So everyone always talks about their favourite books...what about your least favourites? The books which made you want to tear your hair out with rage? The books you couldn't even make it beyond the first few chapters? The books which you wished you could burn just to save others from the same literary torture?

The worst book I've ever read is 'Dorian' by Will Self, a modernisation of the classic 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. I wrote a 4000 word dissertation for English in high school about vanity and hubris in literature, and I attempted to read this to compare it to the original, and I just had to stop and get rid of it after the first few chapters. Take Dorian Gray and completely warp it so it's basically all gay, herion-fuelled orgies in warehouses, with tales of hook-ups and bad trips in broken English, and instead of a painting, it's a video installation, and you'll have the basic elements of this God-awful novel.

I shudder even thinking about it.

Ha ha The Prince was the worst. I fell asleep in the first line. NEVER had that happen before.

I've never heard of The Prince, but I've just done a quick "look inside" on Amazon, and I can understand you you fell asleep. It does look dull as dishwater. 

The worst book I've ever read, huh... Well, I don't wanna give the title, since:
1) it's in Polish anyway
2) the author is a terribly vain and not quite mentally sound woman who googles herself all of the time and I wouldn't want her to stumble across this thread!

Basically, it was a book about a vet who gets a small house in the countryside. She has an evil mother and an evil coworker who's in love with her and in general, everybody who hates her is evil (and jealous or wanting to sleep with her) and anybody who likes her is good. The main character is terribly stupid and selfish but we're supposed to like her and empathise with her. There is a rape attempt (she lets the guy go and it's kinda never mentioned again), animal abuse presented as a funny thing (she works in a zoo but most of the time doesn't know what's wrong with the sick animals, so she prescribes them random pills) and the main character is an obvious self-insert.
The woman who wrote it actually has a fanbase... Not a huge one, but still.

Oh dear. I have to answer this question with a modern one... DIVERGENT.

I'm sorry if anyone on here likes it, as I fully get the attraction of reading easy books sometimes. But I had this book recommended to me by friends and by Goodreads, and it was just horrendous. Thin and predictable plot (hint: at the end, someone becomes DIVERGENT!), irritating main character, basically a flat approach to a Hunger Games-style YA novel without any originality to it.

Sometimes YA can be well-written (like the Lunar Chronicles, sci fi re-tellings of fairy tales) but Divergent certainly isn't. Can't believe I read the whole thing... sigh.

Do you finish bad books?

Much as it pains me to admit it, I don't tend to finish bad books. I wish I could as I hate giving up too soon, but I think persevering when you can't see it getting any better is just wasting valuable time you could be spending on reading something better.

Machiavelli for me too, Bunny! I hated The Prince but had to finish it anyhow---threw it across the room quite a few times! It was literally a list of duties for a Prince---makes Sterling North look like a rock-star! It goes down in history as the worst book I ever read!

cinderr (03:50pm Mon, Aug  5, 2013)

Machiavelli for me too, Bunny! I hated The Prince but had to finish it anyhow---threw it across the room quite a few times! It was literally a list of duties for a Prince---makes Sterling North look like a rock-star! It goes down in history as the worst book I ever read!

I still to this day have no grasp on what the book is actually about ha ha. Glad you had more endurance and strength than me!

cinderr (03:50pm Mon, Aug  5, 2013)

Machiavelli for me too, Bunny! I hated The Prince but had to finish it anyhow---threw it across the room quite a few times! It was literally a list of duties for a Prince---makes Sterling North look like a rock-star! It goes down in history as the worst book I ever read!

Well... Yeah. It's not supposed to be a novel. It's an essay on how to rule the country and what a good prince should be like.
I'm not saying it's terribly interesting, but it's definitely not the worst book I've read. It's a solid, well written essay that's quite informative and it's a classic - not without reason.

I would guess it is a well written book ---why else would it be foisted on every high school English student across America?
If you were  heir to a throne, during medieval times, it might come in handy. Any self respecting heir apparent would already know his stuff, in my opinion! But maybe at the time, there was a need for such a book.
What book would you say is duller/worse? Did you finish The Prince? Was it required or merely interesting to you? Just curious.

cinderr (10:07pm Tue, Aug  6, 2013)

I would guess it is a well written book ---why else would it be foisted on every high school English student across America?
If you were  heir to a throne, during medieval times, it might come in handy. Any self respecting heir apparent would already know his stuff, in my opinion! But maybe at the time, there was a need for such a book.
What book would you say is duller/worse? Did you finish The Prince? Was it required or merely interesting to you? Just curious.

