, but I wouldn't take the word of a man who was locked out of the promised land and removed from his leadership THAT seriously. He violated his covenants with the lord, and then wrote Leviticus. By the standards of the Mormon church (how the hell do they not realize this!?), he ceased to hold weight as a Prophet as he never renewed his covenants after he was stripped of leadership.

      And nobody even knows who the hell wrote Deuteronomy. So how can the church know that it was written by a true Prophet? Why give so much weight to a book written by an anonymous source?

      End rant.

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    • Baldy317
      11 years ago

      Haha. You beat me to the punch by almost 2 days.

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    • Avant-Garde
      11 years ago

      Seconded.

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  • Who_Fan4Life
    11 years ago

    I have a couple books that are just god-awful. Although I can't choose just one, however, the first that comes to mind is To Kill a Mockingbird.

    I don't know what it is about that book that makes me dread it the most. I highly dislike the characters, I don't like the plot at all and the fact that the book drags on is the icing on the cake for me. Sorry all you 'Mockingbird' fans out there, but that book is awful.

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  • NoraBaker
    11 years ago

    Actually, just to up the controversy a bit more... anything by James Joyce. I'm sure it's as brilliant as people say and I have tried. Repeatedly. I just hate it and I want so much to love it like I love Shaw, Wilde and Beckett.

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    • dappled
      11 years ago

      I missed this when you first posted it. I saw it earlier today, noted the trickery of you, and then kind of missed you in general. I wish you'd come back properly.

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      • NoraBaker
        11 years ago

        Hahaha. I can't believe you missed it back then! I had such a laugh doing it!! Actually, this post was all kinds of fun!

        I'd love to come back properly, especially to *this* IIN, where we all talk about books, films and nonsense and have flutterhigh, DeadGIrlsCan'tSayNo and TerryVie. And when half my comments are thumbed down but I just don't give a fuck. :D

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        • dappled
          11 years ago

          I don't always get notifications as they happen. Plus, if I get more than 15 when I sleep, I only see the first fifteen.

          It was a lot of fun back then, wasn't it? Gorillas, tigers, ghosts, cheesecakes, and - of course - Miss Avant-Garde, the fluttery one, and naughty TerryVie. I think the thumbing down problem is going away, you know. The person or persons doing it seem to have drifted away from IIN. Maybe kindergarten got started again.

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    • flutterhigh
      11 years ago

      Oh, you.

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    • Avant-Garde
      11 years ago

      I've decided to give him a try. His writing style is very interesting, but it's also rather confusing:/

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      • NoraBaker
        11 years ago

        Ava!!! I've missed you! You should repeat this comment of yours 3 comments up, to dappled, as I completely and integrally stole this one from him! Lol :D

        I have tried too many times and given up, but fully support your decision. It's a challenge. There actually are sections I have enjoyed, that I have read accompanied by a former boyfriend who was an intellectual of sorts, an actor, theater director and playwright and he made some of it actually quite interesting to me.

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        • dappled
          11 years ago

          Ava!!! I've missed you! You should repeat this comment of yours 3 comments up, to dappled, as I completely and integrally stole this one from him! Lol :D

          I have tried too many times and given up, but fully support your decision. It's a challenge. There actually are sections I have enjoyed, that I have read accompanied by a former boyfriend who was an intellectual of sorts, an actor, theater director and playwright and he made some of it actually quite interesting to me.

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  • dappled
    11 years ago

    Actually, just to up the controversy a bit more... anything by James Joyce. I'm sure it's as brilliant as people say and I have tried. Repeatedly. I just hate it and I want so much to love it like I love Shaw, Wilde and Beckett.

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    • NoraBaker
      11 years ago

      Shut up you... He-Me! hahahahahahahahaha

      I could have written that word for word. As a matter of fact, I'm going to. Watch me.

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  • NeuroNeptunian
    11 years ago

    I'm going to be the stereotypical asshole that says this, yes.

