Books you just didn't "get"

Earthhorse

Pratchett eh? Never saw the appeal myself.

Then again he's not exactly regarded as classic literature.

F Scott Fitzgerald is but this didn't save The Great Gatbsy from being one of the least illuminating reads of my life. Completely vapid (which some might argue is the point).

johnny_ultimate wrote:

On The Road just makes you want to do something...

Yeah, like throw it out the window.

Cake Fiend

p.pete wrote:

In defence of discworld if ye didn't read the whole book then I don't see how you can say you didn't get it.

Also, if you try to jump into the series halfway through, you should expect not to get half of it. Although tbh, the first two books aren't very interesting.

Sleepy

This could be quite a list, maybe I'm slower than I think myself to be but I've never understood the hype surrounding quite a few books:

• The Life of Pi - Maybe it's because I'm agnostic but I found it to be completely sacharine and just couldn't warm to to the protaganist.
• A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - How is this drivel regarded as a classic? Joyce's writing style is horrendous!
• Lord of the Flies - Maybe it's just aged badly, or maybe the Irish education system took the beauty out of it for me but I just didn't enjoy it.
• The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe - I got about three chapters into this as a child before ditching it. Might give it another chance now as I've warmed to fantasy books more as I've gotten older.
• Anything by Steinbeck - the plots go nowhere, are completely predictable and while I can see that some might like the minimalist, clipped style of writing, I just likened it to a Junior Cert student's lack of vocabulary.

BossArky

I see a lot of people knocking DiscWorld books. They are actually pretty clever and not as childish as made out. Like the Simpson, etc, they can be take at face value or for a deeper underlying meaning. I've read about half the series in the past year, usually as some light reading between other more weighty tomes, e.g. Bill Clintons autobio, Ulysses, etc. Discworld is great for that kind of break fun reading. There are some dodgy books in the series, but check out "Nightwatch" as an example of a pretty funny one.

Crash

The Life of Pi is one i really cant get into at all.

another one would have to be a fair bit of Hemingway - it can really destroy me at times because if i'm in the wrong mood his writing style really grinds on me.

Hip

Spicy Lauren wrote:

Metamorphosis - Frank Kafka.
Didn't get it AT ALL.

You wouldn't be the first, that's just Kafka.;) I didn't like it myself, but The Trial impressed me a lot.

durandal

East of eden by John Steinbeck. What was he trying to achieve. Its almost documentary in its narrative, without offering more than fleeting interpretation of the events.

Richelieu

the alchemist.
What on earth is the appeal? Talk about being patronised! Moreover it was woefully written (possibly woefully translated admittedly...)

odhran

i don't get the whole mystique surrounding "on the road"- totally overrated in my opinion. as for lotr, i found it insufferably boring, although i did only read the first two books.

Birdofthread

People said:
Discworld- "childish/for children like Harry potter" (or words to that effect, i really cant going all the way back to check or quote.)

mostly these comments are made by people who read a bit of a book, got a bit confused and gave up.:eek: if youre going to to that dont go making judgements about a whole (very long) series.:v:
i wouldnt agree that discworld novels are childish or even that they were WRITTEN for children.
how many children know about Macbeth or many of the other things referred to in the books? i think the stories are many-layered (not just humourous but often making an interesting social commentary) and your enjoyment of them depends largely on your sense of humour. so no-one HAS to like them.

Catcher in the Rye? good yes, lifechanging, no. as with most things.:)

treefingers

catch 22 is probably my all time favourite book! but some friends of mine who have borrowed it have hated it, so i guess its just one of those love it/hate it type deals.

i really liked catcher in the rye as well. maybe a bit overrated though.

for me, i really struggled through all of the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy series. the first one was ok i suppose, but every other one took me ages to get through....

Dave!

'Catcher in the Rye' is definitely the one that springs to mind... My older brother loves it, it's his favourite book, but I found it terribly irritating. The plot was pretty interesting, but the narrative and the characters were unbearable! The novelty of Holden's cynicism or whatever quickly wore off.

I'm not sure what the point of the book was... What I got from it is that Holden thinks he has insight into everyone, and that he's able to see something that others can't, but in reality he's no different and he's just a cynical pr*ck tbh! Which is something I can relate to alright... Dunno if that's what Salinger was going for.

My brother said "you're too young to understand it" when I told him I didn't take to it... 2 years later and I've still no more appreciation of it

Can someone let me know the point of the book?

BossArky

DaveMcG wrote:

'Catcher in the Rye'

Can someone let me know the point of the book?

The fellow in that book totally reminds me of someone I know - the cynical thought process and general lost feeling he seems to have.

Misty Moon

Thought I'd only have one or two books to mention here but having read through some of the above post I realise there are quite a few. Do have to admit that these are books that I just couldn't get into and never finished. It's possible that I may go back to them at some stage and find a completely different story than the one I thought - this has happened to me before. I think to a certain extent you have to be in the right mood, right place, right time to read some books and enjoy them.

