# Books or movies you feel bad about not having liked/gotten **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954 "2009-08-10T18:29:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/61 "2009-08-12T22:10:53Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > **Mad Men.** > > I tried watching it, but I found nothing admirable about any of the characters. They were all lying cheating dysfuctional twits. I know it’s a very well-written and well-regarded show, and I don’t know why it hasn’t clicked with me. Season 3 returns on Monday, so I may try to work my way through season 2 this weekend (On Demand cable TV) and see if I can figure out why everyone raves about this show so much. I felt that way about it, too. I wanted to like it–with Sopranos done, I wanted a replacement show that I could really get into. But for some reason, I just hated them all. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/62 "2009-08-12T22:17:59Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > They just seem like real authentic historical people to me - they never suffer from presentism at all. In that sense they’re much, much more well written than almost any actual historical novels I can think of. I don’t really care how authentic they are - all I know is that at some point, I realized that I didn’t care if a single one of them lived or died. They were all either morally disgusting (most of the adults), completely stupid (Sansa), or just hopelessly doomed (the other Stark kids). Also, I didn’t think it was particularly well written; it suffered from severe Robert Jordanism. Just my opinion, of course. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/63 "2009-08-12T23:49:04Z")
Look Me in The Eyes by John Elder Robison Okay I feel for the guy having Asperger’s long before it was a diagnosis and having shitty parents to boot, but God he is STILL a prentious arrogant dickhead. I was rather offended at his insistence that since he had Asperger’s he could act childish and didn’t have to learn people’s names instead calling them things like Unit One, Unit Two… Chuck Palahniuk, everyone describes him as hysterically funny but I just found the book stomach turning and boring. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/64 "2009-08-13T12:14:03Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Chuck Palahniuk, everyone describes him as hysterically funny but I just found the book stomach turning and boring. I’ve never read his books, but I feel like the only person who didn’t like the movie _Fight Club_. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/65 "2009-08-13T13:01:13Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > \ > Chuck Palahniuk, everyone describes him as hysterically funny but I just found the book stomach turning and boring. Which book? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/66 "2009-08-13T13:37:39Z")
> [@clutchthekid](#): > > someone already mentioned this but i detest the movies Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Requiem for a Dream … Most drug movies and books I have a hard time with. I never took any drugs - really, not even pot - so I don’t even have the vaguest frame of reference and it seems stupid for people to be fucking up their lives with drugs for a temporary high. Which makes it really hard to empathize with the characters. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/67 "2009-08-13T14:33:51Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I’m sure there are others, too. Oh. Passage to India. British people writing about India never sits well with me (and other Indians). And Zorba the Greek. Boring from the get-go. > > Seriously. From the description of Passage to India in Wiki: “Because the newcomers had expressed a desire to see Indians,” > > Cause we’re such freaky little things. I can read it dispassionately in other cases but it’s very hard to read when it’s your own grandfather’s time they were talking about. _Passage to India_ is _about_ British racism (among other things). Ironically enough, I read it because an Indian friend of mine recommended it. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/68 "2009-08-13T15:05:04Z")
I can’t see what the attraction is with Richard Brautigan. I’ve read “Troutfishing in America” and “In Watermelon Sugar.” They’re pleasantly clever, I guess, but aside from that I didn’t see much point. It seems like a lot of people draw inspiration from these books, but I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/69 "2009-08-13T15:34:51Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I > Seriously. From the description of Passage to India in Wiki: “Because the newcomers had expressed a desire to see Indians,” > > Cause we’re such freaky little things. I can read it dispassionately in other cases but it’s very hard to read when it’s your own grandfather’s time they were talking about. Speaking from complete ignorance, since I’ve not read the book, that Forster expression seems perfectly wonderful. It contains the implication you took from it, but also describes a completely understandable human desire that (essentially) anyone who has ever traveled has felt. If you travel to an exotic land you want to see the natives. I doesn’t matter who the natives are as long as they are somewhat different than yourself. Forster implied both meanings with economy in a pleasantly unemotional style. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954/70 "2009-08-13T15:41:50Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > I can’t see what the attraction is with Richard Brautigan. I’ve read “Troutfishing in America” and “In Watermelon Sugar.” They’re pleasantly clever, I guess, but aside from that I didn’t see much point. It seems like a lot of people draw inspiration from these books, but I don’t get it. My husband, who does not read for pleasure, owns all of the Brautigan books. I think they’re the only fiction he owns. When we were dating, he recommended them and I read them all…I don’t even remember what they were like, only that they didn’t do a thing for me and reading them was a chore. We had a similar experience with Frank Zappa. I am just not able to get it. I feel a little guilty about not liking Tolkien. I don’t mind reading about elves and wizards, I was a stoner, surely I can find _something_ worthwhile about these books? Apparently not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-or-movies-you-feel-bad-about-not-having-liked-gotten/505954.md?page=3)