    So my Aunt asked me if I like Twilight. I told her that I saw the movie and I hated it. She told me not to decide that without reading the book, so I read the book.

    It took me six months!!! Every time I picked it up, I read a few chapters and I was bored to death! I thought it was a serious book but it read like a joke! It had to have been written at a 3rd grade reading level, it sounded like a 13 year old girl's fanfiction!

    And the turning point!? This Sparkly chicken-shit came and sat with Ms. Apathetic-Woe-Is-Me at lunch. That was the fucking turning point of the book, that's when it was supposed to get interesting. I can't even think of vulgarities to describe how ashamed I was to be reading it, how utterly insulted I felt as if my intelligence had been stabbed with an obsidian-tipped blade!!!

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      Weirdly enough, I found the movie a lot more entertaining than the book... for whatever reason.

      And if you think Twilight is bad, try Breaking Dawn. I don't think the books are the worst things I ever read, but god, Breaking Dawn...

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    • RomeoDeMontague
      10 years ago

      You should look up "The chronicles of Vladimir Todd" Those are even more boring and I actually took the time to read them all.

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    So, one time I was moving houses and all my books are packed up. The boys had a vehicle problem and I got stuck waiting for them for 6 hours with nothing but my roommates' shit around me.

    yes, I've read Twilight! *gasp*. Never in my life I've laid my hands on a worse piece of ... sorry, I can't call it literature.

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    • sassafrassi
      11 years ago

      The Black Dagger Brotherhood might be the worst vampire series Ive ever seen, and book for that matter. In what universe do 100 year old vampires say, "Sup", "man", and "hot stuff?" Why do the characters all have the most ridiculous, cheesy names ever to come into existence? E.g. Rhage, Zsadist, Wrath, Phury. If it has any ounce of a good story in it I can't see.

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        hahahah, Oh God... You actually managed to find something more atrocious! I have to look it up and sacrifice a bunch of brain cells reading about ..Zsadist (o_O?), YO!

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        • sassafrassi
          11 years ago

          It actually might be worth the laugh. Hahaha. Then again, you may become invested in the story (or dialogue should I say) enough to want to continue the fun.

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        That made me howl with laughter. I almost want to read these now because they sound just awful enough to have circumnavigated all the way back round to being sort of good (in a laughable way).

        Hot stuff. Jeez!

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        • sassafrassi
          11 years ago

          I haven't read the entire first book so I can't say, but the reviews have said (in a nutshell) what you have. Though keep in mind it's a YA book. X))

          I think what I have to do is start the book over and begin with a fresh mindset of what I'm getting into. Then maybe I can sit back and lmfao instead of aching for the suffering to stop. XD

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  • flutterhigh
    11 years ago

    I got maybe ten pages into The Fountainhead before I decided I had better things to do, like contract Malaria or surprise a gorilla. What a joke.

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  • ThatCreepyWhiteGuy
    10 years ago

    The Bible, it sets me on fire.

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  • ThatCreepyWhiteGuy
    10 years ago

    I HATE ALL BOOKS! THERE ALL BORING!

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    • ThatCreepyWhiteGuy
      10 years ago

      Please disregard this comment, it was written by my retarded personality.

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  • anti-hero
    11 years ago

    Catcher in the Rye, the fan base.

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  • zackattack
    11 years ago

    Old Man in the Sea is so boring. What's the story? Only on e character in it, and he's not interesting.

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  • FrancoisDillinger
    11 years ago

    The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

    I thought it was bland, common sense and didn't really teach the reader much.

    I threw it at the wall.

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    • dappled
      11 years ago

      This amused me quite a lot.

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  • LizardSkin
    11 years ago

    Because I've never read it but it keeps begging me.

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  • [email protected]
    11 years ago

    Too boring/long to read

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  • Captain_Kegstand
    11 years ago

    I honestly cannot come up with one off the top of my head. If I am not drawn in by a book, I usually stop reading it fairly quickly and move on to the next!