Hunchback of Notre Dame - I've tried this one a few times and just found it so boring have never gotten more than a few chapters in. My French brother-in-law claims it's one of the most amazing books so maybe if I ever learn to speak French properly I'll give it a go in French and see if it's any better.

The Dubliners

War and Peace - think I may need a good five or six hour uninterrupted time to get into this but would enjoy it if I could. Keep meaning to bring it on holidays and forgetting.

Hitchhiker's Guide - part 1 was great, couldn't get into the rest of it at all.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

100 Years of Solitude

Catcher in the Rye - liked it more when I re-read it recently but as a teenager it had the same effect on me as watching Rebel without a Cause and just seemed entirely pointless (or at most that the point was that it was entirely pointless if you know what I mean)

Robinson Crusoe

hepcat

Life of Pi was very disappointing, certainly did not see what the fuss was about.

Also cannot get into that guy Houllebeq - Atomised I tried and hated. Anyone else??

I'm sure there are many more - just can't recall them.

DublinWriter

That's weird - I was thinking about this question all week before seeing this forum.

I never got On The Road either, but then again, I was 16 when I read it initially and I think it's one of those books that you may have a bit of life experience (and mid-life spread) under your belt to appreicate.

Lord of the Rings I got, but I wish I didn't. It's the kind of book that impresses you early in life for the amount of rich detail that Tolkein uses to describe Middle-Earth, but it's a hell of a lot of reading just for a basic good vs evil allegory.

Ulysses I loved and took me five years to hack through. It's one of those love/hate books. Joyce never offers the reader any consession, it's like being landed in a foreign country without a map or guide, but the satisfaction in discovering the complexities for yourself.

Finnegan's Wake? No thanks. This is the one book that splits Joyceans down the middle. Personally I think it's was a self-indulgant waste of 18 years of his life.

beans

Often I won't get a book, but still enjoy the reading of it; and the hope that I might get a little more of it on subsequent reads

One example - The Place of Dead Roads by William Burroughs. Enjoyable to read, about as bizarrely f*cked up as you're likely to get. This went so far over my head

Another - a short story called Champagne by Anton Chekhov. I'd love to be able to figure it out, but I'm mystified by the ending and what it ultimately had to say.

For what it's worth, I just plain did not enjoy Life of Pi. It was interesting up to a point, then was just a story about a dude on a raft. Woo. Hoo.

neacy69

ann and barry

I mean wat in the hell was going on there those crazy kids always getting into adventures.....

Stark

Gravity's Rainbow - okay, the rocket is a phallic symbol, got it. It's an okay read, but there are far better books out there for less effort.

Life of Pi - enjoyable but overrated.

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy - I liked the adaptations, but the book was just irritating.

Lord of the Rings - what ****e.

Cork_Girl wrote:

oh I am sooo glad someone else wasn't impressed with this. Trying my best to read it at the moment, it was given to me to read by someone who loved it.. and it has been painful trying to get through it. Only just reaching half way.. and I'm not sure that I can keep going!! Wierd thing is that it has great reviews, and people seem to love it. It just does nothing for me at all.. boring.

I enjoyed the book immensely but for the first half of the book I felt the same way you did. Read the book to its finish, I think it's worth the effort. At a certain point about half way through, the book just "clicks" with you, and from that point to the end, you love it.

gracehopper

beans wrote:

For what it's worth, I just plain did not enjoy Life of Pi. It was interesting up to a point, then was just a story about a dude on a raft. Woo. Hoo.

thought the life of Pi was really good i have to say, i've read better books theres no doubt but 10/10 for the writers imagination

Dades

Stark wrote:

Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy - I liked the adaptations, but the book was just irritating.

Aarrgh!

Never judge a book by it's movie. Great cast - terrible script.
But I can almost see why Douglas Adams' writing style isn't for everyone.

Madge

neacy69 wrote:

ann and barry

I mean wat in the hell was going on there those crazy kids always getting into adventures.....

I read those books in infants class in primary school. Don't they resemble the couple from those "love is..." cartoons?? :eek:

finlma

Misty Moon wrote:

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Couldn't agree more. An ex bought it for me while we were going out but it was painful to read - I had to finish it too.

lu22

finlma wrote:

Thats my favourite book of all time.

For me it has to be The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo.

Each to their own I suppose.

read them both liked them both but got the alchemist more so than catcher in the rye

munkee

John Irving- tried reading a few of his books-kind of lost interest. Must be another love/hate/can't be arsed thing.

Zen and the... It's not an easy read, I ploughed through it, not with ease, but found it rewarding, but would see it more as a philosophical musing than a novel. I like motorcycles, so that gave me an added hook into it I suppose.