Worst book you ever tried to read?

Several friends loved it. So I tried to read the first page several times, actually making it to page two once.

But the prose was so turgid and poorly written that my eyes tended to glaze over somewhere around the middle of that first page. I could never get significantly beyond page one. Gave up on it. Movie version was actually watchable. Book - unreadable IMO.

I trudged through The Magic Mountain and Mill On The Floss in high schooler - the books weren't bad at all - in fact, MM is a work of genius. But I wasn't ready for it at 16. I like Mill well enough now, although Middlemarch is my absolute favorite. Of all the Eliot books to assign, I never understood the sellection of Mill when MM would have been so much more fun.

Just passing through..., posted on March 13, 2006 at 19:50:10

jimbill
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Alot of the "worst" books I ever had to read were books that were "forced" on me. Books that are assigned for reading when you have alot of other stuff to do have a very short "smell" test.

I was forced to read "Tale of Two Cities" and hated it because I had to fit it in with the rest of my work. It wasn't until later that I rediscovered Dickens and read everything he ever wrote.

I remember reading a years ago that "Silas Marner" was voted the most boring book ever written, by college students. I read it on my own after reading this and enjoyed it enormously.

Gravity's Rainbow, posted on February 14, 2006 at 19:32:36
blackwax@mac.com Industry Professional Posts: 621 Location: Central Arkansas Joined: January 10, 2006	this is an overblown confusion laced meandering read. somehow, its considered a classic.... good for you if you finished it. i simply couldnt keep the characters straight.

Re: Gravity's Rainbow, posted on March 13, 2006 at 19:39:41

jimbill
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I had to read it in an advanced reading course in h.s.. It was kind of like modern art. If you have to explain it to me piece by piece then maybe there is something lacking.

But to her defense, the same teacher introduced me to "The Brothers K" and "The Great Gatsby".

Take the good with the bad,

Maybe not the worst, but..., posted on June 17, 2004 at 19:58:19

NapTime
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Certainly the most daunting...I attempted to tackle "The Sound and the Fury" as casual reading back in my high school years...big mistake. I read the first 2 or 3 hundred pages, and to this day, my mind is still blank on the subject (something about a mentally challenged kid named Benjy?). Perhaps another time, another place...

The Sound and the Fury is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written!, posted on June 18, 2004 at 12:29:22

PdL
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Four chapters, each told from a different point of view. Its true that the first chapter is told through the eyes of Benji, the mentally-retarded child, and that its terribly difficult to understand. I would advise just skipping this chapter and starting with the 2nd chapter. You can prettty much read the chapters in any order you want because the story line is not linear.

This book is amazing and I highly recommend that you give it another chance. Read some additional resource materials pertaining to the S&F and it will really help to get a handle on what goes on (plot-wise)in the story and all the symbolism...............FWIW I read it (well, most of it anyway) in high school also and I didn't have much of any idea what the hell was going on. It wasn't until I read it 2 other times during college that I began to appreciate and understand it.

Have to agree..., posted on March 13, 2006 at 19:42:10

jimbill
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It was one of those books where I started off thinking "what the hey.." and then it got me. Great stuff.

But, then again, I read it on my own with no pressure. If it had been assigned in class I probably would have given up early on.

The Unconsoled-Kazuo Ishiguro, posted on June 17, 2004 at 01:05:57

Hergest Ridge

I love Ishiguros earlier work, such as An Artist Of The Floating World, and Remains Of The Day so was looking forward greatly to this but the style it's written in is bizarre and makes the novel unreadable junk. The job of editors and agents should be to stop nonsense like this.

One of the quotes on the back cover is "I've never read a book like this. I think it is a masterpiece"
Correct in one sense, wide of the mark in another.

Regards
Paul

All but one from high school . . .may be controversial, posted on June 16, 2004 at 23:22:26

unrulyjulie
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butI would read anything I could get my hands on.