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  • Darkoil
    11 years ago

    The first book that came to mind, I can't remember what it was called but I thought it was going to be like a Dan Brown or James Becker type novel and instead it was like something a hyper testosterone teenager wrote, I only managed the first chapter and I'm sure my IQ dropped a few points. I didn't enjoy 50 shades of grey as the grammar was atrocious, the author should be ashamed of herself for writing such piss poor garbage. I really didn't enjoy eclipse or breaking dawn either, I just didn't like the direction the story went in, especially breaking dawn which just came across as religious propoganda, seriously believe in whatever you want but don't try and force it down everybodies throats.

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  • Corleone
    11 years ago

    The writing style.

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  • FocoUS
    11 years ago

    There are a million terrible books. It's so easy to read two chapters say "I hate this" put it down and never think about it again. But then the fan base will constantly remind you it exists...

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    germaine greer's "daddy i never knew you" full of bitterness and false pride, the scathing tone of her voice is something else, it was funny for this reason, i laughed all thru this tale of woe. the worst movie i saw was "ned kelly" with heath ledger, the sets and the thin script was awful. twilight was a bore a minute as well

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  • TerryVie
    11 years ago

    actually none of the reasons listed.

    I absolutely despise some books for the way they are written.

    Theme, plot, characters can all be decent.
    If the writing(or translation sucks), that won't save it.

    And i am not just talking about BAD writing, actually what i had in mind was another book. The english title is "Gantenbein" or "A Wilderness of Mirrors", and i have no idea if the translation is any more accessible.

    It's written complicated and elaborate in a non-good way. Not like Stanislaw Lems "Solaris" which also has complicated and elaborate parts(but which i greatly enjoyed), but rather in an assuming and back-referencing way.

    I know it counts as a "classic" and assumedly is a great work of literature, but i still found it nigh unreadable.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago

      DAMNMIT! I can't believe I forgot that option -.-

      If only I could go back and edit the poll and include writing as an option...

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      • RomeoDeMontague
        10 years ago

        First off I really think you could have worded this better. The way it was asked just sounded awkward. Anyways I will now answer your question. Harry potter! I despise this book. Who takes 7 bloody pages describing the fact he is eating an ice cream cone. Its like "Yes we get it. he has an ice cream MOVE ON PLEASE".

        Harry potter has the same issue that the AVATAR(blue monkey) movie had. The movie and scenes finished early but they still wanted to drag it out.

        Reading this book is awful for the fact they take so long to explain everything. I understand in some novels they sometimes do this to stretch out a book. Though with harry potter it seemed very extensive. The Harry potter books are even considered long by Novel standards. So they could probably be trimmed down a bit.

        They made us read Harry potter in school. If you take 7-10 pages to explain something that was already established in five. You are going to leave your audience snoring.

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      • TerryVie
        11 years ago

        hey, thats why we can comment ^_^
        i also often end up with a *facepalm* when i realize i overlooked or forgot something "obvious" *shrug* no biggie as long as one of the options allows coverage, and "None of these reasons" is as good as an "other"-button...

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    • dappled
      11 years ago

      I'm glad you mentioned Solaris. I can imagine people having a problem with it. I bought it after seeing the film (the Russian original, although I've since seen the remake too) and I was so impressed by Lem's writing, I did something I don't often do. I bought everything he's ever written. I don't find him easy to read, but I do really enjoy his stuff.

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      • TerryVie
        11 years ago

        yeah, i had it borrowed from a friend by recommendation, and after reading it, i inmediately bought it, and 2 more books by him.

        But thats why i wanted to mention him, i gladly enjoy even things that are "not easy to read", but "Gantenbein"...nah.

        Also, you reminded me, i've never actually seen the movie, after hearing it didn't turn out that well.

