# Disapprove of a book list-Don't read these! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132 "2013-04-19T13:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/81 "2013-04-20T16:36:05Z")
Two books I had to read for college: **The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man** by James Joyce is the most boring, whiney, and pretentious thing I’ve ever read. The whole book is basically just Joyce complaining about how when he was an adolescent he was sexually frustrated and sometimes the other boys teased him. But you can just tell from the text that the author expects you to find his dull and unexceptional bitching to be the deepest, most fascinating thing ever. \*\*Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang \*\* by Joyce Carol Oates suffers from two major problems. The first is that Oates was a well to do bookish woman in her 50s when she wrote the book, and didn’t seem to do any actual research about youth gangs. As a result, her descriptions of not very uncommon events, like fist fights or smoking marijuana, are laughably inaccurate. The second is that the book is full of unapologetic misandry. I probably wouldn’t have cared so much except that I was the only guy in a feminist literature class. There’s a difference between highlighting the difficulties of being a female in a patriarchal society, and implying that all men are potential serial killers just waiting to murder women for our own sadistic pleasures. Oates implies the latter in **Foxfire.** Oh, and when we stab the hookers, we like to mock them by claiming women’s basket ball is boring and that they lack the emotional self control to be the CEO of a major company. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/82 "2013-04-20T16:40:35Z")
Are we allowed to defend books in this thread by denigrating the people who un-recommend them? _ **Last of the Mohicans** _? Overwritten, and written by a guy who didn’t get out in the woods enough, but it rocks so hard! It’s intense - it’s the closest thing the first half of the nineteenth century had to an unapologetic action movie. _ **Lord of the Flies** _? You’re living it! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/83 "2013-04-20T17:16:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m surprised to see people saying that “nothing happens” in _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_. Okay, you don’t like the style of the book, that’s fine. But there’s undeniably a plot in it. There’s the struggle between Norrell and Strange over who is the better magician and the struggle between the mortal characters and John Uskglass. It was clearly published because it was so incredibly deeply movingly affectively written, and not because it was written _about_ anything. I got much the same vibe from the Helprin. I’m sure it reduced readers and editors with Lit. backgrounds to tears, but for an awful lot of us, they were tears of boredom. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/84 "2013-04-20T19:15:06Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > And speaking of long, long treks through literature, the longest I’ve ever plodded was through Mervin Peake’s **Gormenghast**. I made it almost halfway through the first book. “And he lifted up his foot, which was adorned by a boot (six pages on how the boot was made, on the leathermakers’ guild, and on the curious placement of the tongue of the boot), and set it down on the floor (seven pages of discussion of the type of wood , the lumberjack camps, the market in wood, and the spiritual implications of the nails).” And now you’ve gone and spoiled the one action scene for us.☹ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/85 "2013-04-20T20:03:46Z")
I read the first six pages of _The Da Vinci Code_. I concluded that Lester Dent could have accomplished as much in three paragraphs of a Doc Savage novel. I didn’t read any more. Sinclair Lewis is one of my favorite authors, but \*Bethel Merriday \*blows chunks. \*California Girl \*by T. Jefferson Parker won the 2005 Edgar Award for best novel and its pages should be perforated. The Mystery Writers of America must have been tripping. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/86 "2013-04-20T23:12:29Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > And speaking of long, long treks through literature, the longest I’ve ever plodded was through Mervin Peake’s **Gormenghast**. I made it almost halfway through the first book. “And he lifted up his foot, which was adorned by a boot (six pages on how the boot was made, on the leathermakers’ guild, and on the curious placement of the tongue of the boot), and set it down on the floor (seven pages of discussion of the type of wood , the lumberjack camps, the market in wood, and the spiritual implications of the nails).” I read the entire trilogy, and the best thing about it is that after I was finished I could say I had read it. Something at least happens in the third book - it makes no sense, but it happens. Bottom of my rereading list. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/87 "2013-04-20T23:29:19Z")
I recently read _We Need to Talk About Kevin._ I thought it was well-written and reasonably engaging, but I found the main characters so despicable that I just wanted to slap them all. Irritating as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/88 "2013-04-20T23:32:31Z")
I have the 1998 edition of _The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror_. Susanna Clarke has a short story in it. It has all the Regency setting and glacial pace of _Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell_ at 1/20th the length. It is also hands down the most boring story in the collection, despite what could have been some very good scenes. It reminds me of why I find Jane Austen so deathly dull. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/89 "2013-04-20T23:32:53Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Graham Masterton is my favorite horror author. I love pretty much everything he writes. But _Unspeakable_ was the closest I ever came to flinging a book across the room at high velocity. Most of it isn’t bad, but the ending is so awful and betrays the reader so much that it literally made me angry. Thank you! I couldn’t remember the name of that book, and I agree…it was just the worst. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/90 "2013-04-21T05:29:03Z")
That Shades of Grey crap ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/91 "2013-04-21T21:44:19Z")
> [@turner](#): > > The Dome by Stephen King. I liked it much better as _The Simpsons Movie_. > [@papergirl](#): > > I recently read _We Need to Talk About Kevin._ I thought it was well-written and reasonably engaging, but I found the main characters so despicable that I just wanted to slap them all. Irritating as hell. I agree. I got about halfway through before realizing that I hated the son, I hated the mother, I hated the father and there was nobody else of significance in the book, so I stopped reading it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/92 "2013-04-22T18:12:15Z")