Autobiography of Ben Franklin--couldn't get past page 2, got the Cliff notes, and the highest score on the test.

Moby Dick was 300 pages of "flushing the toilet to hear the water run" and 15 pages of plot.

And more recently--"A Confederacy of Dunces" Supposed to be funny, a Pulitzer winner. . . found it dreadfully pathetic (the hero is an obese guy who masturbates into his mattress?) and wasn't surprised to hear the author had committed suicide.

C'mon, give Ignatius a break, posted on June 17, 2004 at 13:17:15
mes Audiophile Posts: 834 Joined: August 7, 2001	......... he just has an unrulytoolie :^)

Moby Dick, posted on June 17, 2004 at 01:07:43

Hergest Ridge

I've tried that countless times but can't get into it at all but i wish i could. This is the bloke with the wooden teeth yes?

Regards
Paul

Loved it., posted on March 13, 2006 at 19:51:40
jimbill Audiophile Posts: 3087 Location: Texas Joined: May 31, 2004	Give it another try.

Re: Moby Dick, posted on July 3, 2005 at 15:46:36
TomLarson	It's a wooden eye.

One of Karl Popper's, needlesly precise and academic, posted on June 16, 2004 at 21:48:09

Timbo in Oz
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But I struggled through it, and the rest of his was OK after that. I read the canon for H&P of science for a General System's Theory unit.

Much prefer Thomas Kuhn's short, brilliant effort at what science IS. Whose views, IMO, simply encompass Popper's and extend them.

Both are native Germans, and yet one writes clear English easily, and the other works way too hard.

John Von Neumann's worth a read too. As is much of Jacob Bronowski's less mainstream stuff.

Warmest,

Timbo in Oz
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
Peace

Re: One of Karl Popper's, needlesly precise and academic, posted on June 19, 2004 at 14:46:50
John N Audiophile Posts: 1343 Joined: May 10, 2000	Never thought I would post this as a recommendation, but I would strongly suggest you assay Imre Lakatos, particularly his essay on a symposium volume to discuss Kuhn. Lakatos provides a very fine critique of both Kuhn and Popper in that essay.

Tah John, posted on June 19, 2004 at 20:05:52

Timbo in Oz
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do you live in Canada by any chance?

I will folow him up, at the library? Pubvlic but it can access UNI's.

Timbo in Oz
The Skyptical Mensurer and Audio Scrounger
Peace

Gudel, Escher, Bach, posted on June 16, 2004 at 20:51:00

Muzikmike

Not so much because it was a bad book, per se, but math and I have had an agreement since elementary school; I won't add, subtract, multiply, divide or anything else without a calculator (and they must be simple ones), and math won't try to write anything, no try to have sex with my wife!

I battled my way through about one third and gave up!

Re: Gudel, Escher, Bach, posted on November 10, 2004 at 00:00:04

W

Actually this is a very enjoyable read, intellectually stimulating, and extremely clever writing.

W

Journey to Ixtlan., posted on June 16, 2004 at 16:03:44

dennzio

The first two books Carlos wrote intrigued me as a 19 year old "seeker". The third book, as I recall, was pure drudgery. Maybe as I grew up I realized that drugs were a poor tool for discovering truth.

Interesting, posted on June 17, 2004 at 13:45:43

mes
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Ixtlan is one of my favorite books ever. I read it originally as a college student, and must say drugs as an avenue for discovery was the last thing I got from the book. Interupting routines, living as if death was always at ones left shoulder etc, were fascinating new ways of viewing the world, and made me stop and think about how much of ones life was lived robotically, habitually. To me, it was a book about waking up to ones own life, certainly not about drugs or their abuse. Your take is, obviously, different. Different strokes.....