Well, I think it's relatively well-written. It wasn't very interesting to me, but I think it's a priceless resource for big history/politics/anthropology nerds. I don't really remember why I've read it, to be honest, but yes, I've finished it. I do believe it's an important book that provides us with a perspective on the XVI century Europe and what was expected of the rulers.
This book wasn't written during medieval times, it's a bit younger than that And heirs were rarely well-educated and knowing what they are doing. They were more likely to be arrogant, depraved, constantly drunk and only caring about themselves. They could surely use this book... Too bad the majority of them had probably never read it.
I think there is a lot of way worse books out there. There's a lot of terrible fiction being published and currently self-publishing makes it even easier for bad writers to publish their books. I try to avoid reading bad books most of the time, but earlier in this thread I've made a post on one particularly terrible one I've read some time ago.

True;lots of bad fiction books. Shades of Grey, prime example. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is another I particularly disliked. No problem with graphic sex per se but violence disguised as sex is something I am not interested in.
How did we/I get from The Prince to Shades? Darned if I know.

cinderr (08:42pm Wed, Aug  7, 2013)

True;lots of bad fiction books. Shades of Grey, prime example. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is another I particularly disliked. No problem with graphic sex per se but violence disguised as sex is something I am not interested in.
How did we/I get from The Prince to Shades? Darned if I know.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a pretty huge and diverse fan base. And has been made into a movie twice. Actually I have to say I enjoyed the entire trilogy. I thought the books were good reads. And I liked the films too.
I recognize the element of sexual violence and the dark in the books but I don't think they were just disguised porn.
Ryder13

It is a toss up between Silas Marner and Moby Dick. I absolutely hated them. Also, my freshman English teacher made us read a Victoria Holt nove. Truly dreadful.

Lorigh (01:08pm Sun, Sep  1, 2013)

It is a toss up between Silas Marner and Moby Dick. I absolutely hated them. Also, my freshman English teacher made us read a Victoria Holt nove. Truly dreadful.

Lorigh! Moby Dick?? Really? I think it is among the best of the classic novels. Dynamic characters, interesting plot. And various levels that the work can be dealt with. Have to seriously disagree with that choice. Never Read Silas Marner and not on the 'to read' list either.
I do admit that the book is long and some of the background info on ships and whaling might not be  exactly riveting.
And it has one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature. Maybe the most famous.
Ryder13

Ryder13 (08:16pm Sun, Sep  1, 2013)

Lorigh (01:08pm Sun, Sep  1, 2013)

It is a toss up between Silas Marner and Moby Dick. I absolutely hated them. Also, my freshman English teacher made us read a Victoria Holt nove. Truly dreadful.

Lorigh! Moby Dick?? Really? I think it is among the best of the classic novels. Dynamic characters, interesting plot. And various levels that the work can be dealt with. Have to seriously disagree with that choice. Never Read Silas Marner and not on the 'to read' list either.
I do admit that the book is long and some of the background info on ships and whaling might not be  exactly riveting.
And it has one of the most famous opening lines in all of literature. Maybe the most famous.
Ryder13

Sorry Ryder...I really hated that book. I know, I know...classic...opening line....blah blah blah. I just couldn't get into it.

Silas Marner used to be a required read...it's about a linen weaver...by George Eliot. Horrible. Funny, because it covers many of the themes from Les Misrable, but Hugo's book, while long, is soooo much better.

Interesting topic but surprising, at least to me, two of the books
named here, Moby Dick and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are IMHO
great reads. I also had a fair regard for The Prince, which was sort of
a Politics as hardball early political science book.
But wow Girl and Moby Dick. Geez I thought both were great.
Oh well.
Ryder13

Ryder13 (11:54pm Tue, Sep  3, 2013)

Interesting topic but surprising, at least to me, two of the books
named here, Moby Dick and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are IMHO
great reads. I also had a fair regard for The Prince, which was sort of
a Politics as hardball early political science book.
But wow Girl and Moby Dick. Geez I thought both were great.
Oh well.
Ryder13

I loved the whole millenium series by Larsen!

Doodle (05:58pm Tue, Aug  6, 2013)

Well... Yeah. It's not supposed to be a novel. It's an essay on how to rule the country and what a good prince should be like.
I'm not saying it's terribly interesting, but it's definitely not the worst book I've read. It's a solid, well written essay that's quite informative and it's a classic - not without reason.

Canterbury Tales was a poem, not a novel/book, but they're still just as freaking long as one.

If I were a prince I would never ever read that book. Ever.



I love how we all hate something someone else liked or found completely astonishing to discover someone didn't like it! Makes for good debate!

I'm very picky when comes to books, which I usually read books that I really like. I always review or read the summery before I buy the book, which I much prefer buying books that are written by my favorite authors. I would say "A Christmas Carol" is my leave favorite book because I read that when I was in high school. I remember I have to read it for my English class, which I didn't like the book much.

Hard to answer, because most books I haven't liked I haven't finished and haven't bothered to remember the name of. But one book I do remember not liking was Lorna Doone and this was at a time where I was devouring books by the Bronte sisters and Gone with the Wind.