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        • dappled
          11 years ago

          The American one was okay-ish but it didn't feel like the book. The Russian one doesn't feel exactly like the book either but it is undeniably beautiful and really well-shot. If you liked 2001: A Space Odyssey (which I very, very much do), I'm guessing you'd like this. The American one is mainly about Chris and his wife. The Russian one is more about the wider relationships. Neither of them really touch on the philosophy in the book. There's a third film too, made for TV, but I've never been able to track it down. :/

          I'd probably struggle with Gantenbein. I often do with books written in German (which is strange because I speak a Germanic language). I found Das Glasperlenspiel pretty heavy going, despite having high hopes for it. :/

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  • dappled
    11 years ago

    BOOK: I'm not going to pick the worst of the worst, but the ones that are classics and yet I hate; "Dead Souls", by Nikolai Gogol. "Focault's Pendulum", by Umberto Eco. "Ethics", by Spinoza. "The Handmaid's Tale", by Margaret Atwood. "The Drowned World", by J. G. Ballard. Cold, unexciting, impenetrable, unfulfilling, tedious. I couldn't bring myself to care.

    FILM: True Romance. The Wild Bunch. The Usual Suspects. American Beauty. Aliens. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Four Rooms. I should technically like them all. Some of my favourite genres, directors and actors. But I hate every single one of those for no reason other than that they're lost on me. And it's disappointing. How can a David Lynch movie be lost on me? I LOVE David Lynch. I thought I understood.

    The truth is probably that every title I've mentioned has something I don't understand because I'm not yet clever enough. But naturally I'm going to blame the book/movie rather than my ignorance. ;)

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    • NoraBaker
      11 years ago

      Yes, Daps, Ethics is a very boring novel by Spinoza. Ha. I have to agree on Eco's Pendulum, though. One of my favorite people said it was his favorite that I *had to* read it, so I did, I conquered it. Fuck. I am a fan of his, especially his semiotics texts, but this did not sit well with Nora. ;)

      Now, what's wrong with you??? American Beauty and Twin Peaks?? :P

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      • [Old Memory]
        11 years ago

        I know, I had to mention Twin Peaks to dappled too. lol

        But, actually, I'm not a huge fan of American Beauty. It's massively overrated, imho.. but maybe it's just me.

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      • flutterhigh
        11 years ago

        Why do you guys hate Spinoza?

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        • NoraBaker
          11 years ago

          I don't really, I was just making fun of him for calling it a novel.

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          • flutterhigh
            11 years ago

            You cad. Well it sets my high heart aflutter that people read philosophy.

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          • dappled
            11 years ago

            I wondered what you were getting at. :P Book, Nora, book. I know I put it in with novels but they're all still books, you hater! Grr!

            I wish I'd have put the Yellow Pages in there too. :P

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            • TerryVie
              11 years ago

              yeah, the phone book!

              how was that not mentioned yet!

              it's awful, WAY too many characters and the plot is basically nonexistant.

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        • dappled
          11 years ago

          Because I should be able to understand it, and can't. I was very excited when it arrived and then it was like old Baruch kicked me in the bollocks when I read it.

          Same with the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus of Wittgenstein. My brain just doesn't understand this stuff well.

          Spinoza particularly disappointed me because of the mathematical reputation. I was expecting a revelation.

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          • NoraBaker
            11 years ago

            But you *had* the revelation! You should be able to understand, but, oh well, too bad! you can't! And you'll be cursed, you shall embarrass yourself and call it a novel so NoraBaker can make fun of you! There! Prophecy fulfilled! Next! :P

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            • dappled
              11 years ago

              Does your prophecy also include the bit where, seeking retribution but lacking the required intellectual capacity, dappled reverts to tigerhood and bites you on the b.d.p.? :P

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          • flutterhigh
            11 years ago

            Oh, you should give Witty another chance. He's great.

            I've made it a habit of reading a summary of a text by a leading scholar before reading the work itself - it helps a lot, and doesn't make me feel as guilty as I thought it would at first. Even Wikipedia or the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy will do, just to get a starting point.