"drugs were a poor tool for discovering truth.", posted on June 16, 2004 at 18:30:45

J.R.
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Who knows? Maybe they are the best tool, maybe not. It doesn't
matter, because all paths are equal. What matters is that a path has
heart. Besides "Journey to Ixtlan" is pointedly not about drugs but
about techniques and practices. Difficult techniques and practices
to be sure, but not drudgery. So what do you remember about the book,
since you obviously have forgotten that it's pointedly not about
drugs? Do you remember anything? What do you think, for example, of
the practice of disrupting one's routines? Ever tried it? What makes
this for you the worst book you ever tried to read? Perhaps you
should read it again now that you have matured beyond nineteen years
old. Regards,

J.R.

"all paths are equal", posted on June 17, 2004 at 12:25:15
dennzio	I think not. Drug abuse = path to disillusionment and self deception. You are like the man who looked in the mirror...and when he turned away forgot who he was.

Did you even read my post?, posted on June 17, 2004 at 12:59:05

J.R.
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"Journey to Ixtlan" is not, I repeat, not about drugs. In fact,
Carlos, early in the book distances himself from the drugs of the
first two books. I don't think you have even read this book. You
castigate the book with "drugs were a poor tool for discovering
truth" when it's not about drugs but about techniques and practices
on the sorcerer's path. And you seem to be of the "parts is parts"
school, or, to make it simple for you, "drugs is drugs." For what it's worth, the "drugs" discussed in the first two book are incapable of being abused. There has never been, for example, an
abuser of peyote or mushrooms or datura. The idea is ludicrous.
We're not talking about cocaine or heroin here you know. Or alcohol
or tobacco. As to the mirror of self-deception, well it does not
take a mirror. But you won't have a clue as to what that means.
Regards,

J.R.

Small precision needed, here, posted on June 19, 2004 at 11:27:57

orejones

Here in Valencia (Spain) a Danish young man was arrested yesterday, after he was caught offering some strange brew, of a brown-greenish colour, based on stramonium (datura) to young people: five of them were hospitalized, with one of them in deep coma.

When caught, the bastard had a five liter (one and a half gallons) recipient hanging, and I am still wondering how much harm he could have done...

Yes, some people are always doing the most stupid, and dangerous things...

Regards

BF

Datura has zero abuse potential., posted on June 21, 2004 at 03:52:01

J.R.
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Posts: 9449
Location: New Mexico
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There are no datura addicts, but datura is an extremely dangerous
plant. The Zuni say it should only be taken with a special kind of
healer and if one takes it alone he'll be lucky if he dies. Carlos's
datura experiences are his most bizarre drug experiments. It is
appallingly irresponsible to give datura to anyone. In a nutshell,
it's toxic and very, very dangerous. Regards,

J.R.

You are correct, never said I read the entire book. Too boring as I initially stated., posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:04:25

dennzio

You are 64 years old and still in need of an awakening apart from peyote and God knows what else. Addicts rarely recognize their addiction be it physical or psychological...you might be in denial. Drugs are a block to true awakening. Buddha did not smoke dope beneath the Bodhi tree. No, I'm not enlightened nor do I pretend to be any more so than a rock. This is good. I will leave pretense of spiritual superiority to others. Try zazen, you are primed for it and won't burn up brain cells.

How do you know what Buddha did?, posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:27:52

J.R.
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Posts: 9449
Location: New Mexico
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Or me for that matter. I'm certainly not enlightened. You are rather
obviously not only not enlightened, but also chock full of
presumption. I might be in denial? You can't even seem to grasp the
simple fact that "Journey to Ixtlan" is not about drugs. Not only
that, but you condemn it for what it is not and you have not even
read it. Just can't let go of your error, can you. That's a rather
hideous addiction Dennzio, a spirit-destroying, soul-sucking
addiction worse than junk or toot. Plus it makes you look dumber than
a sack of rocks. You really should read "Journey to Ixtlan" it can
help you with your problem. Why do you want to be as predictable as
a hamster? Vary your routines or something. Get outside of Dennzio or
you are damned. I'll bet you wear advertising on your bike apparel.
Regards,

J.R.