Haffina (12:13pm Fri, Nov  8, 2013)

Hard to answer, because most books I haven't liked I haven't finished and haven't bothered to remember the name of. But one book I do remember not liking was Lorna Doone and this was at a time where I was devouring books by the Bronte sisters and Gone with the Wind.

I like reading books written by the Bronte sisters. I believe Withering Heights is written by one of them.

My wife asked me to read the Twilight series once.  I got through half the first book before I couldn't take it anymore.  It was just horrible.

I'm debating whether Game of Thrones is in this category as well.  I'm not sure if the writing on the HBO series is just so much better, or the book is just that bad.  I think the characterizations in the show are much better (i.e. Theon is a jerk on the show, but he's downright a sadist from the beginning of the books).

Reading the first ten pages of a book or novel is enough for me whether to put down or discontinue my reading. I don't remember putting down a  book because it is worst or what, i pick a book first because it might have some insightful information in it, so between fiction and non-fiction, i choose the later and i shun books that delve on horror topics or satanic spiritism.

I agree with daedalus - The Twilight 'Saga' books are the worst-published books ever written. I've written four blogs on the subject and broken the books down into detail as to WHY they are so addictive to read as a book or watch as a movie. It's maddening how a 'professional' publisher managed to publish such a piece of garbage that has affected the hearts and minds of little girls so deeply. I honestly believe that someone should be sued over it - it is that blatantly-badly written then somehow published and produced into movies. I mean, people can SEE how badly-written they are - it's not like it's something Stephenie Meyer nor her publishers can HIDE now. If you do a search on 'explaintwilightbreakingdawnending' on blogspot - you'll find me easily enough if you want to read all about it.

Twilight.  My wife convinced me to read it.  I wanted to splash it with holy water and light it on fire.

I almost forgot that I read about 3/4 of Fifty Shades of Grey before burning it (not really that last part). It might be the worst book I've ever read. There is a good chance.

I have trouble with this question because if a book is bad I don't finish it and delete it from my brain.

I have to add that I really like Will Self's books. He used to be one of my favorite authors. 
I've never read Dorian. I lost track of him at some point. Now I'm kind of tempted to grab it to see if I hate it.

Kojazo (03:20pm Fri, Jul 26, 2013)

Oh dear. I have to answer this question with a modern one... DIVERGENT.

I'm sorry if anyone on here likes it, as I fully get the attraction of reading easy books sometimes. But I had this book recommended to me by friends and by Goodreads, and it was just horrendous. Thin and predictable plot (hint: at the end, someone becomes DIVERGENT!), irritating main character, basically a flat approach to a Hunger Games-style YA novel without any originality to it.

Sometimes YA can be well-written (like the Lunar Chronicles, sci fi re-tellings of fairy tales) but Divergent certainly isn't. Can't believe I read the whole thing... sigh.

Do you finish bad books?

One I've actually read! This was recommended to me by a friend, and I thought it was okay. I mean, it was nothing life changing and I wouldn't be taking the book everywhere and reading it until it fell apart, that's for sure.

Yeah, it definitely seemed to be trying to be the Hunger Games for younger kids. The romance parts were ridiculous and so were the "revenge" parts, or those who were supposed to be our villains. So unbelievable. 

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Post Merge: 09:16am Wed, Feb 19, 2014

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daedalus (12:15am Tue, Dec  3, 2013)

My wife asked me to read the Twilight series once.  I got through half the first book before I couldn't take it anymore.  It was just horrible.

I'm debating whether Game of Thrones is in this category as well.  I'm not sure if the writing on the HBO series is just so much better, or the book is just that bad.  I think the characterizations in the show are much better (i.e. Theon is a jerk on the show, but he's downright a sadist from the beginning of the books).

The GoT books are bad? People rave about them all the time, and also the TV series. I never quite understood it, but it would probably hook me if I bothered to watch it. I would've thought the books were of decent quality, though. Or is it just a way for people to read eortica and play it off as an "amazing, life changing novel that everyone should read"? And obviously the Twilight series sucks. I don't think many writers like that drivel. It's the scorn of my life. I like watching Alex read it, though, if you haven't seen this already, it's hilarious.

Most of you may disagree with me but the worst book I've ever read is "The Dark Tower" series by Stephen King. Not only is the story too long and feels like it was inspired by the Lord Of The Rings but after the long wait, the story has one of the worst endings ever. If King wanted to emulate what Tolkien did with LOTR, he failed miserably.

Maybe Stephen King isn't that good at writing good endings?

In high school I was forced to read Farewell to Arms, which made me really hate Ernest Hemmingway. I thought each scene was such a dry, drawn-out torture to read, and the dialogue wasn't authentic or interesting in any way, and in many cases, didn't move the plot along at all.