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            • NoraBaker
              11 years ago

              You know I do the same, and in my semiotics days I had to do it. In this case in particular I found it completely useless at the time because as much as the originals were difficult, the scholars, most of the time, were worse! Haha. In philosophy though, there's so much available to make it accessible. And times have changed, I'm talking way back when.

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            • dappled
              11 years ago

              It's still on my bookshelf so I may dip in again. I don't have any formal (or informal) education in philosophy and I treat it like I treat most things; come at it blank and try to decipher it myself.

              Maybe getting a starting point is no bad thing. After all, the ultimate aim is to understand it (not to prove to myself how wondrously clever I am).

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        Reading Focault's Pendulum felt like eating glass. It was painful and I forced myself into finishing it just so I could set fire to it, knowing I'd seen every word and didn't have a reason to ever pick it up again. Dry, wordy, discontinuous, and full of academic "jokes". It was a thesis, not a book, and not even a very good one. And that thing with the laundry list? I was convinced Eco was saying, "Wee! I can just write shit now and people still see pearls".

        American Beauty angered me almost as much. Mid-life crisis, homophobe father, some other people have problems and a fatuous wankstain makes a film about a carrier bag being beautiful. It's like someone saw some litter one day and thought, "Okay, trash dancing is great. That's 15 seconds of a movie right there. Now how can I pad out the other ninety minutes? Oh, I know. A few stereotypes. What next? A message? Oh, okay. Hmm... litter is great when it's windy. Wow. I'm such a genius. My next film should be about a used condom in a sewer".

        And Fire Walk With Me? What was the point? Twin Peaks as a series was pretty much perfect. There is so much of David Lynch in there, so much twisted genius. But the film was a bitter, bitter pill. Perhaps it was a vanity project to give Laura Palmer more screen-time (and look pink, instead of blue). Either way, I hated it. It puts a taint on Twin Peaks.

        P.S. Thank you for giving me the chance to rant. I need a good rant now and again. :)

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago

      YES. I'm so glad somebody else hates American Beauty. I just hate the main character so much. I feel like I'm supposed to sympathise with him (or at least feel bad for him), but through the whole movie, I could just hear the world's tiniest violin playing. Nothing about that movie is deep or profound. I hate it so much. SO MUCH.

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        I'd forgotten about how unsympathetic I found Kevin Spacey's character (he's an actor I very much admire and I can only believe he played it the way it was intended to be played).

        What annoyed me most is how profound it either thought it was (or pretended to be, I can't work out which). I enjoy films which know they are mindless and only seek to entertain, and I enjoy the films that are so layered, you are still thinking about them years later. But American Beauty? Grrr!

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    • howaminotmyself
      11 years ago

      I never got through Focault's Pendalum. The last time I tried to read it someone on the bus saw me and told me all about how much he hated it, but forced himself to read it. It's as if Mr. Eco wanted to torture his readers by intentionally confusing us.

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        I think it's a joke for professors. I'm sure I'm not getting it and that there is some brilliance in there somewhere but, to me, it's just tortuous. And I don't usually suffer this. I'll read the drier bits of Kafka and still be nowhere like as turned off as I was at this detestable book.

        In fact, thinking of Kafka in comparison to this book makes me realise how much I appreciate Kafka.

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    • [Old Memory]
      11 years ago

      Oh, man... Dead Souls and Twin Peaks hurt me..:/ Gogol is a sort of am aquired taste. And I'm a fan of Lynch as well, and especially anything to do with Twin Peaks. Well, I guess it's a matter of opinion.

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      • dappled
        11 years ago

        It was just the film that annoyed me. The TV series is one of the most super-marvy things ever created. :)

        And Gogol annoyed me because I wanted to like him so much. There are things in Russian literature that just don't translate (like the head-turning in Chekhov). Things that are more to do with Russian society. In-jokes. I'm aware of some of them but nowhere near savvy enough. I think my disappointment with Gogol was disappointment in myself that I wasn't getting it. Same with Spinoza actually. I just don't think I'm clever enough yet. Although I was very young when I read both. I should maybe try again as an adult.

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