You have exposed your true self. Thank you., posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:34:14
dennzio	I now know that years of peyote and mushrooms do no enlighten one. I will look elsewhere. I am every thing you want me to be. If it serves your purpose, I am dull witted and stupid. This will bolster your ego enough for you to continue on this path of spiritual pride. Enough of this, I must go find my box of rocks. Good day.

Snide and snotty and not answering the question., posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:49:09

J.R.
Audiophile

Posts: 9449
Location: New Mexico
Joined: August 26, 2000

Do you know what Blake calls Satan? The Accuser of Sin. You practice
what you accuse me of. What repellent compartmentalization, bolstered
by your passive-aggressiveness ("If it serves your purpose, I am
dull-witted and stupid.") Jesus, you really said that. You are a
junky for being right. Hopelessly addicted. Read that book; then you
can talk about it with some basis and probably help yourself to boot.
I guess you prefer the "lead role in a cage." Myself, I'll be happy
with a "walk-on in the war." Regards,

J.R.

Again, over my head. This is going downhill fast. Not productive for either of us., posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:53:12
dennzio	Enjoy your reality.

Clear that head. Try this:, posted on June 17, 2004 at 15:18:51

J.R.
Audiophile

Posts: 9449
Location: New Mexico
Joined: August 26, 2000

Roasted tomato/chipotle salsa:

Take six medium tomatoes, cored and cut in half.
With a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper, roast
or broil them until they begin to blacken and bubble.
Meanwhile carmelize a large onion and three large
cloves of garlic. Put the onion and the tomatoes in
a food processor along with an 11 oz. can of chipotles
adabo. Process until smooth. Saute the stuff with canola
oil in a very hot pan for three minutes. That's it.
Goes well with carnitas and creme fraiche in corn tortillas.

Carnitas:

Take and sear a 6-8 pound Boston Butt pork roast (this is the only
acceptable cut of pork for carnitas). Roast it in a roaster pan
filled one third up the roast with water for three hours at 325.
When done take it out and cut it into chunks removing as much fat as
possible. Deep fry the chunks quickly in very hot olive oil. That's
it. Believe it or not, it's not greasy. Regards,

J.R.

That sounds yummy. I'll try that. Peace., posted on June 17, 2004 at 18:40:12
dennzio	I'm not very nice sometimes.

For you., posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:09:09

dennzio

Look

http://www.do-not-zzz.com/

Dang, a koan., posted on June 17, 2004 at 14:37:15

J.R.
Audiophile

Posts: 9449
Location: New Mexico
Joined: August 26, 2000

Well, it worked. I'm bored. I'd swat that pesky fly right away.
Regards,

J.R., looking for freedom, not enlightenment. Zen is not-doing by
the way, another technique of Don Juan's. Freedom takes a lot of
work.

Hey J.R........., posted on September 10, 2004 at 14:00:43

AudioHead

Believe Zen is Japanese flavor of Mahayana Branch of Buddhism
from China. Zen's emphasis on not-doing, we believe derives
from Mahayana's absorption of Taoism's 'wui-wei'(non-action)after
Mahayana migrated from India to China earlier.
You might find mine and Doug Renselle's dialogue on similarities and
differences tween Buddhism and his Quantonics interesting, if inclined go to: www.quantonics.com, Letters Section, Dialogues
Twixt Doug and AH. Regards ~AH

I had to read Galsworthy in high school. It was a hideous experience ..nt, posted on June 16, 2004 at 13:20:57
late Audiophile Posts: 84405 Joined: April 4, 2000	.

Shame, posted on June 17, 2004 at 01:09:49

Hergest Ridge

G'day Dennis,
I must admit if they'd have tried to foist Galsworthy on me in school i would have felt the same but i love his work now, i think his characters are superb.

Regards
Paul

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Worst book you ever tried to read?

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