Books - Disappointing Reads Thread #1

22 Umbrellas · 03-26-2005, 02:56 PM

Have you ever read the synopsis of a book and thought, "Wow, I have to borrow/buy this book...it has a really unique premise / the characters sounds interesting / etc..."? Then you actually read the book and wish it had never been written or had been written by someone else because the book just falls flat for whatever reason, like it's too long or too short or the writing is just off.

That seems to happen to me a lot. Black-eyed Suzie by Susan Shaw is one that comes to mind. It was a decent book, I guess I just expected more.

KIT · 03-26-2005, 03:01 PM

I guess Lord of the Rings, I know many people love it and there is a huge following for it. But I’ve tried it, I read the first one but I just don’t see what everyone else sees, it’s okay but it doesn’t do anything for me.

I can’t even sit through the movie.

Kimberly · 03-26-2005, 03:03 PM

hmm.. Yeah there have been several books that have done that. I normally buy a book based on the cover a lot. I only give a book around 50 pages to draw me in.

The book I hated the most was Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone" that was a horrid book. I bought it because everyone kept telling me how good it was. I even kept reading it when I would have stopped with others but I found it revolting and insulting.

All the other books I really hate I didn't go into them expecting them to be wonderful so it wasn't a disappointment.

Soz · 03-26-2005, 04:52 PM

The one that comes immediately to mind for me is Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts. It sounded really good but when I read it, I found it boring, predictible, and I thought the female lead character was pretty offensive- not strong and noble like the description said. If the book had lived up to the promise of the blurb on the back cover, I would have loved it though.

***Yellow Mustang Girl*** · 03-26-2005, 06:33 PM

She's Come Undone -- Hmmm... k46 I have heard that is an awesome book, too, but I haven't read it.

Kimberly · 03-26-2005, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow Mustang Girl

She's Come Undone -- Hmmm... k46 I have heard that is an awesome book, too, but I haven't read it.

that is what I heard too

but I found it really depressing

the main character hates herself so much that it is hard to read and just plain painful at times.

Also please feel free to call me Kim.

phyco52 · 03-26-2005, 10:05 PM

a lot of people told me it was a great book but I just couldnt get passed the first chapter...........Snach

**Quarterley** · 03-26-2005, 11:07 PM

Lord of the Rings. I fell asleep.

soulstarshine · 03-26-2005, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quarterley

Lord of the Rings. I fell asleep.

LOL. I like the movies but I can't bring myself to read the books.

Kimberly · 03-27-2005, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quarterley

Lord of the Rings. I fell asleep.

I have to admit I love the books but I couldn't read them all in a row because they were hard to follow at parts. I would read one then take months off and then go for the second

I kind of want to read them again after watching the movies. Maybe I will catch some things I missed the first time.

I kept thinking about this last night and I was really disappointed with The Chamber by Grisham. I really haven't read any of his books since then since I was so disappointed by that book.

Soz · 03-27-2005, 10:10 AM

I also had to take breaks between the LOTR books. I can never read too many books in a row by one author because I start to get annoyed with their writing style. I tried reading The Hobbit and LOTR all in a row when I was 13 and I failed miserably.

Kimberly · 03-27-2005, 02:39 PM

See when I really love an author I'm exactly the opposite I read all of their books really quickly Soz. I guess that is why it was so weird for me to read them all in a row.

As for reading LoTR at 13 wow! hee I'm not sure I would of had the patience to read any of them at 13

So I'm impressed you even tried it.

igloo155 · 03-27-2005, 05:53 PM

No book jumped out at me right away but I have to say word on She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.

Ok, looking back now I think that all books by Nicholas Sparks are disappointing especially A Walk To Remember. Maybe because so may people hyped it up.

***Yellow Mustang Girl*** · 03-27-2005, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k46

that is what I heard too

but I found it really depressing

the main character hates herself so much that it is hard to read and just plain painful at times.

Also please feel free to call me Kim.

Kim

Got it

I guess it would be an enlightening book in that it would be realistic, but certainly not a fun read.

Soz · 03-27-2005, 10:49 PM

Kim, thanks. I think I should have stopped with The Hobbit when I was 13, but I think I got about mid-way through The Two Towers before finally giving up. My attention span wasn't that great then, so I probably was a bit overly ambitious.

igloo155, I went into reading A Walk to Remember telling myself not to expect too much because from what I had heard about it, it didn't seem like a book I would like, but I did end up liking it. I hadn't really heard a lot of hype for it though. In fact, I heard the opposite quite a bit because the romance lovers seemed to hate it. I had seen the movie though and knew not to go into it expecting a romance happily-ever-after type ending.