Adding David Baldacci’s Split Second to the list. If real Secret Service agents were so stupid we would have lost every president of the past 100 years. Mr. Baldacci owes me for the brain cells I wasted. Re: _Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_. Since it won the 2004 Hugo Award, it’s obvious that more than just Lit majors loved the book. Personally, I think it’s one of the best I’ve read in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/93 "2013-04-22T18:40:21Z")
> [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](#): > > Have you read Pale Fire? (Googles it) Hmm, no… Not yet! Might be good, might be a slog, but definitely worth looking into, thanks! (Side note: I find that often I prefer the “found footage”/mysterious books/etc. of various creative works as much as the main work if not moreso, and wish I could get a better look at them than what the creator allows. For example, the grainy “dream” transmissions from the future in Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness, the video logs in Event Horizon, the Book in Evil Dead (the original), the forbidden quoted books (Necronomicon et al) in the Cthulhu Mythos works, and so on. In this respect, The House of Leaves indulged my affection for this sort of thing and let me read a ton of “the story within the story”.) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/94 "2013-04-22T18:45:35Z")
Oh, and then there’s **The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers**. It’s engagingly written, but the characters don’t develop and there’s no resolution to the mysteries presented, leading to ultimate irritation. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/95 "2013-04-22T23:21:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I have never been able to finish a novel by Dean Koontz and stopped trying long ago, but apparently many disagree. I’ve never read any of his novels, but I did try to read his tribute to his dog…_A Big Little Life_. It was actually very sweet in the beginning, but devolved into glurgy mess by the end. This book, along with another Koontz doggie book came to the attention of an organization I’m involved with at roughly the same time. I think I was the only one in the group who wasn’t completely blown away by both books. Also, following the introduction of these books to the group, some people had the tendency to look at sleeping (or otherwise contented-looking dogs) and exclaim “Bliss!” It was a tad creepy when a group of people would start “Bliss!”-ing at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Pops\_Negro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@Pops\_Negro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pops_Negro)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/96 "2013-04-22T23:26:48Z")
I personally found _The Catcher in the Rye_ to be totally over-rated. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/97 "2013-04-22T23:52:00Z")
Anything written by Terry Pratchett Since **Thud**. 😛 Sadly, his illness has robbed him of what made him special. ---
**Author:** ![Hottius\_Maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hottius\_Maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hottius_Maximus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/98 "2013-04-23T02:05:52Z")
“Tropic of Cancer” and “Tropic of Capricorn”—I was truly amazed that perverse sex acts could be so boring. And NO I did NOT finish either of them. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/99 "2013-04-23T05:34:54Z")
> [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > Sinclair Lewis is one of my favorite authors, but \*Bethel Merriday \*blows chunks. Ummmm… if you loved \*Gormenghast \* and \*The Last of the Mohicans \* and _The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_, but want something slower, less literary, and more to the left, then _Babbitt_ by this Nobel-Prize winning author will help fill the lonely hours. There was an extract from Babbitt in my dad’s college reader. All the other extracts have aged well, but Babbit is well forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2013, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132/100 "2013-04-23T10:29:30Z")
> [@midnight-dreary](#): > > Gods of Green Mountain. by Virginia Andrews. > it’s very bizarre, and not even a good bizarre, like ‘john dies at the end.’ just horrible. Could have been worse, could have been [Shardik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shardik) … > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > And speaking of long, long treks through literature, the longest I’ve ever plodded was through Mervin Peake’s **Gormenghast**. I made it almost halfway through the first book. “And he lifted up his foot, which was adorned by a boot (six pages on how the boot was made, on the leathermakers’ guild, and on the curious placement of the tongue of the boot), and set it down on the floor (seven pages of discussion of the type of wood , the lumberjack camps, the market in wood, and the spiritual implications of the nails).” All 3 volumes would make one nice thick paperback with suitable editing 😛 > [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](#): > > I read the first six pages of _The Da Vinci Code_. I concluded that Lester Dent could have accomplished as much in three paragraphs of a Doc Savage novel. I didn’t read any more. One paragraph. Hm, where to start. Anything after the first [Clan of the Cave Bear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_of_the_Cave_Bear). I simply can’t deal with Ayla invents every tech in the world and missionary style sex. Anything after [The Obsidian Butterfly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurell_K._Hamilton). Really, I mostly started losing interest after she started being timeshared by the were and the camp. The whole sex based angst is tiresome after a while. Everything by [Hemmingway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemmingway). Self indulgent wanker with very little originality. I find it baffling that one of the word processing programs for the Amiga would spell check, grammar check and compare somehow to fiction by Hemmingway. _sigh_ Keeping in mind I have a real liking for SF/Fantasy/Thriller prose of the turn of the last century [I have a thing for Abe Merritt frex] I frequently hesitate to recommend them to modern readers, you almost have to grow up reading them to enjoy the style of writing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disapprove-of-a-book-list-dont-read-these/656132.md?page=6)