Later in life I was recommended by a "friend" to read Eragon, the dragon story that was also turned into a movie, and as I later found out, the young author went on to continue the story as a series, although I have no idea how. Again, I am a big fan of good dialogue, so when the characters just don't seem genuine or realistic in the way they talk to each other, I lose interest. I also thought the plot was confusing, and even for a fantasy, unrealistic. I kept asking myself, "Why is this character doing this?" "That character wouldn't act that way!" Like Hemmingway, I found this author going on and on to describe something that ultimately didn't matter, and spent too little time on characters and setting that could have really drawn me into the book.

I was so unhappy with it I abandoned it part-way through, and I'm actually trying to sell the book just to get it out of my apartment because I know I'll never pick it up again, not with so many other quality books I'd rather be reading.

I would have to say my worst book was Blueprint for survival. It was just totally boring and made me fall asleep. My dad made me read it and even today I have no idea why, lol

TWILIGHT!!! Without a doubt ! Though I never got past the first few chapters of the first book! It was enough to know that the writing was horrible and the story was not enticing at all!
After that, WICKED comes a close second. It was such a jumbled up take full of strange, perverse characters that I could not follow the story.

daedalus (11:32pm Sun, Dec 15, 2013)

Twilight.  My wife convinced me to read it.  I wanted to splash it with holy water and light it on fire.

What made it so terrible?

Sofieb529 (09:43pm Sat, Feb 22, 2014)

TWILIGHT!!! Without a doubt ! Though I never got past the first few chapters of the first book! It was enough to know that the writing was horrible and the story was not enticing at all!
After that, WICKED comes a close second. It was such a jumbled up take full of strange, perverse characters that I could not follow the story.

Why do you hate Twilight too?


And Wicked was freaking awesome. I love his books. I read all of them way before they got famous .

Wild Animus by Rich Shapero. The ultimate self-indulgent self-publisher. If anyone ever bought a copy of this book, they were a muggins. The author bought a publishing house to produce this - and its many handsome editions including audiobook, soundtrack music, boxed set - and then hired people to give it away. As "Advance Reading Copies" at publishers fairs, on street corners at universities, through a joint effort with BookCrossing.com, where books were posted around the world for free.

The book itself concerns a student who takes a LOT of drugs, hooks up with a woman who works to support him while he explores the dim recesses of his fantasies of being a sheep, and then goes off for a hike in the Alaskan wilderness where he dies.

But you don't need to stick around to learn how it ends, that's given away on the first page. The book is turgid and horrible to begin with. But then it gets worse. The poetry is sub-Vogon. I read the first chapter and then found myself flipping pages to pick up the narrative and then whole chapters went past with no discernible plot.

Just tracts of maundering.

The odd thing is that on Amazon, it is almost uniformly hated by reviewers. Except for a handful of five star reviews early on. Guess who wrote those, eh?

Anybody else ever meet this book?

--Peter

Skyring (01:33am Fri, Feb 28, 2014)

Wild Animus by Rich Shapero. The ultimate self-indulgent self-publisher. If anyone ever bought a copy of this book, they were a muggins. The author bought a publishing house to produce this - and its many handsome editions including audiobook, soundtrack music, boxed set - and then hired people to give it away. As "Advance Reading Copies" at publishers fairs, on street corners at universities, through a joint effort with BookCrossing.com, where books were posted around the world for free.

The book itself concerns a student who takes a LOT of drugs, hooks up with a woman who works to support him while he explores the dim recesses of his fantasies of being a sheep, and then goes off for a hike in the Alaskan wilderness where he dies.

But you don't need to stick around to learn how it ends, that's given away on the first page. The book is turgid and horrible to begin with. But then it gets worse. The poetry is sub-Vogon. I read the first chapter and then found myself flipping pages to pick up the narrative and then whole chapters went past with no discernible plot.

Just tracts of maundering.

The odd thing is that on Amazon, it is almost uniformly hated by reviewers. Except for a handful of five star reviews early on. Guess who wrote those, eh?

Anybody else ever meet this book?

--Peter

Wooooow. That's really interesting, I haven't heard of this! That's like a book conspiracy. People with money can put their regurgitated word swill on a page and publish it, but those who work really hard at their craft can't get anywhere. It's an absolute nightmare sometimes.

I had a look at it on amazon, and the cover is actually alright. I wonder who he hired to do that for him.

FenAlpha (10:06am Fri, Feb 28, 2014)

I had a look at it on amazon, and the cover is actually alright. I wonder who he hired to do that for him.

Oh, the guy has a tonne of money. Everything is of the highest quality. Except the writing. Did you check out some of the reviews? Hilarious!

The interesting part is that he says he didn't do it to please everyone. He did it to maybe make one person in a thousand think outside the square.

Oddly enough, that's about the proportion of folk who like the book. For everyone else, it's landfill.

--Pete