# Books that deserve burning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404 "2003-01-09T00:32:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/1 "2003-01-09T00:32:05Z")
Okay, so I’ll readily agree that book burning is generally a bad thing. But, honest to God! Normally, when I don’t care for a book I’ve bought, I’ll take it down to the second-hand shop and at least get a couple of bucks back. But twice now, I’ve finished a book and just _loathed_ it so much that I physically destroyed the book rather than let another person go anywhere near the turkey. (I can’t name the books; I’ve finally managed to block the titles from my memory. But the authors were big names in their fields, so I could look them up if I wanted. I don’t want.) Anyone else with similar experiences? ---
**Author:** ![Lynster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Lynster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/2 "2003-01-09T00:42:51Z")
I agree that generally, burning not OK. Books I have personally destroyed? That guy who wrote Bridges of Madison County. I read ‘Slow Waltz at Cedar Bend’, or whatever that book was called. If it is indeed a ‘slow waltz’, how apt. So boring. So annoying. So pretensious. I threw the book in to the paper recycling. I found American Psycho really awful. I have read good things by the author, and yes, I know it’s a parody, or self aware, or whatever - but I just found many passages to be horrific. Couldn’t burn it though, it was a friend’s copy. If it was mine? yeah, I probably would have chucked it. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/3 "2003-01-09T00:44:08Z")
Nope. It’s weird but I’ve never really hated a book. In fact, I think the only book I ever quit reading after more than 10 pages was _Interview with a Vampire_. I didn’t really hate it, it just got boring and I was uninterested in the story and characters about halfway through. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/4 "2003-01-09T00:46:22Z")
What the hell, I’ll be the first…_Atlas Shrugged_, _The Fountainhead_, the _Left Behind_ series and the very worst book I’ve ever read…_The Sword of Shanara_. Burn them, burn them all! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/5 "2003-01-09T00:48:43Z")
The only spanking I ever recieved at the hands of my mother happened when I was four, and it was because I had ripped pages from a book. Since then, no matter how excreble I find a book, I cannot destroy it. I’m a voracious reader, and I don’t like libraries, because they want the books back, thus a sizable part of my income goes to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). I have learned the hard way that one cannot always depend on the customer reviews. I take the ones I dub a Waste of a Tree to the local used-book store, which is primarily stocked with Harlequin Romances from the late 80’s. No matter how bad the book I am selling, it can be no worse than what they carry in profusion. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/6 "2003-01-09T00:49:19Z")
Dammit, someone beat me to the _Left Behind_ books ☹ ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/7 "2003-01-09T00:51:22Z")
Lissa! You feel the same way I do about libraries!! ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/8 "2003-01-09T00:59:00Z")
Funny thing is, both of the books I destroyed were by authors whose other books I’ve enjoyed. Maybe that was part of it – an obscure sense of betrayal, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/9 "2003-01-09T01:01:12Z")
While I in no way endorse book burning, a Sidney Sheldon novel once almost made me start a little fire right there in my living room… Mercifully I have forgotten its title, but I hazard the guess that all of his novels probably are pretty similar. ---
**Author:** ![lukaspriest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5a626/32.png) [@lukaspriest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lukaspriest)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/10 "2003-01-09T01:10:20Z")
Mein Kampf (My Struggle), by Hitler ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/11 "2003-01-09T02:50:02Z")
I wanted to beat Thomas Harris and Ira Levin about their heads with hardback copies of _Hannibal_ and _Son of Rosemary_, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/12 "2003-01-09T02:59:56Z")
Anything EVER written by John Steinbeck… god if I ever wanted to commit suicide I’d read his collected works and die of despair ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/13 "2003-01-09T03:09:55Z")
Many years ago, closeout book stores were all the rage. Most of the time you could some great deals, sometimes not. I was in the fiction section one day and a book entitled The Building. I don’t recall the author. It was about a run down apartment building in New York. IIRC, there was very little in the way of proper punctuation. After about three chapters I had to put it down. This was probably one THE worst pieces of crap I had ever (tried to) read. I didn’t destroy it (SACRILEGE!), but I did drop it in a Goodwill box. Hopefully, someone bought and could enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![bobblehead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@bobblehead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobblehead)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/14 "2003-01-09T03:14:09Z")
Burning books is a SIN! ---
**Author:** ![firagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/13edae/32.png) [@firagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firagon)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/15 "2003-01-09T03:31:46Z")
Fahrenheit 451! Just kidding, I liked that book. But oh, the irony! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/16 "2003-01-09T03:50:36Z")
The complete works of L. Ron Hubbard. I’d buy them just so I could burn them, but that would involve giving my money to whoever owns the rights. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/17 "2003-01-09T03:57:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lukaspriest \* > \*\*Mein Kampf (My Struggle), by Hitler \*\* Mind if I ask why? Did you find it to be a particularly poor written or boring book, as the OP entails? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/18 "2003-01-09T03:59:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*The complete works of L. Ron Hubbard. I’d buy them just so I could burn them, but that would involve giving my money to whoever owns the rights. \*\* I must share my secret book shame: back in the 80’s, I bought the entire _Invader’s Plan_ in HARDBACK! I had no idea who Hubbard was. After numerous changes of address, I found these in a box. I had discovered what Hubbard was all about. This was the ONLY time I ever destroyed books and I hated myself for doing it spite of what I had found out. Believe me, if I had known, I would NEVER have even read the dust jacket. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/19 "2003-01-09T04:02:12Z")
“Suzanne’s Diary For Nicholas” nearly had me lunging for a matchbook. And like others of you, I revere books and can’t stand to see them thrown out! ---
**Author:** ![fiztig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f19dbf/32.png) [@fiztig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiztig)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404/20 "2003-01-09T04:06:35Z")
hmmm… how about _Crossroads of Twilight_, the latest installment in the interminable Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Actually, I take that back - I’d just burn half of it… and half of each of the previous two books - then I’d glue the remaining pages together to make one book that actually went somewhere. Now if only RJ or Harriet had done that we could have had a decent book that didn’t take **6** freaking years to develop some actual plot. _goes back to hammock, sniffing and braid-tugging along the way_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-deserve-burning/147404.md?page=2)